A pleasing teen comedy about losing one's virginity that tries a bit too hard to be funny. Funny, cute and good-natured, but also trying a bit too hard to achieve those qualities, “Alex Strangelove” is equal parts homage to the teen comedy genre and an earnestly seriocomic coming-out story. Writer-director Craig Johnson’s fourth feature is probably his best to date, hitting the target more consistently than “The Skeleton Twins” or “Wilson.” Still, his best is surely yet to come, on the day he finally relaxes a bit and prizes emotional truth over antic comedy. Nevertheless, “Strangelove” should please a fair number of viewers when it launches day and date June 8 on Netflix and in limited theatrical release. Amiable beanpole Alex Truelove (Daniel Doheny, who plays a similar character in the concurrent Canadian feature “Adventures in Public School”) is a straight-A suburban high-school senior. He’s also a confessed nerd — though hardly scorned as such, since he’s been elected class president. His small circle of guy pals is considerably altered by the arrival of new girl Claire (Madeline Weinstein from “Beach Rats”), who’s smart and droll, and with whom he immediately clicks. The relationship inevitably evolves from platonic to otherwise, but remains chaste until the day Claire blurts out to his friends that they haven’t “done it” yet. Worse, she admits what’s holding them back is his perceived skittishness; he’d been telling himself it was the other way around. They promptly resolve to end all virginity (actually, his) with a motel-room date. Their plan creates performance anxiety for Alex, who has a tendency to overthink things anyway. Adding to his fretfulness is new friend Elliott (Antonio Marziale), a slightly older boy he met at a party. The unmistakable attraction between the two upsets Alex’s idea of himself. Is he really gay? Bi? Whatever turns out to be the case, he’ll have a hard time keeping such worries secret, since Claire is as adept at reading him as he is neurotically self-absorbed. “Alex Strangelove” trades in real-world teenage emotions, but can’t help idealizing their context — it takes place in a universe where mildly raunchy humor and complete tolerance cohabit, where social cliques exist but no evident bullying or homophobia. Drugs and alcohol are consumed by the underage, with consequences no more serious than jokey embarrassment. Parents have their idiosyncrasies (or even possibly terminal cancer, like Claire’s mom), yet are reliably supportive. Growing up is humorously “awkward,” though this is the kind of movie in which teens spout precocious, emotionally articulate dialogue that’s more what people retroactively wish they’d thought to say as adolescents than what adolescents would actually say. John Hughes’ beloved ’80s teen comedies are the most conspicuous among many cinematic reference points here — there’s actually an onscreen discussion about “16 Candles.” But that film was a farce of almost Preston Sturges-like snap, crackle and pop. While Johnson often encourages his nimble cast to act in a farcical mode, his jokes and comic timing aren’t so precise. The humor here is more of a stretch than it is organic, and the film has a few too many tricks up its sleeve: There are scattered animation effects (notably when Daniel Zolghadri as the protagonist’s bestie, Dell, trips on psychedelic Amazonian frog secretions) to voiceover narration to a running gag comparing human behavior to the animal kingdom, illustrated via stock footage. None of these are necessarily bad ideas, but they feel too piled-on and premeditated to strike the desired anarchic note. “Strangelove,” like Johnson’s prior features, would be even more ingratiating if one didn’t sense it straining to please at nearly every juncture. Nonetheless, this is a lively, resourceful and tightly paced enterprise, drawing uniformly good performances from well-cast actors. Design elements are colorful if occasionally over-busy, in an otherwise smooth tech package. All in all, it’s hard to dislike “Alex Strangelove”; one just wishes the film didn’t lean in quite so insistently to be petted. Film Review: 'Alex Strangelove' Reviewed at SFFilm, April 14, 2018. Running time: 98 MIN. Production: A Netflix release of a Mighty Engine presentation, in association with STX Films, of a Red Hour, Netflix Original Film production. (International sales: Netflix, Hollywood.) Producers: Ben Stiller, Nicholas Weinstock, Jared Goldman. Crew: Director, writer: Craig Johnson. Camera (color, widescreen, HD): Hillary Spera. Editor: Jennifer Lee. Music: Nathan Larson. With: Daniel Doheny, Madeline Weinstein, Antonio Marziale, Daniel Zolghadri, Annie Q., Nik Dodani, Fred Hechinger, KE, Isabella Amara, Sophie Faulkenberry, Joanna Adler, William Ragsdale, Dante Costabile, Ayden Mayeri.

Milos Forman, who died last week at 86, directed only 12 dramatic features, a startlingly compact résumé when you consider that his career spanned 60 years and more than a few filmmaking epochs, from the Czech New Wave of the ’60s to the New Hollywood ’70s to the post-indie ’90s. Yet almost every one of those movies looms large. That’s because Forman — auteur, actor, professor, expatriate, bon vivant — chose each new project with majestic commitment and care. His two most famous films, “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” (1975) and “Amadeus” (1984), both dominated the Academy Awards, lending Forman a cachet that helped to sustain his career. Yet even after the triumph of “Amadeus,” he didn’t direct another movie for five years. His films, at a glance, are strikingly eclectic, but what unites them is an overwhelming sly proclivity: Forman, coming out of Czechoslovakia just as it was being crushed by Soviet Communism, had a lifelong thing for rebels, scoundrels, troublemakers and ebullient outsiders. His 1967 Czech comedy “The Fireman’s Ball” was enough of a nose-thumbing allegory to land him in hot water with Czech Communist officials. But once he arrived in Hollywood, Forman, for all his ardent devotion to upstarts and antiheroes, ceased to be a rebellious filmmaker. He became a passionate spinner of mainstream yarns who worked in a sharply observant and nearly becalmed mode of open-eyed classicism. And that, in an odd way, was the key to the humanity of his artistry. The characters he was drawn to —R.P. McMurphy, Antonio Salieri, Coalhouse Walker Jr., Larry Flynt — were always fighting something in society, but Forman fixated on the fight in their souls, the one between their dreams and their circumstances. That was the power and beauty of “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.” It was based on Ken Kesey’s 1962 novel, which prophesized the druggy dislocations of the 1960s, but the film came out in 1975, when the ’60s were long gone and the New Hollywood was winding down, and it featured the last of Jack Nicholson’s vintage ’70s cockeyed-renegade movie-star performances. Forman staged R.P. McMurphy’s war against the saintly repressed schoolmarm Nurse Ratched as what it had now become: not a counterculture crusade but a tragicomic power game egged on by a loony-bin peanut gallery. What held it all together was the director’s 20-20 empathy. In Nicholson, Forman tapped a performance as fierce and funny and sad and triumphant as the great Jack had ever given, and the director viewed the inmates, in their very insanity, as desperately specific individuals. Most tellingly, he directed Louise Fletcher, as Nurse Ratched, to give a performance that courted villainy, yet if you looked close enough you could see it from her side as well — this woman of infuriating wholesomeness who was doing what she’d been taught (keep order and play by the rules), channeling an oppression she was scarcely aware of. “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” became the first film since “It Happened One Night,” in 1934, to sweep the “big five” Academy Awards (best picture, director, screenplay, actor and actress). And that was a testament to the cleansing truth and drama of how Forman staged every scene. He turned the death of rebellion into the ultimate tribute to it. A lot of directors, at that point, would have capitalized on their success by trying to become the new king of Hollywood, but not Forman; he liked his life too much. His next film, an earnest but misbegotten adaptation of the hippie musical “Hair,” wasn’t released until 1979, and he began to teach at Columbia University — where his students included James Mangold — in 1978. Yet the sheer fervor with which Forman approached filmmaking never stopped burning bright. It’s there in the way he draws us to F. Murray Abraham’s Salieri in “Amadeus,” putting us right on the side of this wormy art sociopath. It’s there in the scandalous wit and pageantry of his most overlooked movie — “Valmont” (1989), a luscious adaptation of “Les Liaisons Dangereuses” that had the misfortune to come out one year after “Dangerous Liaisons” had already vacuumed up all the glory and popularity that story was going to sustain. And it’s there, quite spectacularly, in the two extraordinary films Forman made in collaboration with the reality-is-greater-than-fiction screenwriters Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski: “The People vs. Larry Flynt” (1996) and “Man on the Moon” (1999). In Larry Flynt, the Hustler magazine mogul who fashioned the sleaze of his empire into a stress test for freedom, Forman found a rebel he could revel in, even as he transformed Flynt’s marriage to Althea Leasure, played by a revelatory Courtney Love, into the spikiest tale of l’amour fou since “Sid and Nancy.” And in Andy Kaufman, the visionary comedian played by Jim Carrey in “Man on the Moon,” who turned what is reality? stunts into the purest of theater, Forman found what may have been his ultimate kindred spirit: a grown-up bad boy who never stopped shifting shape, all as a way to make our eyes go wide.

The TV festival will launch its first Transatlantic Dialogues program with a slew of senior execs. Netflix CEO Reed Hastings and Endemol Shine Group CEO Sophie Turner Laing are among the A-list execs set for Series Mania. The nine-year-old television festival unveiled plans for its first Transatlantic Dialogues conference following its move from Paris to Lille. The ambitious new event aims to create a series of talks with political, corporate and creative minds for an exchange of ideas from the U.S. to the E.U. A handful of French executives will join with Orange CEO Stephane Richard, France Televisions CEO Delphine Ernotte Cunci, TF1 Group CEO Gilles Pelisson set to join, along with Belgian VRT CEO Paul Lembrechts. French Minister of Culture Francoise Nyssen and European Commission vice president Andrus Ansip will close the discussions. BBC director of policy Claire Sumner, HBO Europe vp of programming and production Antony Root and SVT head of drama Anna Croneman are among the other execs on board, while The Killing showrunner Veena Sud, The Affair showrunner Sarah Treem and The Oligarchs producer Alex Berger are among the creative minds set to take part in the talks. “Our goal with the Lille Transatlantic Dialogues is to create a club for media and policy-makers, a regular high-level rendezvous inspired by the ‘Sun Valley Conference’, that has brought together political and economic leaders along with philanthropists every year since 1983,” said festival founder Laurence Herszberg. The Dialogues conference will be held with the support of France’s National Cinema Center (CNC) and the E.U.’s Europe Creative Media program. The festival’s focus on creating a power player conference comes as it is set to hold its first edition in the northern city of Lille, and just after the city of Cannes held its first CanneSeries festival on the French Riviera to mixed reviews. The two cities were in competition for the festival, with Lille ultimately being given the support of the government, while Cannes pursued its own event alongside industry market MIPTV. The launch of the conference with such prestigious names indicates the festival may move away from the splashy red carpet events it became known for in Paris and focus more on industry influencers. The festival will still hold its competition event, with Narcos creator Chris Brancato sitting as head of the jury, alongside False Flag producer Maria Feldman, Deutschland 83 and The City and The City actress Maria Schrader, Vikings actor Clovis Cornillac and French Goncourt prize-winning author Pierre Lemaitre. Lost creator Carlton Cuse is set to be one of the guests of honor. It may be a short trip to France for Hastings, who has abandoned plans to attend the Cannes Film Festival which starts the following Tuesday, after withdrawing the streamer’s films from consideration due to disagreements with the French regulators. Nyssen is working on developing policies to update the country's strict exhibition regulations. The Transatlantic Dialogues are set for May 3. Series Mania runs from April 27 - May 5 in Lille, France.

A MONTH-BY-MONTH BREAKDOWN OF THE BEST SUMMER MOVIES 2018 HAS TO OFFER, FROM DEADPOOL 2 TO JURASSIC WORLD: FALLEN KINGDOM TO MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - FALLOUT. Is it arguable that the summer movie season this year really begins with the April 27 release of Avengers: Infinity War? Yes, maybe so, but we’ve gotta draw the line somewhere, and that line is May 1. Plus, there are still plenty of thrills, chills, laughs, cries, and WTFs to be had from all of the other summer movies 2018 has to offer, whether you’re looking for some mindless escapism or thought-provoking drama. Check below for the full calendar of the biggest movies of summer 2018 (Solo: A Star Wars Story, Deadpool 2, Incredibles 2), as well as a few smaller releases (Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, Sorry to Bother You) you will want to keep an eye out for. FRIDAY, MAY 4 Bad Samaritan (2018) David Tennant stars in this thriller from Geostorm director Dean Devlin about a thieving valet (Robert Sheehan) who encounters more than he bargained for when he finds a captive woman in the home of a wealthy victim. Starring: David Tennant, Robert Sheehan, Carlito Olivero, Kerry Condon Directed By: Dean Devlin Overboard (2018) In this gender-swapped remake of the 1987 film, Anna Faris plays a working-class mother who saves the life of a spoiled, wealthy playboy (Eugenio Derbez) and pretends to be his wife when she realizes he lost his memory in the accident. Starring: Eugenio Derbez, Anna Faris, Eva Longoria, Mel Rodriguez Directed By: Rob Greenberg Tully (2018) 91% Director Jason Reitman reunites with writer Diablo Cody and star Charlize Theron in this comedy about a struggling single mother of three who forms an unlikely bond with the young nanny (Mackenzie Davis) her brother has hired for her. Starring: Charlize Theron, Mackenzie Davis, Mark Duplass, Ron Livingston Directed By: Jason Reitman RBG (2018) 100% This biographical documentary hones in on the untold story of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, recounting her professional triumphs and revealing seldom shared details about her personal life. Starring: Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Gloria Steinem, Nina Totenberg Directed By: Betsy West, Julie Cohen FRIDAY, MAY 11 Breaking In (2018) In something of a reversal of David Fincher’s Panic Room, this thriller follows a determined mother (Gabrielle Union) attempting to break into a fortified home to save her children from the band of robbers who have taken it over. Starring: Gabrielle Union, Billy Burke, Richard Cabral, Ajiona Alexus Directed By: James McTeigue Life of the Party (2018) Melissa McCarthy teams up with her husband, director Ben Falcone, for their third outing together in this comedy about a recently single mother who decides to go back to college and ends up in the same class as her daughter. Starring: Melissa McCarthy, Gillian Jacobs, Julie Bowen, Debby Ryan Directed By: Ben Falcone FRIDAY, MAY 18 Deadpool 2 (2018) Everybody’s favorite Merc with a Mouth is back, and this time he’s got some new friends, as Deadpool teams up with a band of soldiers to protect a young mutant from being kidnapped by a time-traveling commando named Cable. Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Josh Brolin, Morena Baccarin, T.J. Miller Directed By: David Leitch Book Club (2018) Diane Keaton, Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen, and Mary Steenburgen star in this comedy for the older set, about four lifelong friends whose lives are rejuvenated when they all decide to read Fifty Shades of Grey together. Starring: Diane Keaton, Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen, Mary Steenburgen Directed By: Bill Holderman Show Dogs (2018) If talking animals are your thing, you’ll want to check out this family comedy, which stars Will Arnett as a detective and Ludacris as the voice of his canine partner, as the pair go undercover to solve a case at a prestigious dog show. Starring: Will Arnett, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, Natasha Lyonne, Stanley Tucci Directed By: Raja Gosnell On Chesil Beach (2018) 63% Oscar nominee Saoirse Ronan stars in this period drama that recounts the romance between a young grad student and a violinist from vastly different cultural bakgrounds. Starring: Saoirse Ronan, Billy Howle, Anne-Marie Duff, Adrian Scarborough Directed By: Dominic Cooke FRIDAY, MAY 25 Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018) Alden Ehrenreich steps into Harrison Ford’s shoes as Han Solo in the latest standalone spinoff in the Star Wars universe, which depicts the young smuggler years before he met Luke and Leia and helped take down the Empire. Starring: Alden Ehrenreich, Emilia Clarke, Thandie Newton, Woody Harrelson Directed By: Ron Howard Mary Shelley (2018) 31% Elle Fanning and Douglas Booth star in this dramatized account of the relationship between poet Percy Bysshe Shelley and Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, as well as the fateful night that led the latter to write Frankenstein. Starring: Elle Fanning, Douglas Booth, Bel Powley, Joanne Froggatt Directed By: Haifaa Al-Mansour FRIDAY, JUNE 1 Action Point (2018) Like Bad Grandpa before it, this comedy weaves real — and hilariously dangerous — Jackass-style stunts into a story about a young amusement park owner (Johnny Knoxville) who pulls out all the stops in order to save the park from closure. Starring: Johnny Knoxville, Aidan Whytock, Joe Vaz, Leon Clingman Directed By: Tim Kirkby Adrift (2018) Based on a true story, this survival drama stars Shailene Woodley and Sam Claflin as a young couple who set sail across the ocean together but find themselves marooned at sea after an unexpected encounter with a powerful hurricane. Starring: Shailene Woodley, Sam Claflin, Jeffrey Thomas, Elizabeth Hawthorne Directed By: Baltasar Kormákur American Animals (2018) 79% Based on a true story, this crime drama follows four friends who, struggling with life and inspired by heist movies, attempt to rob a college of its valuable private book collection. Starring: Barry Keoghan, Evan Peters, Blake Jenner, Jared Abrahamson Directed By: Bart Layton Upgrade (2018) 75% Logan Marshall-Green stars in Leigh Whannell’s sci-fi thriller about a mugging victim who seeks revenge for the death of his wife after he recieves an experimental treatment that gives him superhuman abilities. Starring: Logan Marshall-Green, Betty Gabriel, Harrison Gilbertson, Benedict Hardie Directed By: Leigh Whannell FRIDAY, JUNE 8 Hereditary (2018) 100% A rousing crowd-pleaser at Sundance where it premiered, this supernatural horror film stars Toni Collette as a woman who suspects her recently deceased mother is terrorizing her daughter from beyond the grave. Starring: Toni Collette, Alex Wolff, Milly Shapiro, Ann Dowd Directed By: Ari Aster Ocean's 8 (2018) In this spinoff of the hit Steven Soderbergh trilogy, Sandra Bullock plays Debbie Ocean (sister to George Clooney’s Danny), who gathers an all-female team for a heist at the famous Met Gala in New York City. Starring: Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham Carter Directed By: Gary Ross Won't You Be My Neighbor? (2018) 95% Bring your handkerchiefs for this insightful documentary look at the life of Fred Rogers, the man behind the influential TV series Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, which entertained and educated children for generations. Starring: Fred Rogers, François Clemmons, Yo-Yo Ma, Joe Negri Directed By: Morgan Neville Hotel Artemis (2018) Jodie Foster, Sterling K. Brown, and Jeff Goldblum lead an all-star cast in this dystopian action film that revolves around a woman who runs a secret hospital for criminals. Starring: Jodie Foster, Sterling K. Brown, Sofia Boutella, Jeff Goldblum Directed By: Drew Pearce FRIDAY, JUNE 15 Incredibles 2 (2018) Pixar’s superpowered Parr family are back in this sequel that picks up literally right where The Incredibles left off and follows Elastigirl’s return to fame, while Bob and the kids try to get used to normal life. Starring: Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Sarah Vowell, Samuel L. Jackson Directed By: Brad Bird Superfly (2018) Trevor Jackson stars in this updated remake of the 1972 film, and while we don’t have an official plot synopsis yet, the original follows a cocaine dealer trying to secure one last deal before leaving the business. Starring: Trevor Jackson, Jason Mitchell, Michael Kenneth Williams, Lex Scott Davis Directed By: Director X. Tag (2018) Ed Helms, Jon Hamm, and Jeremy Renner star in this high-concept comedy — based on a true story — about a group of friends who have been engaged in an elaborate, decades-long game of tag. Starring: Ed Helms, Jake Johnson (XVI), Hannibal Buress, Jon Hamm Directed By: Jeff Tomsic FRIDAY, JUNE 22 Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018) Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard reprise their roles in the latest chapter of the Jurassic Park franchise, which finds their characters returning to the island to save the dinos from a volcanic eruption. Starring: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard Directed By: J.A. Bayona Boundaries (2018) Vera Farmiga and Christopher Plummer star in this road-trip comedy about a single mother who is forced to drive her father from Seattle to Los Angeles after he’s kicked out of his retirement home. Starring: Vera Farmiga, Christopher Plummer, Lewis MacDougall, Bobby Cannavale Directed By: Shana Feste Under the Silver Lake (2018) The latest from It Follows director David Robert Mitchell stars Andrew Garfield as a disillusioned man who meets a mysterious woman and then embarks on a search through Los Angeles to find her when she suddenly disappears. Starring: Andrew Garfield, Riley Keough Directed By: David Robert Mitchell FRIDAY, JUNE 29 Sicario: Day of the Soldado (2018) Josh Brolin and Benicio Del Toro return — sans Emily Blunt and director Denis Villeneuve — for this sequel that focuses on a federal agent’s efforts to curb drug trafficking at the US-Mexico border. Starring: Benicio Del Toro, Josh Brolin, Matthew Modine, Isabela Moner Directed By: Stefano Sollima Uncle Drew (2018) Have you seen those videos where NBA star Kyrie Irving dresses up in old-person makeup, calls himself Uncle Drew, and destroys opposing teams in pick-up basketball games? This is that, in feature-length form. Starring: Lil Rel Howery, Kyrie Irving, Nick Kroll, Shaquille O'Neal Directed By: Charles Stone III The Hustle (2018) Anne Hathaway and Rebel Wilson star in this remake of the 1988 comedy Dirty Rotten Scoundrels about a pair of conmen competing with each other to bamboozle a wealthy heiress out of her fortune. Starring: Anne Hathaway, Alex Sharp, Rebel Wilson, Deepak Anand Directed By: Chris Addison WEDNESDAY, JULY 4 The First Purge (2018) The Purge franchise finally goes the prequel route, this time tracing the origins of the national day of mayhem that allows any crime to be committed for a 12-hour period with no legal consequences. Starring: Y'lan Noel, Lex Scott Davis, Joivan Wade, Luna Lauren Velez Directed By: Gerard McMurray FRIDAY, JULY 6 Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018) Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, and Michael Douglas return for this post-Ifinity War Marvel sequel, in which thief-turned-superhero Scott Lang takes on a partner and struggles to balance his dual life. Starring: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Douglas, David Dastmalchian Directed By: Peyton Reed Sorry to Bother You (2018) 91% LaKeith Stanfield, Tessa Thompson, and Armie Hammer star in rapper Boots Riley’s directorial debut, a surreal social satire about a black telemarketer whose career is propelled by the efficacy of his “white voice.” Starring: LaKeith Stanfield, Tessa Thompson, Armie Hammer, Terry Crews Directed By: Boots Riley FRIDAY, JULY 13 Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation (2018) In this third installment of the animated series, Dracula (Adam Sandler) takes his family on a vacation cruise, where he falls in love with the ship’s captain, much to his daughter Mavis’ (Selena Gomez) dismay. Starring: Adam Sandler, Andy Samberg, Selena Gomez, Kevin James Directed By: Genndy Tartakovsky Skyscraper (2018) The 2018 Dwayne Johnson destruction tour continues, as the affable action star plays a building inspector framed for a crime he didn’t commit who must clear his name and rescue his family. Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Neve Campbell, Chin Han Ng, Roland Møller Directed By: Rawson Marshall Thurber Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot (2018) 74% Gus Van Sant directs this based-on-true-events drama about renowned cartoonist John Callahan (played by Joqauin Phoenix), who only discovered his talent when he became a quadriplegic after a drunk driving accident. Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Jonah Hill, Rooney Mara, Jack Black Directed By: Gus Van Sant Eighth Grade (2018) 100% Bo Burnham’s coming-of-age comedy centers on a young teen (Elsie Fisher) trying to make the best of the last week of her dreadful eighth grade year. Starring: Elsie Fisher, Josh Hamilton, Emily Robinson, Jake Ryan Directed By: Bo Burnham FRIDAY, JULY 20 The Equalizer 2 (2018) Denzel Washington returns to reprise his role as Robert McCall, the former CIA operative who becomes a vigilante hero, in this seqeuel directed by frequent collaborator Antoine Fuqua. Starring: Denzel Washington, Ashton Sanders, Pedro Pascal, Melissa Leo Directed By: Antoine Fuqua Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again! (2018) Meryl Streep, Amanda Seyfried, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, and the rest of the cast — along with Cher — are back in this sequel to the 2008 musical comedy, which cuts back and forth from the present to Donna’s romantic past. Starring: Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, Stellan Skarsgard Directed By: Ol Parker FRIDAY, JULY 27 Mission: Impossible - Fallout (2018) Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his team of high-octane spies come back to the big screen under the guidance of director Christopher McQuarrie, who also helmed Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation in 2015. Starring: Tom Cruise, Henry Cavill, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson Directed By: Christopher McQuarrie Teen Titans Go! To the Movies (2018) The popular DC Comics-based animated series comes to the big screen as the Teen Titans search for a director to helm their own movie, only to be set back by the nefarious plans of their nemesis Slade. Starring: Kristen Bell, Khary Payton, Will Arnett, Tara Strong Directed By: Aaron Horvath, Peter Rida Michail Hot Summer Nights (2018) 80% Indie darlings Timothée Chalamet and Maika Monroe star in this coming-of-age drama about a young man who arrives in Cape Cod for the summer, starts selling weed, and falls in love with his business partner’s sister. Starring: Timothée Chalamet, Maika Monroe, Alex Roe, Thomas Jane Directed By: Elijah Bynum Blindspotting (2018) 92% Daveed Diggs co-wrote and stars in this comedy — about a man on probation who witnesses a police shooting — that utilizes humor to address issues of race, class, and gentrification. Starring: Daveed Diggs, Rafael Casal, Janina Gavankar, Jasmine Cephas Jones Directed By: Carlos Lopez Estrada FRIDAY, AUGUST 3 The Darkest Minds (2018) Based on the YA novel of the same name, this sci-fi fantasy follows a group of teens with superhuman powers on the run from a government after a plague has killed off the majority of the country’s children. Starring: Amandla Stenberg, Harris Dickinson, Mandy Moore, Miya Cech Directed By: Jennifer Yuh Nelson Christopher Robin (2018) This CGI/live-action family film stars Ewan McGregor as the titular A.A. Milne character, who’s all grown up and needs a little nudge from a certain honey-loving bear to rekindle the spirit of his youth. Starring: Ewan McGregor, Jim Cummings, Chris O'Dowd, Hayley Atwell Directed By: Marc Forster Mile 22 (2018) Mark Wahlberg and director Peter Berg have worked on three Certified Fresh films together, and they hope to do it again with their latest, about an intelligence operative attempting to smuggle a high-value target out of the country. Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Ronda Rousey, Iko Uwais Directed By: Peter Berg Searching (2018) 100% John Cho and Debra Messing star in this thriller about a desperate father trying to locate his missing daughter by following clues discovered in her laptop with the help of a local detective. Starring: John Cho, Debra Messing Directed By: Aneesh Chaganty The Spy Who Dumped Me (2018) Mila Kunis and Kate McKinnon join forces for this action-comedy about a pair of best friends who find themselves in the middle of a life-or-death conspiracy when one of their exes suddenly appears with assassins on his trail. Starring: Kate McKinnon, Justin Theroux, Mila Kunis, Sam Heughan Directed By: Susanna Fogel FRIDAY, AUGUST 10 A.X.L. (2018) This sci-fi adventure film in the vein of E.T., D.A.R.Y.L., and Short Circuit centers on a teenager who discovers and befriends a state-of-the-art A.I. in the form of a dog and attempts to keep it safe from the evil scientists who want it back. Starring: Alex Neustaedter, Lucy Hale, Becky G, Chloe Bridges Directed By: Oliver Daly Dog Days (2018) Ken Marino directs this ensemble comedy that follows several Los Angeles dog owners whose lives begin to intertwine and impact each other in unexpected ways. Starring: Finn Wolfhard, Eva Longoria, Nina Dobrev, Vanessa Hudgens Directed By: Ken Marino The Meg (2018) It’s got Jason Statham. It’s got a giant shark. Its tagline is “Pleased to eat you.” You know exactly what you’re getting into here. Starring: Jason Statham, Bingbing Li Directed By: Jon Turteltaub FRIDAY, AUGUST 17 Captive State (2018) John Goodman and Vera Farmiga star in Rupert Wyatt’s sci-fi thriller that explores the impact on the lives of people living in a Chicago neighborhood that was occupied by alien forces a decade earlier. Starring: John Goodman, Ashton Sanders, Jonathan Majors, Vera Farmiga Directed By: Rupert Wyatt Crazy Rich Asians (2018) Constance Wu and Michelle Yeoh star in this comedy about a woman who accompanies her boyfriend back to Singapore, only to discover he comes from an ultra-wealthy family and he’s one of the country’s most eligible bachelors. Starring: Constance Wu, Henry Golding, Ken Jeong, Gemma Chan Directed By: Jon M. Chu The Happytime Murders (2018) Melissa McCarthy and Elizabeth Banks headline this noir-ish comedy from Brian Henson about a human cop and a puppet detective who must work together to solve the serial murders of the cast of a popular 1980s children’s show. Starring: Melissa McCarthy, Maya Rudolph, Joel McHale, Elizabeth Banks Three Seconds (2018) Joel Kinnaman, Rosamund Pike, Clive Owen, and Ana de Armas star in this crime thriller about a former soldier and criminal who reenters prison undercover for the FBI and risks being outed when a drug deal goes wrong. Starring: Joel Kinnaman, Rosamund Pike, Clive Owen, Common Directed By: Andrea Di Stefano White Boy Rick (2018) Matthew McConaughey stars in this true story about a young man during the 1980s crack epidemic who became a police informant for Detroit police, who then unceremoniously sentenced him to life in prison. Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Richie Merritt, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Rory Cochrane Directed By: Yann Demange FRIDAY, AUGUST 24 Replicas (2018) Keanu Reeves and Alice Eve star in this sci-fi thriller about a man who becomes obsessed with bringing his family back — in any way possible — after they are killed in a car accident. Starring: Alice Eve, Keanu Reeves, Emily Alyn Lind, John Ortiz Directed By: Jeffrey Nachmanoff Slender Man (2018) Based on the meme-inspired legends, this supernatural horror film follows a group of girls who attempt to debunk the existence of the titular specter but suspect they might be wrong when one of them goes missing. Starring: Joey King, Jaz Sinclair, Annalise Basso, Javier Botet Directed By: Sylvain White FRIDAY, AUGUST 31 Kin (2018) James Franco and Zoë Kravitz star in this sci-fi action film about a pair of brothers who are forced to go on the run by a vengeful criminal, with only a mysterious weapon of unknown origins at their disposal. Starring: James Franco, Zoë Kravitz, Carrie Coon, Dennis Quaid Directed By: Jonathan Baker (XVII) , Josh Baker (XVI)

The Galaxy S9 is the new Consumer Reports darling, as the ranking service gave it 81 points in its assessment, more than what the iPhone X commands, chiefly because of Apple's pricing. Thus, the S9 zips ahead of the S8 Active for the first place now, while Apple's newest iPhones take places 6-8. The vaunted consumer research and testing service cites a few good reason for the high marks that it gave to the S9, such as the souped-up camera, and the tougher, more ergonomic body, but subtracted points for the just-average battery life, the oversharpened photos, and the fact that the phones aren't a big upgrade over their predecessors. It also went unimpressed with a few new features that Consumer Reports calls "kitschy" like the AR Emoji, or the artificially intelligent calorie counter. These, however, are mostly third-party services appropriated by Samsung to stuff in the S9 just because others have it, or there is a growing trend. Overall, a CR endorsement usually means a good chance that the gear examined will have decent sales in the US, so we'll have to wait and see how many units of the stopgap Galaxy S9 will Samsung manage to move until the anniversary S10 hits the tape.

Unless you’re a taxi driver, you probably don’t think in terms of specific street names when you’re getting around a city, and it’s easy to miss signs while you’re concentrating on the road. That’s why Google has started giving directions using nearby landmarks as points of reference. So instead of telling you to turn right onto Acacia Avenue, for example, it might tell you to turn after the KFC. So far the feature has only been seen in New York City, and Google hasn’t yet announced whether it will be rolled out more widely. However, it seems like it could be relatively straightforward thanks to the Google Place Search API, which lets users find nearby stores, services and points of interest anywhere in the world. So far, all the examples seem to be based on the location of fast-food restaurants, but it doesn’t appear to be a form of advertising (yet). Something old, something new The news comes just a day after Google announced that it’s using laser scanning, drones and photometry to create virtual copies of historic landmarks that have been lost or destroyed over the years. The models are available via a new Arts and Culture app for iOS and Android, and you can explore them in 3D using a Google Daydream headset. Seeing the two combined in augmented reality could make driving an interesting and educational experience – "take a left at the ancient catacombs, then continue straight to the McDonald's".

Besides the alleged peace talks between the two Koreas, decades in the making, the biggest news out of the local media today is the eventual Galaxy S10 design finalization, a decade in the making. If you have been waiting for some grand anniversary overhaul of the Galaxy S-line body, however, you might be in for a disappointment. The Galaxy S10 will seemingly have... wait for it... Infinity Display design. The insiders even tip the expected screen sizes for the Galaxy S10 and S10 Plus to be 5.8" and 6.3", or, slightly larger than the 5.77" and 6.22" panels of the S9 and S9+, yet it's not clear if they aren't simply rounding things up. The report does say that the phones will be slightly larger - 0.03" and 0.08", respectively - than their predecessors, so a tad bigger panels aren't out of the question, yet it's not specified if they are talking length or width here. The body, however, may undertake at least one more or less drastic redesign, and it is the removal of a fingerprint scanner, moving it under the screen. There are a few such phones out there already, so it's not out of the question that Samsung may have cracked the in-display finger reading code. Samsung is allegedly working on ironing out the under-screen biometric kinks with Qualcomm and Synaptics in the US, as well as Aegis Tech in Taiwan as supplier. The other exciting new development that Samsung may be adding for the Galaxy S10 to make it stand out as an anniversary member of the Galaxy S-line, is tipped again to be a 3D-sensing camera kit, developed in partnership with the Israelis from Mantis Vision, and aided by local camera component maker Woodgate. If you are curious what Mantis Vision will bring to the table that Apple's TrueDepth camera might not, look no further than the video above, and dream for some of these options to make their way into the Galaxy S10 and S10 Plus.

OK, so as far as we know, we are in for a double treat this late April / early May. Industry veteran LG is about to unveil its new flagship — supposedly called G7 ThinQ — and the fairly new kid on the block OnePlus will also be releasing its "2018 flagship killer" — the OnePlus 6. And the fight between these two might, in fact, be fierce. Both will come with a full-screen display with a notch at the top, both will feature the latest-and-greatest in flagship hardware. LG has its name backing it up, but it's fair to say that the manufacturer has been losing some steam in the past years and its phones were very quick to drop in price post-release. On the other side, OnePlus is gaining momentum with very few bumps in its path — what was once a company only recognized by "smartphone geeks" is slowly creeping its way into the mainstream. And its prices are rising each year, too — we started with a $300 OnePlus 1 and had a $500 OnePlus 5T late last year. So, in some sense, there is competition to be found here, especially when you consider that both devices are launching in the same time window.

A new FCC listing pertaining to the upcoming Moto E5 line has revealed a number of processor details. It’s been known for some time now that Motorola has plans for not one, but two new Moto E5 devices, with recent leaks showing off their designs in full. Now, shortly after the lineup’s colors were also revealed, information regarding the processors has leaked via an FCC filing. Looking at the documents, the devices are listed under their model numbers. The first, which relates to the regular Moto E5, is included under the XT1924-4 and XT1924-5 names and is listed as featuring Qualcomm’s quad-core Snapdragon 425 clocked at a speed of 1.2GHz. In addition, as is typical with this processor, the Adreno 308 GPU will accompany it. In regards to the bigger Moto E5 Plus, this device goes by the model number XT1924-3 and features a slightly more powerful processor. To be precise, Motorola looks set to include Qualcomm’s octa-core Snapdragon 430 which will also be clocked at the slightly higher speed of 1.4GHz. Furthermore, an upgraded Adreno 505 graphics processing unit will be featured inside the smartphone. In regards to other details surrounding the smartphones, Motorola’s Moto E5 lineup is expected to debut with 18:9 displays, although they will be of different sizes. Another major difference is expected to be the battery size, with the smaller Moto E5 is rumored to debut with a 2,800mAh battery pack inside, while the large Plus variant is said to boast a huge 4,000mAh one. In terms of similarities, however, both devices are set to debut with Android 8.0 Oreo is set to ship straight out of the box. Motorola is yet to announce any details in regards to when the devices will launch, but with the company set to host an event this Friday in Brazil to formally announce the Moto G6 lineup, the Chicago-based brand could also take the opportunity to announce the budget Moto E5 series.

The same pro-science wave driving the March for Science is driving greater activism CLIMATE CHANGE Hundreds of scientists have moved beyond marching and are now hoping to storm Washington (and beyond) as politicians. The upwelling of science activism witnessed in last year’s March for Science led many to predict that a flood of scientists might leave the lab for the legislature. Now, on the eve of the second March for Science, a survey of the field suggests that’s the case. As many as 450 scientists-turned-politicians are throwing their hats into state, local, and federal campaigns, according to 314 Action. The advocacy group (named for the first three digits of pi) encourages and supports people with science and technology backgrounds interested in running for office. Founded in 2016, the group saw a huge surge in interest after Donald Trump was elected president, says 314 Action spokesperson Ted Bordelon. As many as 7,000 potential candidates reached out to 314 Action, though the realities of running have winnowed that number down. “The attacks on science certainly didn’t start with Trump,” Bordelon says. “But he has been a huge catalyst. That may be one of the bright spots of his presidency — more scientists saying they want to be in the ring when it comes to lawmaking.” With midterm elections looming this fall, some 25 scientists are running at the federal level. Depending how you count, that’s more than double the current number of science-trained members of Congress, not including physicians. The candidates’ backgrounds run the scientific gamut from aerospace to neuroscience to epidemiology. One candidate is biochemist Randy Wadkins. His first hankering to run for office began in 2015 when he took a year off from teaching and research to work as a congressional science fellow. Watching members of Congress from poor states like Mississippi vote against health care funding was “shocking,” he says. “I couldn’t understand the logic and I came back frustrated.” President Trump’s proposed cuts to science funding propelled Wadkins, a Democrat, to run for Mississippi’s 1st Congressional District seat despite the strong Republican demographics of his district. On his campaign website, Wadkins bills himself as “A new kind of Democrat: optimist, pragmatist, scientist.” “It’s time to stop the antiscience, anti–health care approach,” Wadkins says. Another scientist aiming for the ballot this fall is physicist Elaine DiMasi. She has spent decades studying the crystalline structures of biological materials such as seashell minerals at the Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, N.Y. Growing frustration with government shutdowns, a huge disruption to national labs like Brookhaven, partly spurred her candidacy. “Then, after Trump was elected, I thought, ‘I have a nice job, I’m tenured, I’m safe,’ but I felt so pessimistic.” Now she’s running for the 1st Congressional District of New York on Long Island. Many of their fellow scientists’ campaign messages echo similar themes: despair and dismay with a government that over many years has given science short shrift and cast evidence-based reasoning to the wind. These concerns are legitimate, says physicist Rush Holt, who served eight terms in the U.S. House of Representatives and now heads the American Association for the Advancement of Science. “There is hardly a public issue that does not have scientific components — election laws, public health, transportation, economics — almost every issue can be illuminated by scientific findings and evidence-based thinking,” Holt says. Legislators may ask for scientific input on explicitly scientific issues, like NASA’s budget. But “in all these other issues, where science is embedded but not obvious, science is neglected,” Holt says. DiMasi cites science-driven policy as a driving force in her candidacy. “Evidence-based politics is what I care about. I don’t care if it comes from the right or the left or the other right or the other left. As scientists, we are trained to prove ourselves wrong,” she says. “Government should have the same open mind.”

GUT WRENCHING Pathogen detectors built into food packaging could help curb the spread of foodborne illness. Pathogen detectors built into plastic patches could someday spare you food poisoning. Carlos Filipe, a chemical engineer at McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada, and colleagues have developed a new kind of flexible film that’s coated in molecules that glow when they touch E. coli cells. This type of sensor also glows in the presence of molecules secreted by E. coli, so the material doesn’t have to be in direct contact with bacterial cells to flag food contamination. Sensors about the size of postage stamps fluoresced brightly when tested on tainted meat and apple juice, but not when the sensors touched unspoiled samples, the researchers report online April 6 in ACS Nano. Next, the scientists plan to make films that glow in the presence of other bacteria, such as Salmonella, says study coauthor Tohid Didar, a mechanical engineer at McMaster. Food packaging equipped with such microbe monitors could help curb the spread of foodborne illness, which kills about 420,000 people worldwide each year, according to the World Health Organization. The glow of the sensors must be viewed under an ultraviolet lamp or with a fluorescence scanner. But other scientists have developed matchbox-sized smartphone attachments that detect fluorescence, which people could use to check packaged food at home before opening it, Filipe says. Grocery stores could also provide scanners so customers can check food before buying it.

BITE ME This summer, a lone star tick bit the author’s baby. The culprit, shown, was a nymph that wasn’t carrying disease-causing bacteria and had only a bit of blood in its belly, according to the lab that tested it. I thought it was just a scab. The brown speck clinging to my baby’s cheek had been there for a day or so, resting on a reddish patch of skin. He must have scratched himself, I thought, as I picked lightly at the mark. My husband was the first to figure out the truth. That little round speck wasn’t a scab at all — it was a tick. I had recently read a scary article about ticks (complete with scary title: “Be Very Afraid of Ticks”), and I was terrified. We plucked the bug off the baby, stored it in a plastic baggie and popped it into the freezer. But what next? Head to the ER? Get a blood test for Lyme disease? Start him on antibiotics in case he was infected? None of the above, says pediatric infectious disease specialist Sunil Sood, of Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine in Hempstead, N.Y. “It’s all overkill,” he says. A lot of parents panic when they spot a tick on their child because they think first of Lyme disease, a bacterial illness that can hit people with headaches, fevers, arthritis and even paralysis of the face. After hearing Sood talk about ticks on The Diane Rehm Show, I talked with him and with infectious disease physician Paul Mead about what parents need to know. 1. Not all ticks carry Lyme disease. A nasty little spiral-shaped bacteria called Borrelia burgdorferi causes Lyme disease. It hitches a ride in the guts of some, but not all, tick species. After an infected tick sinks its mouth parts into a person’s skin and begins to feed, the bacteria mosey up from the gut to the tick’s salivary glands and into the person. But a tick has to be attached for a long time before the bacteria make their way into the body — somewhere in the window of 36 to 48 hours. So if you find a tick crawling on your kid, you’re probably fine: There’s a good chance it hasn’t yet latched on and delivered the bacteria. Blacklegged ticks, or deer ticks, are the main carriers of Borrelia bacteria. So if your child has a brown dog tick, a Rocky Mountain wood tick, or a lone star tick (Baby S’s buddy), you don’t have to worry about Lyme disease. But these other types of ticks can carry different kinds of disease-causing bacteria, so it’s good to know which tick you’re dealing with, Sood says. “Parents should always remember to save the tick,” he says. “That’s the most important thing.” To figure out which kind of tick bit you or your loved one, you can look at pictures on the CDC’s website, or send the tick to an insect identification lab. (We snapped an iPhone pic of Baby S’s tick and e-mailed it to the USDA, which identifies ticks for free.) 2. There’s no need to get the tick tested for diseases. Several labs offer tick-testing services. These facilities will grind the tick up and look for DNA from Borrelia or other disease-causing bacteria. Testing sounded logical to me, so I shelled out 50 bucks to a zoology lab* in Massachusetts and sent off Baby S’s tick. I was hugely relieved when the test results came back negative. That meant Baby S was safe, right? Not necessarily. “Testing for bacteria is a waste of time and money,” Sood says. Blood in the tick’s belly can interfere with the test results, so the tick could test negative even if it’s carrying harmful bacteria. A positive test isn’t all that telling either. A tick that’s positive for Borrelia hasn’t necessarily passed the bacteria on to the bitten child. What’s more, if the lab destroys the tick without identifying it first, doctors won’t know which disease symptoms to look for, Sood says. “I don’t want to be looking for Lyme disease when it was a lone star tick,” he says. 3. Lyme disease doesn’t always cause the hallmark bull’s-eye rash. But nearly 90 percent of kids with Lyme disease do develop a rash at the bite site. The rash is a roughly circular red splotch that gradually grows bigger over time. In some kids, more than one splotch shows up. It can take a month to appear, so parents should stay watchful. For kids who don’t get a rash, look for fever and other flulike symptoms in the warm months, from April to November, Sood says. Since we knew that a lone star tick bit Baby S, we watched for symptoms of ehrlichiosis and Rocky Mountain spotted fever, both potentially fatal diseases. (They can be hard to spot in infants, so if he had become feverish, knowing the type of tick that bit him would have been helpful information for his pediatrician.) 4. Lyme disease is generally easy to treat. The odds of getting Lyme disease from an individual deer tick bite are pretty low: Even in tick-ridden areas, less than 5 percent of bites result in an infection. But those that do are easy to deal with, Sood says. “Lyme disease is completely treatable. All the symptoms literally melt away with antibiotics.” “I’m actually more worried about mosquito bites than tick bites,” he says. Catching the problem early can make treatment easier, says Paul Mead, an infectious disease physician at the Centers for Disease Control in Fort Collins, Colo. But, he says, “the vast majority of patients who have Lyme disease will recover and do just fine.” Still, about 4 to 5 percent of people who get treated have symptoms, such as fatigue, muscle aches and trouble sleeping, that linger for more than six months. The condition, named post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome, or PTLDS, is commonly known as “chronic Lyme disease,” and on the Internet, it’s a notoriously thorny subject. “There’s a lot of misinformation out there,” Mead says. No one really knows what causes the symptoms. People could be having a delayed immune response, or they may have an undiagnosed illness that’s to blame. But scientists do know that lengthy courses of antibiotics don’t seem to help. “People should be skeptical if providers are telling them that they need to be on months and years of antibiotics,” Mead says. Very few — if any — people actually die from Lyme disease. One 2012 study found that from 1999 to 2003, only 23 death certificates listed Lyme disease as the underlying cause (and perhaps only one of those people actually had the disease). During the same time period, the CDC recorded more than 96,000 cases of the disease. But not every case gets reported, Mead says. The CDC estimates that the number of Americans diagnosed with Lyme disease each year is actually around 300,000. 5. There are a few good ways to prevent tick bites. First, if kids play outside, check them daily for ticks, making sure to inspect easy-to-miss nooks and crannies like the armpits, groin and scalp. Bathing with a washcloth is a simple and effective way to sweep ticks from the skin before they’ve latched on. Bug repellents like DEET and permethrin can help keep ticks away. For kids, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends formulations with 10 to 30 percent DEET (although Canada’s public health department thinks kids should stick to formulations with 10 percent DEET or less). If you do find a tick that’s attached, remove it right away. A pair of thin-tipped tweezers and an empty container will do the trick, Sood says. “It’s nothing fancy,” he says. Grasp the tick at the mouth end, and pull straight up. “Gentle, steady pressure, and it will generally pop right out,” Sood says. I’m much less panicked about ticks now than I was when one was hanging off Baby S’s face. But I do worry that I might not notice one hiding out in some cozy crevice of his skin. And the problem isn’t likely to go away: The number of Lyme cases might go up as the climate changes and ticks have more warm, woodsy places to live. I know our family needs to be especially vigilant: We live in an area that keeps erupting with new cases. Montgomery County, Maryland, ranked 27th out of more than 3,000 U.S. counties in the number of Lyme disease cases tallied up from 2007 to 2011. It’s number one in Maryland. (You can check out the map in this paper to see if you live in a high-risk area, look at this CDC Excel spreadsheet to see how your county fares, or read more about the CDC’s maps here.) Still, I’m trying to ratchet down my fear level from super-freak-out-panic to something in the neighborhood of responsibly concerned. “I don’t think being alarmed is helpful,” Mead says. “People should be aware of the problem, and know what to do protect themselves.” I’m not ready to douse my family’s clothing in bug repellent just yet, but I have vowed to do daily tick checks and wash well after playing outdoors. And next time, if I see a funny-looking scab on my kids’ skin, I’m checking to see if it has legs. Microbiologist Stephen Rich of the Laboratory of Medical Zoology (the lab that tested Baby S’s tick) at the University of Massachusetts took issue with Sunil Sood’s statement that “Testing for bacteria is a waste of time and money.” Rich explained that the lab tests are not intended to diagnose human disease. Instead, he notes, one of the big benefits is disease surveillance. In addition to identifying deer ticks, dog ticks, lone star ticks and the diseases they may carry, TickReport makes data available to the public. He makes a good point. Baby S’s tick was one of 272 ticks the lab has tested from Maryland — five of which came from my zip code alone (none of the five tested positive for the bacteria that causes Lyme disease). So people can use the data to glean info about potential risk in their area. Sood’s point was that testing a tick for bacteria is not a good way to find out if a bitten child was infected. But I agree that there’s certainly value to the information collected from testing ticks and tracking tick bites. If you live in USA TROUBLE SPOTS Lyme disease cases are concentrated in the northeastern United States and the upper Midwest

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AUSTRALIA is in “real trouble” of running out of fuel by the end of next month in the wake of the Syria strikes, according to experts. The International Energy Agency mandates that countries hold a stock in reserve “equivalent to 90 days of net imports” but Australia only has 43 days worth of supply, The Australian reports. Australia’s energy security is dependent on regional refineries and oil flows from the Middle East with 91 per cent of all our transport fuels imported in this way. But there is no plan B in case of an oil and fuel supply interruption, according to experts. Liberal Senator Jim Molan, a former major general in the Australian Army, on Monday told 2GB that “we stand in real trouble and this is a single point of failure for Australia, very similar to what could happen in a cyber situation”. He said the government had taken a “business as usual approach” to fuel reserves and that it was now time to “see action”. “It happens because for too long we have taken a business as usual approach,” Mr Molan said. “It’s like saying we can determine the size and shape of the Australian Defence Force based on commercial factors and making the market decide. “The way that we seem to get around this is that we buy credits overseas which ignores the entire problem. “Those credits say that if things go wrong we can buy from overseas but hang on our supply lines of communication by ship are likely to be either threatened or because of insurers nothing will come to us at all.” According to Mr Molan, Australia has just three weeks’ of motor fuel stocks and an eruption of tension in our region could immobilise civilian and military vehicles. “I can’t imagine that armoured vehicles in the forces in the near future are going to work off renewables or off electricity or off whatever,” Mr Molan told Sky News on Monday. It would be difficult to keep Australian vehicles going should there be conflict in the Middle East, Korea, or elsewhere in our neighbourhood, he said. This will be a prominent problem for the next Chief of the Defence Force Angus Campbell Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull yesterday announced General Campbell would take over from the retiring Air Chief Marshal Mark Binskin in June. Mr Molan, whose military career includes serving as Chief of Operations in 2004 at the headquarters of the Multinational Force in Iraq, yesterday outlined the risks he saw. He said 60 per cent of the engine fuel used by Asia came from the Gulf. “So we see streams of ships coming round from the Gulf, coming across the Indian Ocean, going through the straits through the South China Sea to where it’s refined for us,” he told Sky News. “It’s refined in Singapore, yes, but it’s also refined in Japan, in Korea and in China. It then is turned into diesel, aviation fuel and petrol and comes down in ships to Australia’s ports.” Earlier this year, Mr Molan said Australia was one of the few places in the world that didn’t have a government-mandated strategic reserve of fuel. According to him, if Australia’s current stockpiles of petrol, diesel and aviation fuel ran dry then the military would effectively be grounded in that time. Defence Strategy and Capability at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute senior analyst Dr Malcolm Davis backed Mr Molan’s comments, saying Australia’s fuel reserves would last “20 days at best” if supplies were cut off. He said Australia was “one of the few countries in the world that does not take our energy security seriously”. “It would be a Mad Max world. Our society and our economy would begin to fall apart very quickly,” Dr Davis told news.com.au. “It’s like electricity — everything depends on fuel to make an economy run. It is very serious. “We’ve left ourselves in a perilous situation and governments on both sides have been negligent in this regard. “Military analysts have been warning consistently for years and they just ignore it.” Dr Davis explained most of Australia’s fuel is transported through narrow straits by tanker ships. “Instead of investing in refinement facilities here for refining fuel, the government has decided it’s cheaper to do it overseas.” One of the key facilities is in Singapore. “The price they pay for that in a crisis is that China can interrupt flow to Australia relatively easy and our economy falls apart. “It’s very negligent of the government to let this situation happen. It’s even more appalling we’ve been warning both political parties for years about this.” Dr Davis warned the US military had become severely depleted since the Bush administration and said China, Iran, North Korea and Russia had become “direct threats”. US President Donald Trump hailed Saturday’s strike targeting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s chemical weapons capabilities as mission accomplished. The strikes were in response to a suspected poison gas attack by Assad in the Damascus suburb of Douma last weekend. Australia has backed the mission, with Mr Turnbull calling it “a calibrated, proportionate and targeted response”. Mr Molan expects Russia to retaliate. “There’s no way in the world this is the end of the activity because that’s up to the Russians,” Senator Molan told the Nine network. “(There’s) been threats made by the Russians, by the Iranians, they are mixed up in the Syrian activity.” He expected Russian President Vladimir Putin to counter, possibly with a cyber attack, and release a lot of disinformation. “The limited nature of what the Americans have done removes a lot of options from him,” Senator Molan said. Senator Wong said the opposition, like the Australian government, disagreed with many of the actions taken by Russia. “We continue to be critical of them, in a great many respects, including in their actions in relation to Syria.” Mr Ciobo told the ABC that Russia had a choice to make. “Do they want to be alongside murderous regimes that use chemical weapons against their own people?” he said. “Or would they rather be aligned with those countries that are motivated to protect the innocent and to try to bring a successful peaceful resolution.” Overnight, the UN Security Council rejected a Russian resolution calling for condemnation of the “aggression” by the US and its allies against Syria. Russia got support from only two other countries on the 15-member council — China and Bolivia.

AS 60,000 excited concertgoers filed in to see Hong Kong pop star Jacky Cheung, they had no idea their faces were being scanned. One of those among the massive crowd in the Chinese city of Nanchang was a 31-year-old fugitive known only by his surname of Ao. A local news website reports that Ao was wanted by police for “economic crimes” and his details had been entered into a national database. Presumably, the wanted man believed he would never be recognised or caught among the tens of thousands of people at the concert. However, in the middle of a lively electronic song about summer romance, two police officers began descending the aisles, stopped at Ao’s aisle and apprehended him — according to footage posted on the Chinese video sharing site Miaopai. Kan Kan News reports that cameras at the entrances with facial recognition technology had identified him, flagged authorities and led cops to his exact location. “He was completely shocked when we took him away,” a local police officer, Li Jin, boasted as he told the Xinhua news agency about the arrest. “He couldn’t fathom that police could so quickly capture him in a crowd of 60,000.” Mr Li also told China Daily that there were several cameras at the ticket entrances equipped with facial recognition technology. Mr Ao had reportedly driven 90km (56 miles) from Zhangshu to Nanchang with his wife specially to catch the concert. However, video footage obtained by Kan Kan, appears to show the suspect speaking in police custody, saying: “If I knew, I wouldn’t have gone [to the concert].” Ao’s incredible capture is a stark example of China’s growing use of facial recognition technology, which is used to track the movements of its 1.4 billion citizens. As cops now stroll the streets wearing “smartglasses” with a facial recognition systems, law enforcement and security officials in China say they hope to use facial recognition technology to track suspects and even predict crimes. In another high profile capture in August last year, police in Shandong province arrested 25 suspects using a facial recognition system that was set up at the Qingdao International Beer Festival. China is now a world leader in the creepy technology and regularly reminds its citizens that such equipment will make it almost impossible to evade the authorities. The country has been building what it calls “the world’s biggest camera surveillance network”. This will include an estimated 170 million CCTV cameras are already in place and some 400 million new ones are expected be installed in the next three years. “At the back end, these efforts merge with a vast database of information on every citizen, a ‘Police Cloud’ that aims to scoop up such data as criminal and medical records, travel bookings, online purchase and even social media comments — and link it to everyone’s identity card and face,” the Chinese government boasted in a statement about the project. “A goal of all of these interlocking efforts: To track where people are, what they are up to, what they believe and who they associate with — and ultimately even to assign them a single ‘social credit’ score based on whether the government and their fellow citizens consider them trustworthy.” The most obvious demerit points are aimed at those who engage in criminal behaviour or are in debt. But what people say and do in public can also be ‘scored’ — both positively or negatively. As can their purchasing habits. Smoking on a train. Illegal parking. Being unruly in a public place. Taking an unsanctioned line on social media. All can cost points. Members of the Communist state with high scores can benefit through the opening of doors to services, travel and positions. Those with lower scores see those doors closed. And, if you think this sounds creepy, you’re not alone. NGO Human Rights Watch is closely watching what is unfolding in China in relation to mass surveillance. Maya Wang, a senior researcher at the group, told the Washington Post that China was aggregating data about its citizens and using the information they had gathered to target ethnic minorities in the western Chinese province. “For the first time, we are able to demonstrate that the Chinese government’s use of big data and predictive policing not only blatantly violates privacy rights, but also enables officials to arbitrarily detain people,” Wang said. “People in Xinjiang can’t resist or challenge the increasingly intrusive scrutiny of their daily lives because most don’t even know about this ‘black box’ program or how it works.” China’s ‘social credit’ system is seeing expanded application under its leader, President Xi Jinping’s emperor-like rule. The National Development and Reform Commission recently released a report saying a person’s score on this conformity system will now determine whether or not individuals are free to travel. “Chinese government authorities clearly hope to create a reality in which bureaucratic pettiness could significantly limit people’s rights,” says Maya Wang, a senior researcher for the non-profit NGO Human Rights Watch. Under the social credit system, the Beijing government assigns a value to the behaviour of its citizens. It hopes to have a centralised database adding and subtracting points for all its 1.4 billion citizens in full swing by 2020.

A JOURNALIST who wrote about a shadowy group of Russian mercenaries operating in Syria has been found dead after apparently falling from the balcony of his apartment. Russian reporter, Maxim Borodin, died in hospital on Sunday, according to news website Novy Den, where he worked. He fell from the fifth-floor balcony of his flat in Yekaterinburg in unclear circumstances. Russian media reports claimed police said the apartment was locked from the inside, indicating no one else had entered or left the property. However Novy Den’s editor said he did not believe the death could have been an accident and he didn’t think Borodin was suicidal, the BBC reports. Friend Vyacheslav Bashkov, described Mr Borodin as a “principled, honest journalist” and said he had called him at five in the morning last week to claim there was “someone with a weapon on his balcony and people in camouflage and masks on the staircase landing”. He later phoned back to say the men had been apparently taking part in a security exercise. Authorities said there are no grounds for launching a case, according to Russian media agency TASS. “Several versions are being considered, including that this was an unfortunate accident, but there is no sign a crime has been committed,” a spokesman said. But Harlem Desir, the representative for freedom of the media at the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe said Borodin’s death was “of serious concern”. “I call on the authorities for a swift and thorough investigation,” he said on Twitter Monday. In March, Borodin had written about the secretive Wagner group, a mercenary paramilitary organisation that reportedly operates alongside Syrian forces, but has been denied by the Kremlin. On February 7, the group made headlines when hundreds were killed in Syria in the first open confrontation with US forces in more than 50 years after a manoeuvre took them across the dividing line between US-led and Russian-backed groups. It’s believed up to 2500 Russian mercenaries work in Syria earning around 300,000 roubles per month as part of the paramilitary force which is reportedly under the control of the GRU, or Russian military intelligence. Many of the people are believed to have worked on Russia’s behalf during the 2014 annexation of Crimea. The group is reportedly bankrolled by Yevgeny Prigozhin, known as “Putin’s chef” with links to the Kremlin. He was one of 13 Russians indicted in February as a result of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation on charges he funded the “troll factory” in St Petersburg that allegedly tried to sway the US presidential election in 2016. The death of Mr Borodin has made headlines in the UK which has recently accused Russia of carrying out an attack Sergei and Yulia Skripal using military-grade nerve agent Novichok. Russia has denied poisoning the father and daughter and is seeking access to speak to them. Mr Borodin had also investigated political scandals including those made by a Belarusian escort known as Nastya Rybka in a video posted by Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. Journalists and pro-democracy campaigners have previously been subject to attacks in Russia, with 58 people killed in the country since 1992, according to the Committee for the Protection of Journalists. Amnesty International’s most recent report said most of the media in country were under state control and used to “smear human rights defenders, political opponents and other dissenting voices.”

FORMER first lady Barbara Bush, who was reported in “failing health” over the weekend, is in “great spirits” and resting comfortably at home, said her granddaughter today. The 92-year-old is “a fighter” and the family is grateful for “everybody’s prayers and thoughts,” Jenna Bush Hager told NBC’s Today on Monday. Bush family spokesman Jim McGrath said in a news release Sunday that “Mrs Bush, now age 92, has decided not to seek additional medical treatment and will instead focus on comfort care” at home in Houston following consultations with her doctors and family. Mr McGrath did not elaborate on the nature of Mrs Bush’s health problems but on Monday said she has suffered in recent years from congestive heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. She also has been treated for decades for Graves’ disease, which is a thyroid condition, had heart surgery in 2009 for a severe narrowing of her main heart valve and was hospitalised a year before that for surgery on a perforated ulcer. Jenna Bush Hager, an anchor on NBC’s Today, told the program on Monday morning that her grandmother was resting comfortably with family. “She’s a fighter. She’s an enforcer,” Hager said, using the family’s nickname for her grandmother. “We’re grateful for her, for everybody’s prayers and thoughts, and just know the world is better because she is in it. “We are grateful for her. She’s the best grandma anybody could have ever had ... or have.” Mrs Bush is one of only two first ladies who was also the mother of a president. The other was Abigail Adams, wife of John Adams, the nation’s second president, and mother of John Quincy Adams, the sixth president. Mrs Bush married George H.W. Bush on Jan. 6, 1945. They had six children and have been married longer than any presidential couple in American history. Eight years after she and her husband left the White House, Mrs Bush stood with her husband as their son George W. was sworn in as the 43rd president. Ms Hager said the former president “still says, ‘I love you Barbie’ every night,” describing their grandparents’ close relationship as “remarkable.” Mr McGrath said Mrs Bush was concerned more for her family than herself. “It will not surprise those who know her that Barbara Bush has been a rock in the face of her failing health, worrying not for herself — thanks to her abiding faith — but for others,” he said. President Donald Trump’s press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, said in a statement Sunday evening that “the President’s and first lady’s prayers are with all of the Bush family during this time.” Mrs Bush is known for her white hair and her triple-strand fake pearl necklace. Her brown hair began to grey in the 1950s, while her three-year-old daughter Pauline, known to her family as Robin, underwent treatment for leukaemia and eventually died in October 1953. She later said dyed hair didn’t look good on her and credited the colour to the public’s perception of her as “everybody’s grandmother.” Her pearls sparked a national fashion trend when she wore them to her husband’s inauguration in 1989. The pearls became synonymous with Mrs Bush, who later said she selected them to hide the wrinkles in her neck. The candid admission only bolstered her down-to-earth public image. Her 93-year-old husband, the nation’s 41st president who served from 1989 to 1993, has also had health issues in recent years. In April 2017, he was hospitalised in Houston for two weeks for a mild case of pneumonia and chronic bronchitis. He was hospitalised months earlier, also for pneumonia. He has a form of Parkinson’s disease and uses a motorised scooter or a wheelchair for mobility. Before being president, he served as a congressman, CIA director and Ronald Reagan’s vice president. Barbara Pierce Bush was born June 8, 1925, in Rye, New York. Her father was the publisher of McCall’s and Redbook magazines. She and George H.W. Bush married when she was 19 and while he was a young naval aviator. After World War II, the Bushes moved to Texas where he went into the oil business. Along with her memoirs, she is the author of C. Fred’s Story and Millie’s Book, based on the lives of her dogs. Proceeds from the books benefited adult and family literacy programs. The Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy began during her White House years with the goal of improving the lives of disadvantaged Americans by boosting literacy among parents and their children. The foundation partners with local programs and had awarded more than $40 million as of 2014 to create or expand more than 1500 literacy programs nationwide.

AUSTRALIA has blamed Russia for a series of cyber attacks that targeted Australian businesses, with the government warning it might not be the last. A “significant number” of Australian organisations have been affected by the attack, Minister for Law Enforcement and Cyber Security, Angus Taylor, confirmed. Australia joined the United States and Britain in alleging Russia was the culprit and “expressed concern at the malicious cyber activity”. “This attempt by Russia is a sharp reminder that Australian businesses and individuals are constantly targeted by malicious state and non-state actors, and we must maintain rigorous cyber security practices,” Mr Taylor said. It comes after a joint alert on the attacks from the US Department of Homeland Security, Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United Kingdom’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) warning small-office and home-office customers were among the impacted. “Russian state-sponsored actors are using compromised routers to conduct spoofing ‘man-in-the-middle’ attacks to support espionage, extract intellectual property, maintain persistent access to victim networks, and potentially lay a foundation for future offensive operations,” the joint statement read. The allies allege Russian “state-sponsored” hackers accessed and infected commercially available routers around the world in a targeted campaign that focused on government agencies, infrastructure and businesses. “The activity highlighted today is part of a repeated pattern of disruptive and harmful malicious cyber action carried out by the Russian government,” Howard Marshall, FBI Deputy Assistant Director alleged. “We do not make this attribution lightly and will hold steadfast with our partners.” Government and private-sector organisations, critical infrastructure providers, and the internet service providers (ISPs) supporting these sectors were the primary targets. “Commercially available routers were used as a point of entry, demonstrating that every connected device is vulnerable to malicious activity,” Mr Taylor said. The Australian Cyber Security Centre said it has engaged relevant Australian organisations, including through their internet service providers, to provide mitigation advice for those affected. Despite the fact there was no indication Australian information has been successfully compromised, Mr Taylor warned it didn’t mean Australians weren’t vulnerable. “These cyber exploits are directed at network infrastructure devices worldwide such as routers, switches, firewalls, and the Network Intrusion Detection System (NIDS),” he said. “Network device vendors, ISPs, public sector organisations, private sector corporations and small-office/home-office customers should read the alert (TA18-106A) and act on the recommended mitigation strategies.” The alert said the “cyber actors” used weaknesses to identify vulnerable devices, extract device configurations, map internal network architectures, harvest login credentials and masquerade as privileged users. “A malicious actor with presence on an organisation’s internal routing and switching infrastructure can monitor, modify, and deny traffic to and from key hosts inside the network and leverage trust relationships to conduct lateral movement to other hosts,” the alert said. Ciaran Martin, CEO of the National Cyber Security Centre, said the allied announcement was a first in tackling Russian espionage, and won’t be the last. “This is the first time that in attributing a cyber attack to Russia the US and the UK have, at the same time, issued joint advice to industry about how to manage the risks from the attack,” he said. “It marks an important step in our fight back against state-sponsored aggression in cyberspace. — Should any evidence of this activity be identified, organisations are urged to report the incident via the ACSC website.

CHILLING pictures of a man lying dead in the sand in crime-plagued Acapulco encapsulate the brutal violence gripping the once-idyllic tourist hotspot in Mexico. Tourists found the unnamed man’s body floating facedown in the water off Caletilla Beach after a suspected shooting, The Sun reported. Armed troops and forensics personnel were seen carrying the body off the tourist-packed sands, on Mexico’s Pacific coast. One soldier had to stop a lifeguard from taking a picture of the corpse on the sands that have become all too accustomed to such brutality. It is unclear how the man died, but Guerrero state, like many others in Mexico, has long been crippled by gang and drug violence. More than 25,000 murders were recorded in Mexico last year as rival drug gangs increasingly splintered into smaller, more merciless groups. The Guerrero region itself is home to numerous poppy fields used to produce opium, the main ingredient in heroin. In Acapulco, locals who depend on tourism as their main source of income are understood to bring guns to the beach as protection. Acapulco is still in the midst of its worst crime wave in a decade, with as many as 12 people murdered every day, reports claim. In January 2016, a man swam up to shore with a handgun and shot a beach vendor three times in the chest before escaping on a jet ski. That “execution” was the fourth of its kind on Acapulco Bay, and the shooters escaped on every occasion. Former Mexican President Vicente Fox has proposed legalising opium poppy production as a way to help end bloody turf battles fought by drug cartels in various parts of the country. Mr Fox served as president from 2000 to 2006 with the centre-right National Action Party but has since distanced himself from the party. “The plants themselves are not harmful, we make them harmful, [especially] the criminals who use them for evil purposes,” Mr Fox said at a pro-marijuana event in the capital on Wednesday. He also implored Mexico’s presidential candidates to openly debate drug legalisation ahead of the July vote. The ex-leader cited the violence-wracked southern state of Guerrero, arguing that drug legalisation would curtail cartel profits and boost safety.

BRITAIN’S Court of Appeal ruled against the parents of a terminally ill toddler who wanted to take him to Italy for medical treatment in favour of suspending life support. The parents of 23-month-old Alfie Evans have been engaged in a protracted legal fight with Alder Hey Children’s Hospital over his care. They asked the Court of Appeal to overturn earlier rulings that blocked further medical treatment for their son before turning to the Supreme Court — the highest in Britain. But judges upheld the decision by a lower court that flying Alfie to a hospital in Rome would be pointless and wrong. But Alfie’s dad Tom Evans said the fight was “not over” after judges ruled that Alfie’s life support should be turned off. “Transferring our stable son MAY be a risk???” wrote the 21-year-old on Facebook. “But removing his life support and letting him suffocate and die isn’t???????!!!!!! “Where’s the logic in that? “THEY SAY I NEED TO FACE REALITY!! “I’ve been living through it for 15 months.” He said he and Alfie’s mum Kate James, 20, accepted that their son was going to die but they didn’t know when, and wanted him to live out his last days with as much “dignity” and “love” as possible. “It’s not over!!!!” he added. Some protesters gathered outside the hospital in Liverpool wept at the news of the appeals court’s decision. Some chanted “Save Alfie Evans!” Alfie is in a “semi-vegetative state” as the result of a degenerative neurological condition that doctors have been unable to definitively identify. Lower courts have ordered the boy’s life support to be withdrawn. Pope Francis prayed for Alfie and others who are suffering from serious infirmities on Sunday. The pope’s comments marked the second case in less than a year in which he expressed his views on the treatment of a terminally ill British child. Last July, Pope Francis spoke out on behalf of Charlie Gard, who died from a rare genetic disease after his parents waged a protracted court fight to obtain treatment for him outside of Britain. In appealing the lower court rulings, Alfie’s parents argued their son had shown improvement in recent weeks. But doctors said his brain was eroded and his condition was irreversible.

AN AIR China flight was diverted after a male passenger armed with a fountain pen held a crew member hostage, aviation authorities said. Flight CA1350 had left Changsha in China’s Hunan province on Sunday bound for Beijing. But about an hour after takeoff, it was forced to land in the city of Zhengzhou after the passenger used a pen to threaten a flight attendant, China’s Civil Aviation Administration said. The plane made a safe landing and no one on board was harmed, the agency said. Authorities initially described the incident as “illegal interference”. The Civil Aviation Authority said the matter was “successfully handled” by police but did not provide any more details. Witnesses told Beijing News many passengers were alerted to the midair drama when they heard the flight attendant “cry”. “I think someone uttered a cry, which woke us. Everyone was sleeping ... it was a woman’s cry. Nobody knew what was going on,” one passenger said, according to AFP. The crew kept passengers calm and in their seats, the passenger added. The Xiaoxiang Morning Herald quoted a passenger who said the disturbance occurred in the first or business class cabins but that the curtains separating those sections from economy class were pulled tightly shut, AP reported. The passenger looked out the window and saw police cars, ambulances and fire engines parked outside the plane as it was landing in Zhengzhou, as well as armed personnel in camouflage uniforms. Zhengzhou airport immediately activated emergency measures when the plane landed, the airport said in a statement. Police arrested the hostage-taker, who was identified as a 41-year-old man from Hunan province who had a history of mental illness. No further details of his arrest have been released.

TESLA has been forced to suspend production of its Model 3 sedan — a car that is considered vital to the company’s future but has been plagued by production delays. The apparent problem with Tesla’s Model 3 assembly line? Too many robots, according to the man behind the wheel of the company. Tesla boss Elon Musk took to Twitter to admit his big mistake as the company struggles to fend off critics. “Yes, excessive automation at Tesla was a mistake,” he tweeted on the weekend. “To be precise, my mistake. Humans are underrated.” Mr Musk has been a vocal advocate of the idea of universal basic income, claiming automation and robots are set to wipe out all sorts of traditional jobs. However Tesla’s own attempts to heavily rely on automation has apparently caused problems. “We had this crazy, complex network of conveyor belts,” Mr Musk added in an interview with CBS on the weekend. “And it was not working, so we got rid of that whole thing.” His concession came as a report published by Reveal in conjunction with The Center for Investigative Reporting claimed that in the company’s eagerness to ramp up production of its Model 3, Tesla quietly concealed the true number of workplace injuries at its Californian assembly plant. Injuries were reported by workers to supervisors or managers, but the complaints were reportedly dismissed and not passed on to regulators as is required by law. In a statement on the company’s blog Monday titled “A Not So Revealing Story,” Tesla denounced the story calling Reveal an “extremist organisation” which produced “an article that paints a completely false picture of Tesla.” On Tuesday morning, it was reported that for the second time this year Tesla has been forced to shut down production of its Model 3 vehicle, the company’s more affordable offering. The announcement of the four-to-five-day production pause came without warning, according to Tesla employees who spoke with BuzzFeed News. A Tesla spokesperson said the production halt will be “used to improve automation and systematically address bottlenecks in order to increase production rates.” More than 400,000 people have pre-ordered one of the Model 3 vehicles but their wait continues.

A ROMANIAN model who claimed to have auctioned her virginity for $3.7 million to a Hong Kong businessman now says the whole thing was a publicity stunt that has “ruined my life”. Aleexandra Khefren, who first made global headlines in 2016 with an appearance on UK morning TV and last year said the deal had been done, told pornography website Sugarcookie the “virgin auctions” were just a marketing tool used by controversial website Cinderella Escorts. “It never happened,” Ms Khefren said in a video interview with Sugarcookie founder Harriet Sugarcookie released this month. “Like, [there] was no bidder. I didn’t sell my virginity.” She said she first got involved after being contacted by Cinderella Escorts on social media, and that the website offered her a “marketing proposal”. “The plan was that ... I would kind of become famous with my modelling career, become a celebrity and all that stuff, and they will get so much publicity on their escort site,” Ms Kefren said. She said she was “promised what happened in the UK would stay in the UK” and that nobody from her home country would find out, but “it went global in like one or two hours” and has “ruined my life forever since then”. “I thought, I’m just going to this TV show, I’m just going to tell some lies,” Ms Khefren said. “He wrote me two pages just to learn and memorise, they wanted to create a story about myself to make people feel sorry for me. “They told me that they would not give my real name and my real country. When I got back home I tried every day to drive my parents out of the house to a restaurant or something so they could not watch the news.” She said she did take a “virginity test” at a Romanian hospital even though it was a publicity stunt, because “when they contacted the news” they were told, “How can we know she’s a virgin? We need a certificate.” With Ms Khefren’s appearance on UK TV making national headlines in Romania, her parents finally found out when a reporter from the BBC contacted her uncle. “I got a lot of hate, the media was attacking me,” she said. “They were really, really hard on me. I felt attacked, bullied, and I didn’t expect that, even from my friends, classmates. They called me a liar.” Ms Khefren said she had lost her family and friends, fallen into depression and attempted suicide “multiple times” since. She said she felt guilty for being a “bad influence” on other women. “Many, many girls wrote to me, ‘Hey Alex, how was using Cinderella Escorts, should I sell my virginity?’,” she said. “I got hundreds of messages from girls asking how to contact the agency and work for them. Cinderella Escorts told me to send them to them.” She said she didn’t forward any of their numbers, but gave them the link to the website. Ms Khefren said even it if weren’t a publicity stunt, she wouldn’t have sold her virginity. “I wouldn’t do it even for a billion dollars,” she said. News.com.au contacted Ms Khefren for comment but she requested €500 ($800) for a phone interview. Sugarcookie alleges Cinderella Escorts’ founder is not German man Jan Zakobielski, as named and photographed in local media, but a Greek man who uses the publicity from the “virgin auctions” to lure women to work in seedy Athens brothels. Sugarcookie alleges Mr Zakobielski is only an employee. In an email, Cinderella Escorts denied the allegations, saying Harriet Sugarcookie was a “porn producer who try to make her porn fame with this claims”. The website said that it dropped Ms Khefren “just a few days before meeting the client” after discovering through her Instagram that she had a boyfriend, a Romanian rapper, and had appeared in his music video. “Cinderella Escorts is owned and operated by me, Jan Zakobielski,” he said when asked whether he was using an alias, attaching a photograph of a German ID card. “Any responsible journalist would be able to discover this very quickly by looking at the company documents filed in Germany. I need to inform you that pushing this wrong claims will have legal consequences.” He said the Greek man named by the porn website was Ms Khefren’s “ex-boyfriend”. “He sent us the screenshots of Aleexandra’s Instagram when he found out she had a new boyfriend,” he said. “We told her who informed us. That’s why she is against him and claims he is working for Cinderella Escorts. This is absolutely not true. “We got a client for Aleexandra, over £2 million. Our security system to protect our clients was successful and we found out that she had pictures of her and a Romanian rapper, her boyfriend on Instagram. “Not very smart. We contacted her with it and finally kicked her out. I think it was hard enough for her, to get kicked out and lose £2 million just a few days before meeting the client. “She was very angry with us. She started a campaign against us in Romanian newspapers with a lot of lies that this was all a marketing strategy. As you can understand, losing £2 million because of our decision make her hating us and try to make dirty campaigns.”

YALE psychology professor Laurie Santos had no idea that her course “Psychology and the Good Life” would be such a hit when she launched it earlier this year. Before the start date, 1,200 students — about a quarter of their undergraduate population — enrolled, making it the most popular course in Yale’s 316-year history. According to the New York Times the course focuses both on positive psychology — the characteristics that allow humans to flourish, according to Dr. Santos — and behavioural change, or how to live by those lessons in real life. Or, in simpler terms, how to live a happier life. “The purpose of the course is to not only learn what psychological research says about what makes us happy but also to put those strategies into practice,” reads the course outline. “The first half of the course reveals misconceptions we have about happiness and the annoying features of the mind that lead us to think the way we do. The second half of the course focuses on activities that have been proven to increase happiness along with strategies to build better habits.” Assistant director of digital education at Yale’s Centre for Teaching and Learning Belinda Platt tells Town & Country “Laurie is a rock-star professor ... She came to us with this idea and said, ‘I’m proposing this course that I want to teach on campus, and I’m doing a pilot run with a small group of 20 to 30 students in my residential college. Why don’t you come film it and then we can use that material for an online course?’” The five online course lectures were recorded in Professor Santos’ home on the Yale campus. Dr Santos speculated that Yale students are interested in the class because, in high school, they had to deprioritise their happiness to gain admission to the school, adopting harmful life habits that have led to what she called “the mental health crises we’re seeing at places like Yale”. The online version of the course (which has been rebranded as The Science of Wellbeing) will be accompanied by a mobile app “to track behaviour that contributes to wellness”. It’s free to enrol and for a $US49 ($63) fee students will receive a certificate as long as they pass all graded quizzes and writing assignments. If you feel like stretching your brain and taking the course, you can enrol here for the next series which starts on April 30. It joins 20 other Coursera online classes taught by the Yale faculty.

A VEGAN was left with a bad taste in her mouth after paying $22 for bibimbap which she described as being like a “prison meal”. Make-up artist Loren Murnane, from Newcastle, NSW decided to eat out last Wednesday at a local Japanese restaurant which she said claims to caters for vegans. But when the 28-year-old ordered a vegan version of a bibimbap — a Korean dish of white rice, usually topped with a variety of vegetables, a fried egg, sliced meat and garnishes — the hungry mum-of-three received a meal which didn’t match her expectations. Loren, who did not complain to the restaurant at the time, saw the funny side when she uploaded an image of the sorry meal to social media. Her post quickly went viral where commenters were not quite as forgiving — comparing the dish to something which might be served behind bars. Loren said: “The menu mentioned a medley of vegetables, so I thought I couldn’t go wrong. “It’s shocking they would serve that for $22. It was basically just a ball of rice garnished with vegetables. “I would be embarrassed to serve that! Anywhere else they serve it overflowing with vegetables. “The comments when I posted a picture were pretty hilarious. Someone was like, ‘That’s a prison meal!’” Loren’s is not the first vegan meal to go viral for the wrong reasons, serving as the latest in a long line of disappointing plant-based dishes to spark backlash online. The mum-of-three said she was fed up with being served minimalist meals in an age where veganism is increasingly mainstream. Loren said: “This happens all the time. But vegans are not that uncommon anymore. “I’m pretty non-confrontational, so I didn’t complain or anything. But I won’t be returning anytime soon. “I’ve got three kids, so I don’t eat out often. It makes it all the more frustrating when this happens!” The Newcastle restaurant, which Loren did not wish to name, declined to comment.