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Hardcore fans of Lazio football club in Italy have circulated a letter saying women should be banned from part of the Curva Nord of Rome’s Olympic Stadium.

The Lazio ultras have gained a reputation for violence, racism and anti-Semitism.

Before the first game of the season, an unofficial flyer was handed round saying the stand was a “sacred place” to which women were not allowed.

It said women should go to other parts of the stadium.

• Is football still sexist?
• Football’s female fans

The pamphlet called for “women, wives and girlfriends” to not sit in the first 10 rows of the stand.

“Those who choose the stadium as an alternative to the carefree and romantic day at the Villa Borghese [a Roman historic house and park], should go to other parts,” it read.

The flyer is signed “Direttivo Diabolik Pluto”, who is one of the leaders of a group of Lazio ultras known as the Irreducibili.

Last season the club was fined after supporters displayed anti-Semitic stickers showing Holocaust victim Anne Frank in a Roma shirt.

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The first day of the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca in 2018 is Sunday, August 19.

For Muslims, the Hajj re-enacts the actions of the Prophet Muhammad in his “farewell pilgrimage” in 632 AD. It is a central pillar of the Islamic faith meant to cleanse followers of sin and bring them closer to God.

The pilgrimage is obligatory once in a lifetime for all Muslims with the means to afford it.

We take a look at the step-by-step process of the six-day journey, which almost two million Muslims will take part in.

Below, we break down the nations where most pilgrims are journeying from. 

 

Source: Al Jazeera News

It’s World Photography Day, which means Tim Cook is celebrating in a very Tim Cook way: sharing #ShotOniPhone snapshots.

On Sunday, the Apple CEO tweeted the breathtaking work of John Bozinov — a photographer who focuses on wildlife and portraits. Bozinov is a master of iPhone photography, and the images that Cook shared are breathtaking examples of his work capturing life in Antarctica. 

But it’s kind of hard to believe they were actually shot on an iPhone, especially when you compare them to the smartphone pics we normally see on our timelines. 

At first glance, it’s easy to assume Bozinov attached a newfangled lens (perhaps from the masters of iPhone accessories, Moment), but as he told Mashable in 2016, there are no extra gadgets involved when he takes pictures. It’s just good, old-fashioned editing with an app that has revolutionized iPhone photography: VSCO. 

The app has been quietly improving your Instagram feeds for years, with easy-to-use tools that adjust everything from color saturation to exposure. For those less formally trained in photography (no shame!), VSCO also offers a bevy of presets that do the job for you.

VSCO, which stands for Visual Supply Company, was founded by Greg Lutze and Joel Flory in 2011. Since its inception, it’s grown into a community hub offering grants along with editing tools and presets. The app also doubles as a platform on which to share your work (every user has “journals” they can post images to).

Seven years later, the app’s impact is obvious. The internet is saturated with how-to-guides on creating the perfect image and maximizing the tools on the app.

That said… VSCO can’t fix what’s already broken. If you’re looking to be Cook’s next featured tweet on #WorldPhotographyDay, here are some things you can do to make your iPhone photos sing before opening up any app.

1. Focus on lighting

“A lot of my work is outside, and the iPhone works really well with that, because there’s lot of light around,” Bozinov said in his 2016 interview with Mashable. That abundance of lighting is what makes his photos stand out compared to the pics on your personal camera roll. 

Keep an eye out on how much light there is next time you whip out your phone. The more light, the clearer the image — and the easier it will be to make the technical adjustments that you need to transform your iPhone pics into the masterpieces that you’ve always wanted. 

2. Don’t forget to maintain stability

“Whether I’m shooting in portrait or landscape mode, I like to hold the iPhone with my left hand and release the shutter with my right thumb. I recently learned that the camera shutter isn’t released until you take your thumb off the shutter button on the touch screen,” photographer Cotton Coulson told National Geographic. 

Since that’s the case, making sure you have as steady of a hand as possible when capturing a shot is key. You have to be a human tripod.

3. It’s ultimately all about composition

Composition is essentially just how you arrange the photo, so next time you’re walking down the street, pay attention to the colors, shadows, colors, and scenes — and frame it up in a way that looks interesting! 

Keep all of this in mind and before you know it, you’ll VSCO yourself into Tim Cook’s heart, too.   

The IndyCar Series race Sunday at Pocono Raceway was red flagged on the ninth lap after a violent crash in Turn 2.

Robert Wickens, James Hinchcliffe, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Pietro Fittipaldi and Takuma Sato were involved in the crash, in which the cars of Hunter-Reay and Wickens initially made contact.

Wickens’ car then became airborne and the nose hit the outside wall at full speed. Wickens’ car also heavily damaged the catch fence.

“I was lucky to get out of that one,” said Hunter-Reay, who believed he had cleared Wickens’ car and had given him enough room on the track before the contact.

More: Veteran rookie Robert Wickens knew he wasn’t prepared for Indy 500 experience

More: Wickens almost has dream IndyCar start, but fumes over late move by Alexander Rossi

Wickens was awake and alert as he was transported to an area hospital, according to IndyCar communications chief Curt Cavin.

Fittipaldi and Hinchcliffe were released from the infield medical center about one-half hour after the crash.

As he left the medical center, Hinchcliffe told NBC Sports he was going to visit Wickens.

Hunter-Reay and Sato were released from the infield medical center shortly after the crash.

The race resumed after about two hours for catch fence repair. 

Wickens, an IndyCar rookie but an experienced international driver, stood sixth in series points coming into Sunday’s race. The Canadian had one pole position and seven top-five finishes in 13 races. He finished ninth in the Indianapolis 500.

On the initial green flag, Graham Rahal and Spencer Pigot collided, sending Pigot into an inside wall and Rahal to the pits for repairs.

 

 

 

 

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Punishing its enemies economically, when stopping short of armed force, has long been a favoured American way of achieving foreign policy goals.

Sanctions have been around for decades, but came to the fore after the 9/11 attacks on the US in 2001.

They are now again present when diplomacy doesn’t work. President Donald Trump has been imposing them more widely and more frequently.

The latest were over Turkey’s detention of US pastor Andrew Brunson, which has triggered one of the most serious rifts with a NATO ally in recent years.

Those being targetted by the US are hitting back with their own sanctions, some on the same level and scale.

The list of countries affected is long. But do the sanctions serve any purpose? And who gets hurt the most?

Presenter: Hoda Abdel-Hamid

Guests:

Richard Weitz – director of the Center for Political-Military Analysis at the Hudson Institute

Mohammad Marandi – head of North American studies graduate programme at the University of Tehran

Christopher Preble – vice president for defence and foreign policy studies at the Cato Institute

Source: Al Jazeera News

Like any good millennial, there are a few things I enjoy: #catsofInstagram, ’90s nostalgia, and the overwhelming sense of entitlement that comes with contributing to the demise of entire industries, like soap. 

But if there’s a stereotypical millennial trait I identify with most, it’s my love of avocados. 

So when pop star Anne-Marie tried to make chocolate avocado toast a thing this weekend, I’ll admit I was slightly intrigued.

Intrigue quickly turned to horror, though, when my editor asked if I would try to recreate the “recipe” myself. You know, for journalism.

But being the serious professional I am, I agreed to the assignment and promptly headed for the farmers market. 

Step one: acquiring the goods

It’s 8:30 a.m. on a Sunday morning in the middle of summer in San Francisco — which means it’s freezing and foggy. Luckily, the neighborhood farmers market is already almost entirely set up. 

Image: Karissa bell/mashable

Halfway down the street, I hit the jackpot: an entire stand full of avocados from Southern California. As I wait for the woman in front of me to finish her purchase, I wonder if I should tell the avocado vendor about my little project.

I do, and the dialogue goes like this:

Me: Hi, I need one avocado.

Her: OK.

Me: But I need one that’s soft.

Her: Oh… you want to eat it today? (She looks mildly alarmed.)

Me: Yes. 

*We both begin gingerly squeezing avocados until she hands me one that she says is suitable for immediate consumption*

It is an “extra large” avocado. It costs $2.75. I decide it’s best not to tell her what I have planned for it.

Step two: chocolate crisis

Next comes what I knew would be the most challenging part of my supply run: I need to find some kind of “chocolate spread.” 

My editor and I agreed that Nutella would probably do the trick, but it’s not exactly a staple of farmers market cuisine. I wonder wildly if there’s someone selling crepes whom I can persuade to sell me a single-serving of Nutella, but there are none in sight. Maybe I can find some sort of artisanal chocolaty spread amongst the stalls? 

I’m almost at the end of the market when I see some jars with brownish contents and briefly get excited. I walk over only to find that it’s olives and homemade kimchi. 

Image: karissa bell/mashable

I begin to panic slightly as I walk up the street, hoping that maybe the corner store will be open. Of course it isn’t, but then I remember the bakery around the corner. I decide to improvise with a chocolate croissant that I’ll just scoop the innards out of. I buy one for $4.75. 

AS LAST, ASSEMBLY

First, I gather all my ingredients. I pull out the avocado and croissant, then grab half a baguette I have left over from a dinner party last night.

I slice up the bread and throw it in the toaster. While it’s toasting, I begin disassembling the croissant so I can scoop out it chocolate filling. It’s trickier than I thought — the chocolate is carefully rolled into the bottom of the croissant — but I manage to get it out without making a mess.

Image: karissa bell/mashable

The toaster dings, so I grab the baguette and spread on a thin layer of chocolate. I cut up my avocado and am pleased to find it’s just the right amount of soft without being overly squishy. 

I carefully balance avocado slices onto the chocolate spread. I decide to add a pinch of sea salt on top to help the two flavors meld. 

Image: karissa bell/mashable

I spend the next five minutes staring at my creation, willing myself to take a bite. My editor says it looks good, but I’m still hesitant to eat it. I decide to go into another room to take some more photos. 

Finally, I can’t put it off any longer. 

Digging in

I take a bite.

It’s better than I expected! But I wouldn’t exactly call it tasty. The bittersweet chocolate filling from the croissant is extremely strong and overpowers the taste of the avocado. 

The resulting flavor is chocolate with a strange, creamy, avocado texture. The salt was definitely a good idea, as it helps balance the sweetness from the chocolate.

I chew slowly. It’s not exactly good, but it’s not terrible, either. I think that maybe it would be a good way to trick picky children into eating avocados. 

To be honest, I’m still not sure why anyone would want to combine these ingredients, but I’m trying to keep an open mind. I realize I’m still not sure if I executed this properly — would Nutella have been better? Is there some other chocolaty spread that’s more suited for avocados that I don’t know about?

I may never be certain, but it probably doesn’t matter because I don’t think I’ll be making dessert avocado toast again any time soon.

P.S. Anne-Marie, if you’re reading this, tell me what you think of my toast.

WASHINGTON – Donald Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani on Sunday said he won’t let special counsel Robert Mueller rush him into an interview with the president, arguing investigators could trap Trump into lying based on their interpretation of the facts.

“I’m not going to be rushed into having him testify so that he gets trapped into perjury,” Giuliani said during an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” 

“When you tell me, you know, that he should testify because he’s going to tell the truth, and he shouldn’t worry, well that’s so silly because it’s somebody’s version of the truth, not the truth,” Giuliani said. 

Giuliani, a former New York City mayor who has become the leading voice on Trump’s defense team, then entered into an unusual back-and-forth with “Meet the Press” host Chuck Todd about the definition of truth.

“Truth is truth,” Todd replied.

“No, it isn’t truth,” Giuliani said. “Truth isn’t truth.”

“Truth isn’t truth?” Todd said at one point in the exchange. “Mr. Mayor, do you realize … this is going to become a bad meme.”

As an example, Giuliani said the president and former FBI director James Comey have sharply conflicting accounts about fired White House National Security Adviser Mike Flynn.

Giuliani has said the president never had a conversation with Comey about ending the FBI’s investigation into Flynn. That contradicts a memo Comey wrote at the time, in which he said Trump asked him to let go of the Flynn matter.

“Donald Trump says, ‘I didn’t talk about Flynn with Comey,’” Giuliani said Sunday. “Comey says, ‘You did talk about it,’ so tell me what the truth is.”

Comey took to Twitter a few hours later with his response. “Truth exists and truth matters,” he tweeted. “Truth has always been the touchstone of our country’s justice system and political life. People who lie are held accountable.” 

Sunday’s exchange with Todd was not the first memorable soundbite about honesty to come from Giuliani in recent days. Last week, he told CNN’s Chris Cuomo that “nowadays” facts “are in the eye of the beholder.”

Mueller is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and whether the Trump campaign colluded with the Russians – a charge Trump has vehemently denied. Comey’s claims about the Flynn conversation and Trump’s later firing of Comey likely are a key issue in any potential obstruction of justice charges.

More: White House lawyer Don McGahn: 5 things to know about his cooperation with Russia probe

More: Rudy Giuliani now says President Trump did not talk about Michael Flynn with FBI’s James Comey

 

 

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