Image: Biolite

Editor’s note: This campaign was fully funded and the product is now in production. You can purchase it here.

It’s a common camper’s trouble: It takes forever to get a fire going and once you do, you can’t even get comfortable around it when it starts blowing smoke in your face. Worst case scenario, the smoke follows you and sends you shuffling around the campfire to find a temporary blind spot until the smoke tries to find you again. Instead of (literally) working around the campfire, Biolite is looking to cut out the smoke altogether.

Biolite has had your back on camping supplies before with a portable stove that charges your devices, and now they have a new Kickstarter to stoke their flames. The Biolite FirePit is a wood-burning device that creates an awesome campfire and dilutes all of the smoke, leaving only the warmth and glow of a cozy fire to share with your camping pals. 

The FirePit uses 51 jets to pump your fire with oxygen, thus creating a better flame (read: more s’mores) and greatly reducing the amount of smoke it lets off. The free app even allows you to control the strength of your flame via Bluetooth while the X-Ray mesh provides a full 360-degree view of your flame to make your camping experience as authentic as possible. 

The FirePit is also ideal for burning charcoal and features a grill plate so you can cook up your camp meals with ease. The pit itself is powered by a USB-chargeable battery that can also act as a power bank for your devices.

Check out BioLite’s Kickstarter page to learn more about the campaign and buy it on Amazon.

Moroccan authorities arrested 12 suspects and were hunting three others after a 17-year-old girl told police she was gang-raped, tortured, and held against her will for two months.

Anger erupted in Morocco after news reports last week that the teenager was abducted, brutalised, and forcibly tattooed. The case sparked a new public outcry over women’s rights and sexual abuse in the North African kingdom.

Ibrahim Hashane, a member of a group of volunteer lawyers who are pressing her case, said on Wednesday an examining judge ordered investigations into allegations of kidnapping, rape and abuse.

Hashane told The Associated Press among the 15 people suspected in the case, 12 are in custody and three are on the run. He added the judge scheduled a first hearing next week.

Police confirmed there were arrests but wouldn’t say how many or give details. A court official on Tuesday said the suspects were aged between 18 and 27.  

The main suspect, 20, was being held on suspicion of rape, torture, kidnapping, making death threats, and forming a gang, the official said.

‘Still in shock’

In an online video interview with Morocco’s Chouf TV last week, the girl alleged her kidnappers “would assault me one by one”, burned her, and didn’t feed her or let her shower. She appeared to have scars from cigarette burns on her hands.

The girl said she was held captive in the town of Olad Ayad, in the central Moroccan province of Beni Mellal.

“They held me for about two months and raped and tortured me. I will never forgive them. They have destroyed me,” she said.

The girl “is still in shock even if she tries to be strong”, said Loubna El Joud of women’s rights group NSAT, which is providing her with medical and psychological support. “Her hands shake when she speaks.”

She alleged two men kidnapped her at knife-point when she was visiting her aunt during the May-June holy month of Ramadan, before selling her to other men in exchange for money or drugs. She said her captors gave her drugs that knocked her out for days at a time.

More than 29,000 people signed a petition demanding the government provide the girl with urgent medical and psychological care after the video of her testimony went viral.

‘Depraved’ lifestyle

Rape victims in Morocco are often subject to double trauma as the conservative society blames them for their ordeal.

Relatives of the suspects were quoted in the Moroccan press accussing the teenager of lying, saying she lived a “depraved” lifestyle.

Abdelwahed Saadi, a social worker and neighbour of the girl’s family, said her father reported her missing but authorities did not launch an investigation.

“They are simple people. The father is sick and couldn’t do much to help free his daughter. Where we live is a crime and drug hotspot… She is first and foremost a victim of a dysfunctional environment. So are the attackers.”

The teenager said she attempted to flee from her abusers several times but in vain. Eventually, she said her father managed to speak by phone to one of the alleged kidnappers and convinced him to free her by saying he wouldn’t file a police complaint. Once freed, however, the girl notified authorities herself.

‘Taken seriously’

Houcine Harshi, president of the Moroccan Association for the Defense of Human Rights, cautioned the girl’s account must be viewed with some scepticism.

But Saadi said no circumstances could excuse the girl’s rape. “This girl is a minor. She says she has been abused and raped. Her words must be taken seriously,” he said.

Violence against Moroccan women remains widespread and a largely taboo subject in the country.

In February, parliament passed a long-sought law on combating violence against women, recognising some forms of abuse for the first time, and criminalising some forms of domestic violence.

But critics say it didn’t go nearly far enough.

SOURCE: Al Jazeera and news agencies

Carabao Cup second round live including commentary of Nottingham Forest v Newcastle United – Live – BBC Sport

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The sleeping giant may be about to awaken.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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Image: RAYMOND WONG/MASHABLE

As charming and fun as taking instant photos with an analog camera is, the world is digital now, and if you can’t post your shots to Instagram, they might as well not exist.

That’s why Polaroid Originals (formerly Impossible) has returned with the OneStep+, a new instant camera that mashes last year’s OneStep 2 with Bluetooth and app connectivity.

At $159.99, the new OneStep+ is a little pricier than the $99.99 OneStep 2, but it does come with a bunch of new improvements that are well worth the extra charge.

Physically, the OneStep+ is largely the same as the OneStep 2. It’s still an all-plastic instant camera that feels a bit like a toy, but that can be said for almost any instant camera these days. And it still uses Type-600 instant film. Battery should last up to 60 days on a single charge.

The lens has been improved a bit and can focus about half the distance as the old one (about a foot versus two feet on the OneStep 2), which, of course, means even better selfies.

Image: raymond wong/mashable

To use the new OneStep+’s new features, however, requires connecting it your phone via Bluetooth and firing up the Polaroid Originals app (available on iOS and Android).

Image: RAYMOND WONG/MASHABLE

With the app, the OneStep+ is able to take portrait-style photos — the same kind on smartphones that blur keep the subject in focus, but blur out the background.

The app also lets you create double exposure shots by superimposing one photo over another to create an eerie or ghost-like effect, as well as create light paintings.

Image: RAYMOND WONG/MASHABLE

Additionally, there’s a “Remote Trigger” feature that lets you activate the camera shutter using the app (good for group photos) from as far as 32 feet away, a new 12-second self-timer mode, and a “Noise Trigger” that lets the camera take a photo when you clap, or when you splash in the pool, or if a dog barks. 

Image: RAYMOND WONG/MASHABLE

Advanced photographers will appreciate the full manual mode that gives you controls to adjust camera settings such as the aperture and shutter speed.

The feature I think will be the most popular is the scanner. Using AI, you can take a photo of any Polaroid photo and the app will automatically crop, srom ittraighten, and even remove reflections, from it so that it’s good to go for sharing online.

There’s more to the app than simply new shooting modes and features for the OneStep+, though. Polaroid Originals wants it be a community where photographers can come and share their instant photos much like in a real gallery space. 

As such, the app will have curated editorial content to showcase some of the best photos shared within the app. There will also be video content and tutorials with tips and tricks on how to get the most out of their cameras. Yes, it’s another online profile you’ll have to create, but if you’re deeply obsessed with instant photography, there’s probably no better place to show off.

Image: RAYMOND WONG/MASHABLE

As we said earlier: Yeah, the OneStep+ costs $60 more than the OneStep 2, but a lot of its new features are well worth the money. If you think they’re not, the OneStep 2’s still a excellent instant camera.

The OneStep+ goes on sale on Aug. 30.

As Syrian forces mobilise for a final assault to retake the last rebel-held province of Idlib, an international tug of war between Turkey, Iran, Russia and the United States is taking shape that will decide the fate of two million residents.

Retaking Idlib will enable the Syrian government to finally regain control over most of the country for the first since the outbreak of the bloody civil war in 2011.

While Syrian forces backed by Russian air and naval firepower prepare for an attack on opposition fighters – including the once al-Qaeda-affiliated Hay’et Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group – Moscow and Ankara are trying to negotiate a solution to spare the province from a devastating assault and avoid an influx of millions of Syrian refugees into Turkey.

Analysts, however, say the Idlib offensive is inevitable because negotiations between the various parties in Syria have consistently failed to end the civil war so far.

“I doubt if Turkey or others would be able to avoid an attack on Idlib or its takeover by the regime,” said Joshua Landis, director of the Center for Middle East Studies at Oklahoma University.

Unless the US does something drastic, such as establishing a no-fly zone over the province, Syrian forces supported by Russia’s airpower will undoubtedly retake it, Landis told Al Jazeera.

Rebels’ fate?

Turkey maintains several military bases in the province. Recent Arabic press reports said Turkey has demanded that HTS – formerly known as al-Nusra Front – and other armed groups dissolve and leave Idlib.

Abu Mohammed al-Joulani, leader of Hay’et Tahrir al-Sham, has reportedly declared he will not heed Turkish demands and ordered his fighters to “follow God, not Turkey” and prepare for battle.

But a prominent Jordanian Salafist with knowledge of the armed groups fighting in Syria cast doubt on al-Joulani’s latest call for his cadres to fight to the death.

HTS’ leader was being dishonest because “he truly wanted to go along with Turkey but wanted a bigger price for his compliance with its demands”, he told Al Jazeera, declining to be identified because he is banned from speaking to the media by Jordanian intelligence.

“When he did not get what he wanted from Turkey, he made his statement calling for war,” he said.

Based on his information and familiarity with HTS’ religious leadership, the Jordanian said HTS will dissolve and disperse while declaring the move was in “the best interest of religion and the people of Idlib”.

‘End of the line’

Landis agreed that time was up for the armed group as Hay’et Tahrir al-Sham‘s options have become exhausted, especially with Turkey.

The Turkish government will not allow HTS members to resettle in Turkey for fear of being accused of harbouring “terrorists”, thereby complicating ties with Western intelligence agencies.

“HTS has reached the end of the line,” said Landis, also the author of the Syria Comment blog.

The only option the group’s fighters might have is relocation to northern Syria near Aleppo, where other rebels still have control. But even that option is complicated and could ignite fighting among the opposition factions.

Iranian spoils?

The other player on the chessboard is Iran, which has provided steady political, financial, and military backing to Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad since the war began seven and a half years ago. 

An estimated 1,000 Iranians – including senior members of the elite Revolutionary Guards – have been killed in Syria since 2012.

On Sunday, Iranian Defence Minister Amir Hatami met al-Assad and his Syrian counterpart Ali Abdullah Ayyoub.

“Not only the people of the region but the people of the world are indebted to the battles that have taken place against terrorists in Syria,” Hatami told Assad in a meeting, according to Iran’s Tasnim news agency.

He added Syria is “passing through the critical stage” and expressed hope at Iran’s involvement in the country’s reconstruction.

Iran’s military attache to Damascus, Brigadier-General Abolghasem Alinejad, said military advisers will remain in Syria under a defence agreement signed on Monday.

Follow Ali Younes on Twitter: @ali_reports

Listen to live US Open tennis commentary – Andy Murray, Serena Williams and Rafael Nadal in action – BBC Sport

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

More: Online sales boom for mattresses squished into boxes

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

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

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

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

Mattress Firm and Tempur-Pedic have squared off in court before. After their deal ended in early 2017, Tempur-Pedic filed a lawsuit accusing Mattress Firm of selling its mattresses without authorization. A judge eventually prevented Mattress Firm from selling Tempur-Pedic mattresses, according to the new case.

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

Tempur-Pedic North America, a division of Tempur-Sealy International, filed the lawsuit. Tempur-Sealy is technically not party to the case

While most Mattress Firm locations are no longer selling Tempur-Pedic products, a few dozen franchise locations are still allowed to sell them.

Follow USA TODAY reporter Nathan Bomey on Twitter @NathanBomey.

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Image: picture alliance via Getty Images

You should be happy when you meet a hoofed friend. Especially if that friend is a goat. 

Because, it turns out, goats can read human moods and are more drawn to people who look happy. 

According to a new study recently published in the journal Open Science, goats prefer “positive human emotional facial expressions.” That’s smiling faces, to you and me. 

Researchers set goats free to explore a closed-off test area with two black and white photos of a human face – one smiling and one angry – posted at goat eye level.

The researchers found that that the goats preferred to approach the photo of the smiling face. 

The results suggest that goats — who have traditionally been domesticated for the purpose of food production and not companionship — have the ability to read human facial expressions.

Mashable reached out to one of the researchers behind the study, Carine Savalli Redigolo of the Federal University of São Paulo, who has PhDs in Statistics and Ethology.

According to Savalli Redigolo, the findings “should raise discussions about how we manage and treat these animals.”

“These findings challenge the idea that such complex ability is limited to companion or working animals,” says Savalli Redigolo.

Savalli Redigolo explains that while companion animals are still more skilled at reading humans, the study proves that goats are able to tell if humans look happy or not — and that “they prefer happy faces.” 

“Dogs are very skilful at perceiving human communicative cues, and they can also integrate visual and acoustic emotional information,” says Savalli Redigolo “Horses also seem to perceive and differentiate emotional valences from human faces.”

The results were most significant when the photo of the smiling person was placed on the right side of the test space. But according to Savalli Redigolo, the researchers believe this to is due to the asymmetry of the goat brain. 

“For dogs, for example, the left-hemisphere of the brain process more positive emotions which can induce to a right gaze bias. This could have happened also with these goats,” she said.

Get out there and smile at a goat if you get the chance! 

 

Troye Sivan‘s second album, Bloom, is due out this Friday (August 31), and it promises to be a bit of a reintroduction for the 23-year-old. His first album, Blue Neighbourhood, dropped when he was barely out of his teen years; in the three years since, Sivan has come into his musical identity as well as his personal one — and Bloom is his first showcase of that.

You can see it in his physical appearance: Sivan subbed in blond-washed hair for his brown mop-top and lingered shirtlessly in the “My My My!” music video, which dropped in early 2018. In a new interview with them., Sivan unpacks his journey to writing an album that, simply put, felt more honest than what he’d done before.

“A big thing for me with this album is, I wanted to write music that didn’t feel like — I’m sorry — bullshit,” Sivan said in the interview. “I didn’t want to bullshit anybody. I live in this very particular, surreal world where I hang out almost exclusively with queer people. I live 10 minutes from West Hollywood, which is like one of the gayest places in the world.”

“You know, for me, this is really real life, being able to celebrate these things,” he continued, “being able to talk about these things, and just being as open and honest as you want, and I didn’t want to come to this album writing for anyone but me and my friends.”

He also mentions how his acting and musical careers coexist — earlier this year, he revealed how he would’ve liked to audition for Elio (Timothée Chalamet’s role) in Call Me By Your Name — though how his emphasis continues to be on music: “I’m definitely more comfortable in music, maybe because I’ve been making music my entire life, professionally for a few years. Acting, for me, is still something that’s scary. There are a lot of unknowns.”

Sivan is also asked about the title track, “Bloom,” and whether or not it’s on his own sex playlist. The short answer? No. However, he said, “I hope it’s on everyone’s sex playlist except for my own.”

Bloom also features the tender “Animal” as well as his Ariana Grande collaboration, “Dance to This,” a peak in their ever-expanding friendship. That relationship was captured in a Paper magazine interview earlier this month, in which Grande summed up her love for Sivan with much fanfare.

“I am obsessed with you,” she said to him. “I think you are everything that pop music needs and I think your stage presence and your voice and your aesthetic and literally everything about your artistry is so divine, and I have been the biggest fan of you since forever.”

When Bloom drops on Friday, Grande likely won’t be the only one singing Sivan’s praises that way. Read the whole thing over at them.