Image: Raymond Wong/Mashable

LG’s upcoming flagship smartphone, the V40, might have a total of five cameras — three in the back and two in the front. 

This is according to press renders unearthed by MySmartPrice, which show the LG V40 from all sides. 

The “leaked” renders, which show the V40 with a notched screen and three rear cameras, look quite convincing — until you look at the details. 

The front and back photos look pretty much what we’d expect them to — check them out in their entirety here. But the images that show the phone from the don’t quite add up. 

The image that shows the V40 from the rear (detail below) shows three vertically oriented cameras, as predicted in rumors dating a few months back. 

<img class="" data-credit-name='mysmartprice‘ data-credit-provider=”custom type” data-caption=”All good, so far.” title=”All good, so far.” src=”https://i.amz.mshcdn.com/xNAyTW9VSG6IU8lbJrLRXz4caU4=/fit-in/1200×9600/https%3A%2F%2Fblueprint-api-production.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Fcard%2Fimage%2F832956%2Fc2d26058-459d-44be-bd39-4b8d6ee4d544.jpg&#8221; alt=”All good, so far.” data-fragment=”m!986f” data-image=”https://ift.tt/2o9TAkB; data-micro=”1″>

But the render that shows the device from the side shows a camera bump that’s consistent with a dual vertical camera, as seen on the LG G7, and not a horizontal camera, as seen on the V40 render. 

Furthermore, the alleged V40’s profile fits LG G7 far better (though not perfectly) than the V30, which has a less curvy back. 

<img class="" data-credit-name='mysmartprice / LG / Mashable composite’ data-credit-provider=”custom type” data-caption=”On the left, purported V40 render. On the right, official press photo of the LG G7.” title=”On the left, purported V40 render. On the right, official press photo of the LG G7.” src=”https://i.amz.mshcdn.com/FICGTCaw_-t6MXgFxUJCpPZbI04=/fit-in/1200×9600/https%3A%2F%2Fblueprint-api-production.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Fcard%2Fimage%2F832969%2F128e5962-e388-4e32-a8d0-3fbadb41a55e.png&#8221; alt=”On the left, purported V40 render. On the right, official press photo of the LG G7.” data-fragment=”m!f8a8″ data-image=”https://ift.tt/2BG1uM9; data-micro=”1″>

There are other details that just don’t fit. The V35 and V30 have prominent antenna lines on top, and the purported V40 render does not. And finally, the V35 and V30 have only two buttons on the side, positioned quite a bit higher than the buttons on the G7. 

I have an LG G7 and a V30 handy so I took a side-by-side photo (below) to show how these two differ; basically all the details on the G7 (and none of the details on the V30) are consistent with the alleged V40 render. 

Image: Stan Schroeder/MashabLe

None of this is proof that the renders aren’t genuine. Maybe LG is making the V40 a lot more like the G7 — though this doesn’t explain the camera bump discrepancy. It’s possible that the front and back renders are real and the rest was “borrowed” from an existing device, and it’s even possible that LG made the error itself in its own (yet officially unreleased) renders. But I’d definitely take these with a big chunk of salt. 

Now that we’ve established a fair dose of suspicion towards these renders as being official, we can still entertain the possibility that the V40 will have a notch, a dual selfie camera and a triple rear camera. 

Dual selfie cameras aren’t that uncommon these days, and the age of the triple rear camera began with the Huawei P20 Pro. LG has launched several phones with dual rear cameras before, and I could definitely imagine the company taking it a step further on its next flagship. 

LG will probably launch the V40 in September (but not during the IFA trade show in Berlin, which takes place Aug. 31-Sept. 5). The company’s smartphone division hasn’t been profitable in ages, but their flagships have been solid in recent years, and I’m excited to see what the V40 has to offer. 

The comedy legend graced the Fox show with her presence to play Christine St. George, anchor of the fictional news show What’s Up Wisconsin? That ’70s Show filmed on the same soundstage that was once home to Moore’s eponymous series, bringing the whole thing fantastically full-circle.

Sears Holdings is closing 46 more Sears or Kmart stores as the struggling retailer seeks stability amid questions about its future.

The department store chain also said it will “continue to evaluate our network of stores” and “make further adjustments as needed,” raising the distinct possibility of additional closures are the company continues reeling.

The latest plan involves closing 13 Kmart locations and 33 Sears stores in November, all of which are losing money. The company has closed several hundred locations in recent years.

Going-out-of-business sales will begin as soon as Aug. 30.

Sears has suffered from declining mall traffic, a failure to generate enough online sales, pension costs and a lack of investment in its stores.

The company had 365 Kmart stores and 506 Sears full-line stores as of May 5, though some were in the midst of closing. Over the previous year, the company closed 379 full-line stores.

The latest round of closures come as Sears is weighing an offer from its CEO and largest shareholder, Eddie Lampert, to acquire its Kenmore household appliances brand for $400 million.

Lampert has described that deal, which he offered through his hedge fund ESL Investments, as “critical” for Sears.

More: Sears CEO Eddie Lampert offers ‘critical’ deal to buy Kenmore brand for $400 million

More: Sears, Kmart stores ailing as CEO Eddie Lampert’s hedge fund gets hundreds of millions

More: 7 things to know about Sears CEO Eddie Lampert

While it’s not clear what he means by that, the retailer is losing cash rapidly, and experts say bankruptcy could be in the company’s future.

“We thank associates affected by these store closures for their many contributions to our company,” Sears said in a statement. “Eligible associates will receive severance and will have the opportunity to apply for open positions at area Kmart or Sears stores.”

Here’s the list of latest closures:

Kmart closures

California

Spring Valley – 935 Sweetwater Road

Clovis – 1075 Shaw Avenue

Antioch – 3625 East 18th Street

Los Angeles – 6310 W 3rd Street

Connecticut

Milford – 589 Bridgeport Avenue

Delaware

Newark – 301 College Square

Illinois

Steger — 3231 Chicago Road

Missouri

Cape Girardeau — 11 South Kings HWY 61

Mississippi

Columbus — 2308 Highway 45 N

New York

Riverhead – 605 Old Country Road

Oregon

Gresham — 440 NW Burnside Road

West Virginia

Scott Depot — 101 Great Teays Blvd

Wyoming

Gillette — 2150 South Douglas HWY

Sears closures

Arizona

Flagstaff — Flagstaff Mall, 4800 N US HWY 89

California

Santa Cruz — Sears Capitola Mall, 4015 Capitola Road

Colorado

Grand Junction — 2424 Highway 6 And 50

Florida

Tampa — 2266 University Square Mall

Doral/Miami –1625 NW 107th Avenue

Naples — Coastland Ctr, 2000 9th Street N

Georgia

Savannah — Oglethorpe Mall, 7810 Abercorn St

Atlanta — 2860 Cumberland Mall

Brunswick — 100 Mall Blvd Ste 300

Illinois

Bloomington — 1631 E Empire Street

Indiana

Fort Wayne — 4201 Coldwater Road

Kentucky

Florence — 3000 Mall Road

Louisiana

Hammond — 1914 Hammond Square Drive

Massachusetts

Holyoke — 50 Holyoke Street

Taunton — Silver City Galleria

Michigan

Jackson — 1250 Jackson Xing I-94

North Carolina

Raleigh/Crabtree — 4601 Glenwood Avenue

New Hampshire

Salem — 77 Rockingham Park Boulevard

Manchester — 1500 South Willow Street

New Jersey

Mays Landing — 4409 Black Horse Pike

New York

Victor — 200 Eastview Mall

Glen Falls — 578 Aviation Road Queensbury

New Hyde Park — 1400 Union Turnpike

Ohio

Dayton — 2700 Miamisburg Centerville Road

Cincinnati/Northgate — 9505 Colerain Avenue

Oregon

Happy Valley/Portland — 11800 SE 82nd Avenue

Texas

Houston/Memorial — 400 Memorial City Way

College Station/Bryan — Post Oak Mall

Utah

West Jordan — 7453 S Plaza Center Drive

Virginia

Fairfax — 12000 Fair Oaks Mall

Washington

Vancouver — 8800 NE Vancouver Mall Drive

Wisconsin

Eau Claire — 4720 Golf Road

La Crosse — 4200 US HWY 16

Contributing: Mike Snider

Follow USA TODAY reporter Nathan Bomey on Twitter @NathanBomey.

 

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Now what about the ins and outs of team selection.

“We will see if we use [Issa] Diop or [Aaron] Cresswell soon,” says the West Ham manager Manuel Pellegrini.

“We have Lucas Perez who came here two weeks ago with Carlos Sanchez, so we have a good squad, and it is impossible for them all to play when they are nearly all fit.

“I always say to them that ‘I need all of you because I need the options available to me’ for the whole season.”

And what of Declan Rice and Michail Antonio, who were left out against Bournemouth after starting against Liverpool on the opening weekend?

“We have most of the squad fit and that means some players will not play,” he adds.

“I don’t think they played bad at Liverpool. Maybe at Arsenal I can make some changes, but there are a lot of reasons why I change the starting XI.”

Image: Stephen Maturen/Getty Images

Lyft is getting out the vote. 

The ride-hailing app is offering free and discounted rides to get voters to the polls for the midterm elections coming up in November.

Promo codes for 50 percent off rides through organizations like When We All Vote and Vote.org will hopefully get greater numbers of voters to their polling places at a more affordable, accessible price. Free rides will be available through Voto Latino to make it easier for underserved communities to get to voting locations. 

Mike Masserman, head of social impact at Lyft, said in a phone call that transportation has come up as a reason that especially young and poorer voters don’t vote. “We want to be able to get to as many people as possible,” he said.

Showing up at the polls is just one part of Lyft’s midterm effort. The ride-sharing platform is also reminding passengers about voter registration deadlines (National Voter Registration Day is Sept. 25) on its app and social channels, and giving out registration info to drivers at Lyft’s Hub locations across the country. “We want to make sure our driver community is registered to vote,” Masserman said.

For the 2016 presidential election, Lyft and Uber both stepped up with in-app awareness campaigns and tools to find polling places. Lyft offered discounted rides on Election Day in select markets. Voter turnout for that election was 61 percent of eligible U.S. citizens.

Your next inevitable driver-passenger conversation can be about rocking the vote.

WASHINGTON – Raising the specter of removal from office, President Donald Trump says that impeachment would “crash” the stock market and the economy because he is doing such a good job.

“I think everybody would be very poor,” Trump said in an interview that aired Thursday with Fox & Friends.

Without his kind of “thinking,” Trump said as he pointed to his head, “you would see numbers that you wouldn’t believe in reverse.”

Some congressional Democrats have raised impeachment after Trump’s former attorney, Michael Cohen, implicated Trump this week in a felony: a scheme to pay hush money to women who claim to have had affairs with Trump, and to prevent them from going public during the 2016 presidential election.

More: Michael Cohen’s plea deal exposes President Trump to legal, political trouble

More: Scandal: Cohen charge against Trump recalls Nixon and Watergate, Clinton and Lewinsky

Trump is also part of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian efforts to influence the 2016 election by hacking Democrats.

Additionally, the president is under investigation over allegations that he tried to obstruct the Russia probe through actions like firing FBI Director James Comey.

During his Fox News interview, Trump denied wrongdoing and said the claims against him don’t amount to “high crimes” necessary for impeachment.

“I don’t know how you can impeach somebody who has done a great job,” Trump said.

Asked to grade his presidency, Trump said he would give himself an “A-plus,” and that the only thing he is doing badly is “the press doesn’t cover me fairly.”

 

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By Samuel Stebbins and Thomas C. Frohlich August 16, 2018 5:48 pm EDT

England have recalled batsman James Vince for the fourth Test against India at Southampton starting on 30 August.

The 27-year-old – dropped after the tour of New Zealand in April – will provide cover for Jonny Bairstow, who broke a finger in this week’s 203-run defeat at Trent Bridge.

If wicketkeeper Bairstow is passed fit, he will play as a specialist batsman, with Jos Buttler likely to keep wicket.

England lead 2-1 in the five-match series.

Hampshire’s Vince averages 24.90 in 13 Tests, but is the second highest run-scorer in County Championship Division One this season, with 847 – including three centuries – at an average of 56.46.

He made 74 and 147 in Hampshire’s win over Nottinghamshire at Southampton this week.

“James returns to the England set-up in confident form and scoring runs. He has been in excellent form for Hampshire,” said national selector Ed Smith.

Seamer Jamie Porter, who has been included in England’s squad for the first three Tests without making the XI, has not been selected to allow him to play for Essex in the next round of Championship matches.

“He will return to the squad in the event of an injury to a seam bowler,” said Smith.

England squad for fourth Test

Joe Root (capt), Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Stuart Broad, Jos Buttler, Alastair Cook, Sam Curran, Keaton Jennings, Ollie Pope, Ben Stokes, Adil Rashid, James Vince, Chris Woakes.

Third time lucky for Vince?

Vince has had two previous spells in the England side.

He was dropped after failing to score a half-century in his first seven Tests in 2016, but was recalled for the tours of Australia and New Zealand last winter.

His highest Test score of 83 came in the opening Ashes Test in Brisbane, while he made 76 in his most recent Test innings in Christchurch.

In dropping Vince for the opening Test of the summer against Pakistan, Smith said: “He has shown that when he plays well, boy does he look a Test player.

“However, his cricketing history has not produced the runs he should have done.

“He has not defined enough matches in the way a top-order batsman of his ability should.”

England wait on Bairstow

Bairstow broke a finger as he attempted to take a delivery from James Anderson on the third day at Trent Bridge.

Buttler replaced him behind the stumps for the remainder of the India innings, before making 106 – his maiden Test century – in the fourth innings of the match.

He has kept wicket in 16 of his 23 Tests, but his appearances since being recalled this summer have come as a specialist batsman.

Bairstow made a first-ball duck in England’s second-innings 317.

He averages 42.33 with the bat in the 40 Tests in which he has kept wicket, and 28.96 in 17 matches without the gloves.

Ollie Pope, who made his debut in the second Test, can also keep wicket.

Phnom Penh, Cambodia – Samoeurth Seavmeng sits at a conference table wearing black horn-rimmed glasses.

Meng – as she’s known online and to friends – glances at her smartphone and begins to speak to 10 other young Cambodians gathered at Politikoffee, a weekly forum held in a leafy diplomatic enclave of the capital Phnom Penh.

“It’s very hard to talk about social media. Sometimes people post fake news on Facebook and sometimes people post true news, so it has advantages and disadvantages,” the 22-year-old activist said.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen often alleges “fake news” to discredit criticism of his ruling Cambodia People’s Party online. He has even threatened that authorities have the technology to track and arrest a Facebook user within six minutes of a post.

This has sent a wave of fear and intimidation through Cambodia’s public sphere, where once critical voices have begun to self-censor.

Politikoffee is an offline space where Cambodians feel free to debate and voice dissenting views without fear of arrest. 

“Before, I used to share and talk a lot about political and social issues on Facebook, but now it’s a little bit scary to talk about these sensitive issues because I’m afraid I’m going to get in trouble,” Meng said.

Internet censorship

Cambodia’s government monitors social media.

Last May, Cambodia’s Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, Ministry of Interior and Ministry of Information, issued a regulation to monitor Facebook.

The government stated that it wants to control information that is deemed to “threaten the defence and security of the nation, relations with other countries, the economy, public order, and discriminates against the country’s customs and traditions.”

The Cambodia Center for Independent Media stated in its 2017 report that seven Facebook users were either arrested or sought by authorities for sharing information and opinions on the social media platform.

In 2018, an election year, the number is unknown.

“The directive was actually released after they were already identifying, monitoring, charging and imprisoning people,” said Naly Pilorge, director at LICADHO, a human rights monitoring group in Cambodia.

During the election in July, 17 news websites – including RFA, VOA and Cambodia Daily (already closed down in 2017) – were ordered offline for 48 hours.

Critics believe internet censorship is intended to stop outlawed Cambodia National Rescue Party supporters inside the country from sharing, liking or commenting on election boycott campaigns.

“The directive came afterwards to legalise what they were doing in practice already. And it changed the habits of the average [social media] user,” Pilorge added. “The people online that we interact with, we see that there are differences. Definitely people are afraid, hesitant, paralysed. Ourselves included. We’re cautious.”

In the lead-up to this year’s election, all independent media was shut down. The main opposition leader was jailed for alleged treason. Two former Radio Free Asia reporters and an Australian filmmaker were jailed for alleged espionage.

Several human rights and political activists languish inside Cambodia’s prisons – guilty until proven innocent according to LICADHO.

“What you’ve seen over the past year and a half is, for example, a minister or the prime minister decides a post is critical or is unacceptable and will immediately denounce a Facebook post,” Pilorge said. “Within 48 hours this individual is being arrested, charged, imprisoned in pre-trial detention and sometimes convicted.”

Increasing regulation 

Though the election is over, censorship online is prevalent. Prime Minister Hun Sen was re-elected last month in a vote criticised by the UN as fundamentally flawed.

“If the situation for freedom of expression worsens, maybe we will have something that we can do together in order to inform [Cambodians] which tool or application they can use without getting into any trouble,” Meng said.

Cambodian digital security trainer Moses Ngeth teaches journalists, activists and human rights campaigners how to secure accounts, and protect data online. 

“I train them how to do very basic device security for smartphones, password protection. I tell them to be careful when posting something to social media and not to share any personal information,” he said. 

Ngeth believes this new mandate will give the ruling CPP legitimacy to pass its much-anticipated draft cybercrime law.

“People cannot talk on the radio, or on television. It leaves only Facebook. That’s why they increased regulation of social media,” Ngeth said.

Cambodians can still be arrested, charged, jailed or fined for Facebook posts under criminal defamation, royal defamation laws, or incitement.

“I think it’s natural to have fear, but when I see someone is arrested for saying something on social media I don’t feel comfortable. I think that people should feel free to express themselves,” said Kounila Keo, a Cambodian blogger and communications consultant.

Prime Minister Hun Sen has amassed over 10 million followers on Facebook.

Sam Rainsy, the exiled former CNRP leader who ran in the 2013 elections, claims that many are not even Cambodian and may be fake online profiles generated abroad – an accusation the prime minister refutes.

“What [the prime minister] said … ‘When you post, I can know the location’ – it’s one of the funniest things I’ve heard from him,” Ngeth said. “Using Facebook to know the location, it’s not possible,” Ngeth said.

Prime Minister Hun Sen and members of the CPP are using Facebook to bypass traditional news media such as newspapers, radio and television, viewed as hostile to the government, to reach Cambodians directly with their messages.

“The prime minister and other public figures campaign on Facebook,” said Ngeth.

We’re not doing anything to harm society. We’re doing it to make society a better place, especially for youth to be able to share ideas and contribute.

Samoeurth Seavmeng, known as Meng, activist 

Back at the Politikoffee debate, the upcoming cybercrime law is considered for discussion in a future forum.

Meng wants members to be able to communicate online without being punished for spreading “fake news” for commenting on the draft law.

“Now we’re thinking about [developing] a new tool, or a new kind of app, that we can be sure will be safe for us to talk about any issue because we mostly discuss politics,” Meng said.

“We’re not doing anything to harm society. We’re doing it to make society a better place, especially [for] youth to be able to share ideas and contribute.”

Image: Corbis via Getty Images.

Michaela Coel, star and writer of British comedy show Chewing Gum, has spoken out about being sexually assaulted while writing season two. 

While delivering the McTaggart lecture at the Edinburgh Television Festival, Coel talked about what happened. 

“I was working overnight in the [production] company’s offices; I had an episode due at 7am. I took a break and had a drink with a good friend who was nearby,” said Coel. 

Coel said she “emerged into consciousness typing season two” many hours later. 

“I had a flashback. It turned out I’d been sexually assaulted by strangers. The first people I called after the police, before my own family, were the producers,” Coel continued. 

After she informed producers what had happened, Coel said the production company staff started “teetering back and forth between the line of knowing what normal human empathy is and not knowing what empathy is at all.

“Writing felt as though I was cramped in a third of a trailer, a mind overcrowded by flashbacks,” she continued. “I needed to push back the deadline, it was already tight.”

Coel was allegedly warned by a member of staff that the company wouldn’t automatically extend her script deadline and she would have to ask for an extension. 

“I wasn’t sure how damaging it would be to the company so couldn’t ask,” said Coel. “I was lucky, someone was transparent with me: ‘They won’t offer you the break,’ a colleague said, ‘that’s not the way it is, you have to take it.’

“I asked to push the deadline back and for the channel to be informed as to why. The deadline was pushed back, but the head of comedy never found out why.”

The production company later paid for Coel to have therapy sessions at a private clinic.

In a statement, Ian Katz, Channel 4’s Director of Programmes, described Michaela’s speech as “a powerful and important wake-up call.”

“She has raised vital questions about opportunity, support, transparency and inclusion that as an industry we must all address with urgency,” said Katz. “The experiences she has described in her lecture are not what we would want for anyone working with Channel 4 or any part of our industry.” 

Katz added that the contents of Coel’s speech have started a conversation about the way writers and performers are treated. 

“She has opened an honest debate about how we ensure that writers and performers, whatever their backgrounds, feel respected and heard,” he said. “We want an industry that truly celebrates difference and is accessible to all, so broadcasters and producers now need to work in partnership to act on the issues she has raised.”

Coel says she chose to speak out about her experience for the next generation of writers. 

“I’m going to try to be my best; to be transparent; and to play whatever part I can, to help fix this house,” said Coel. “What part will you play?” 

Mashable has reached out to Hare and Tortoise, the company that produces Chewing Gum, for comment.

You can read Coel’s full speech here.