Champions League Hype Tuesday 16 April

  1. B/R Football @brfootball

  2. UEFA Champions League @ChampionsLeague

    Crunch time in the #UCL! 😬

    Who will qualify for the semi-finals?

    #MondayMotivation https://t.co/YkH6Sjh9KN

  3. via UEFA.com

  4. via Bleacher Report

  5. via Bleacher Report

  6. B/R Football @brfootball

    The Champions returns for Season 2 on April 29 😮 https://t.co/gqjMs7Kq50

  7. via men

  8. via Bleacher Report

  9. UEFA Champions League @ChampionsLeague

    ⚪🔴⚪ Frenkie de Jong sprints back before executing a perfect last-ditch tackle 👏👏👏

    #UCL | @AFCAjax https://t.co/51PcXTIsVn

  10. via Bleacher Report

  11. UEFA Champions League @ChampionsLeague

    🥰 Slow-mo elastico 😎

    #UCL | @juventusfc https://t.co/Z4i7PZnFR7

  12. via Bleacher Report

  13. via Bleacher Report

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Erdogan’s AK Party appeals for rerun of Istanbul’s mayoral poll

Istanbul has been governed by AK Party and its predecessors for 25 years [Maxim Shipenkov/Pool via Reuters]
Istanbul has been governed by AK Party and its predecessors for 25 years [Maxim Shipenkov/Pool via Reuters]

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan‘s Justice and Development Party (AK Party) has submitted anappeal for the annulment and rerun of a municipal election in Istanbul, the country’s largest city.

The move on Tuesday came more than two weeks after unnoficial results saw the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) narrowly win control of Istanbul.

The city has been governed by the AK Party and its predecessors for 25 years.

Citing alleged irregularities, the ruling party previously pushed for a recount of votes, and the process is still under way in one Istanbul district.

Ali Ihsan Yavuz, AK Party’s deputy chairman, submitted his party’s extraordinary appeal for the annulment and renewal of the elections to Turkey‘s High Election Board (YSK) with three suitcases full of documents. 

“We have suspicions [about Istanbul’s elections] and we still were not able to resolve these doubts,” said Ali he said, adding that only the YSK could resolve this doubt.

If the appeal is approved, renewed elections will take place on the first Sunday 60 days after the initial vote on March 31, which will be on June 2.

If rejected, the results will be finalised and the winner will receive their mandate to start working.

CHP supporters have called for the mayoral mandate to be given to their candidate [Yasin Akgul/AFP]

Repeated AK Party challenges have fuelled frustration among CHP supporters.

They have spilled over into football stadiums at the weekend when fans chanted at top Istanbul derby matches for the mayoral mandate to be given to their candidate.

The political uncertainty has added to unease in financial markets.

After the AK Party’s YSK move, the beleaguered lira weakened to 5.8250 against the US dollar, its lowest level since March 22, bringing its losses this year to nine percent.

The AK Party has already lost control of the capital, Ankara, as well as other key cities across the country.

Defeat in Istanbul, where Erdogan was mayor in the 1990s, would be an even greater blow to the president.

Inside Story: Is Turkey’s president under threat? (25:00)

SOURCE:
Al Jazeera and news agencies

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People around the world are fundraising for Notre-Dame

After a fire on April 15th, 2019, the French government and regular citizens alike have pledged to rebuild Notre-Dame Cathedral
After a fire on April 15th, 2019, the French government and regular citizens alike have pledged to rebuild Notre-Dame Cathedral

Image: Thibault Camus/AP/REX/Shutterstock

By Heather Dockray

Notre-Dame isn’t just a landmark for the people of Paris. It’s an important historical site for people all around the world. 

On Monday, a devastating fire severely damaged the medieval cathedral. While French President Emmanuel Macron pledged to rebuild it, people around the world came together to contribute to its reconstruction.

Paris’ City Hall as well as luxury goods conglomerate LVMH has already promised 50 million euros ($56 million) and 200 million euros ($226 million) respectively.

Apple’s Tim Cook also pledged to contribute on Twitter.

We are heartbroken for the French people and those around the world for whom Notre Dame is a symbol of hope. Relieved that everyone is safe. Apple will be donating to the rebuilding efforts to help restore Notre Dame’s precious heritage for future generations.🇫🇷

— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) April 16, 2019

There are currently over a dozen GoFundMe campaigns dedicated to rebuilding the medieval cathedral.

Fondation du Patrimoine, a French nonprofit, has also set up a donation page and encouraged fans of the cathedral to contribute on Twitter.

Mobilisation incroyable pour Notre-Dame ! C’est avec émotion que nous traitons vos dons et vos messages de soutien. Nous avons déjà récolté environ 2 millions d’euros pour sauver Notre-Dame.

Faire un don sur ➡ https://t.co/M6x5tOvavY pic.twitter.com/zdhCVdELXT

— Fondation du patrimoine (@fond_patrimoine) April 16, 2019

The US-based French Heritage Society has also set up a Notre-Dame restoration fund.

“The hearts of all of us at French Heritage Society go out to the city of Paris and all of France in the wake of the terrible fire at the Notre-Dame Cathedral,” the Society wrote.

Emmanuel Macron has said that the cathedral will get rebuilt. And in these early days, it’s clear that both individuals who care about history, and the government, are ready to pitch in to make Macron’s words a reality.

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Summer movie preview: 6 action movies to get your heart racing

Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham in 'Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw'
Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham in ‘Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw’

Image: Universal Pictures / Vicky Leta / Mashable

By Angie Han

The summer movie season is upon us, flooding our theaters with intriguing new releases. So here we are to help you navigate that storm, with a look ahead at some of the most exciting titles to come. 

Is there anything quite as enjoyable as slipping into a cool dark theater on a hot summer day, to spend two hours sitting still while attractive famous people run around exploding things? 

Well, maybe. But we’ll be damned if we know what it is. As far as we’re concerned, heat waves and action flicks are a match made in heaven, not least because ever-expanding blockbuster run times mean more time luxuriating in movie theater air conditioning.

So here’s what to watch if you feel the need for speed …

… and you love dogs: John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (May 17)

SEE ALSO: Dogs finally get their revenge in ‘John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum’

Now, hear us out: Yes, a dog was brutally murdered in the first John Wick, thus setting off a wild chain reaction of vengeance, underworld favors, and extremely cool shots of Keanu Reeves beating people up. But in Parabellum, the pups finally get to play — they’re out there killing bad guys right alongside their human friends. It’s about time.

… and you’ve got monster mania: Godzilla: King of the Monsters (May 31)

What could possibly be cooler than an enormous prehistoric monster? How about four enormous prehistoric monsters? King of the Monsters not only brings back Godzilla, it introduces a trio of new (well, new to this iteration of the franchise) creatures: the ferocious Rodan, the actually-kind-of-adorable Mothra, and the three-headed Ghidorah. Also, Eleven from Stranger Things is there for some reason.

… you’re an X-Men fan: Dark Phoenix (June 7)

SEE ALSO: ‘Dark Phoenix’ will probably be the end of Fox’s X-Men movies

Say what you will about the unevenness of the X-Men franchise — we sure have. But it’s one that’s been with us since the very beginning of this current superhero movie boom, and one that’s given us some of the very best films of the genre. Now, with Disney’s acquisition of 20th Century Fox, it’s poised to end for good — making this summer’s Dark Phoenix the end of an era. 

… and Thor: Ragnarok is your favorite Marvel flick: Men in Black International (June 14)

Men in Black International may not be a Marvel movie per se, but it’s shamelessly stolen one of the best ideas any Marvel movie has ever had: pairing up Tessa Thompson and Chris Hemsworth for some intergalactic hijinks. We are here for whatever these crazy kids decide to do together, and especially when they’re being guided by an especially badass Emma Thompson.

… and so do your kids: Dora and the Lost City of Gold (July 31)

Dora the Explorer grows up, but not too much, in Dora and the Lost City of Gold. Our intrepid heroine is sent to navigate the unruly wilds of high school, before getting thrown right back into the jungle for a real life-or-death adventure. This one’s definitely pitched at kids, but if the trailer is any indication, grown-ups will probably find it pretty endearing, too. 

… the more ridiculous, the better: Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw (August 2)

SEE ALSO: New ‘Hobbs & Shaw’ footage debuts to thunderous cheers at CinemaCon

The Fast & Furious movies have never met a law of physics they couldn’t defy with gleeful extravagance and serious style. The first spinoff, Hobbs & Shaw, looks like no exception. Expect cars exploding out of buildings, helicopters chained Dwayne Johnson’s muscles, a superhuman supervillain played by Idris Elba, and a bromance for the ages. 

Welcome to our 2019 summer movie preview. Come back to learn what to watch if… 

Monday: … you’re looking to laugh  

Tuesday: … you feel the need for speed  

Wednesday: … you’re with the family  

Thursday: … you want to feel something

Friday: … you just want the best

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Report: Kyler Murray Offered $14M Contract by A’s to Forgo 2019 NFL Draft

FILE - In this June 15, 2018, file photo, Oakland Athletics draft pick Kyler Murray looks on before a baseball game between the Athletics and the Los Angeles Angels, in Oakland, Calif. Murray's locker remained empty on Monday, Feb. 11, 2019, in the spring training clubhouse of the Oakland Athletics, who say they are uncertain when or if the Heisman Trophy winner will report to the baseball team he signed with last summer. Billy Beane, Oakland’s executive vice president of baseball operation, said talks are continuing with Murray, who may drop baseball to pursue an NFL career. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)

Jeff Chiu/Associated Press

As the Oakland Athletics attempted to persuade 2018 first-round pick Kyler Murray to stick with baseball over football, they put a new contract offer on the table that may have given the reigning Heisman Trophy winner cause to pause.

According to Sports Illustrated‘s Robert Klemko, Oakland offered Murray a deal that featured $14 million in guaranteed money in addition to the $4.6 million signing bonus he was entitled to as the ninth overall pick in last year’s MLB amateur draft.

The reworked deal also would have forced the A’s to put the 21-year-old on its 40-man roster.

When Murray was drafted by Oakland in June 2018, he was expected to be the Oklahoma Sooner’s starting quarterback in the fall. At that point, he was not projected to be a first-round pick in the 2019 NFL draft—so the Athletics gave him their blessing to play one more season of football with the understanding that he would focus on baseball moving forward.

“Circumstances change,” Missy Murray, Kyler’s mom, told Klemko. “Nobody knew he’d be in the position he is.”

Murray would wind up having a record-setting season for Oklahoma en route to winning the Heisman and leading the Sooners to the College Football Playoff. He completed 69 percent of his passes for 4,361 yards and 42 touchdowns in 14 games.

The 5’10”, 195-pound dual-sport star noted to Klemko that he “risked a lot to play football in 2018.” However, the risk appears to have paid off, as he is projected to be the first player off the board come April 25.

Once Oklahoma’s season concluded in late December, there was no shortage of speculation about what sport Murray would choose. While he refrained from tipping his hand early on, he ultimately announced his decision to play football in mid-February.

Kyler Murray @TheKylerMurray

https://t.co/kGePeWhrId

By doing so, he was obligated to pay back $1.29 million of the $1.5 million signing bonus he had already received from Oakland and forfeit the remaining $3.16 million.

For those who question Murray’s commitment to football, his father, Kevin, pointed out his son gave up a good amount of money to play college football.

“Ninety-six percent of kids who just signed a $4.6 million deal to play baseball wouldn’t have been on no football field the following fall,” Kevin told Klemko. “How can people question his love for the game?”

For comparison, No. 1 overall pick Baker Mayfield received a four-year, $32.68 million deal from the Cleveland Browns, per Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com. Chicago Bears linebacker Roquan Smith signed a four-year, $18.5 million deal after going eighth overall last year, according to Klemko. 

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Zayn Swoons Over The Curves Of The Earth’s Terrain In ‘Stand Still’ Video



(Raymond Hall/GC Images)

Zayn‘s “Stand Still” is an enchanting spell that whispers about the Earth to explain a sudden and constricting love. He has shared a video that shows this infatuation, but instead of with a person, it’s with the world itself. He takes it a step further and then plays with the construction of his world and, in the process, creates a captivating, romantic film that romanticizes the many skies of our planet.

There aren’t many words that can describe the beauty of “Stand Still.” In this homage to our space rock, there are people, the size of ants, standing in a vast array of environments. Foresty mountains with clusters of trees and vast amounts of open soil, snow-blanketed white fields, and gigantic sand dunes under cloudy skies are a few of the planet’s many faces on display. Zayn himself is absent but his voice is the soft wind that blows through each locale. Soon, the environments fold over, becoming mirrored. This warped depiction of nature is all the proof we need that we have a beautiful planet. We need to savor it.

“Stand Still” comes from Zayn’s 2018 album Icarus FallsIn January, the singer released a cinematic, heartbreaking visual for “Satisfaction” that followed the tale of two lovers separated by violence.

Check out the eerily calm video for “Stand Still” up above.

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Huge new report on Facebook paints a picture of disarray and dissent

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has had quite a stressful year.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has had quite a stressful year.

Image: NurPhoto / Contributor

By Stan Schroeder

Facebook is in trouble. But it’s not a singular problem or even a set of problems the social networking giant has recently faced — it’s been an overwhelming mountain of issues, some of them slowly burning for years, seemingly ready to join forces into one cataclysmic dumpster fire. 

This is the picture of Facebook painted by a new, 12,000 word report by Wired, published Tuesday. The report’s authors, Wired’s editor in chief Nicholas Thompson and editor at large Fred Vogelstein, spoke to “65 current and former employees” to create a scathing deep dive into everything that was wrong on Facebook in the past 15 months, and the company’s apparent inability to properly fix most of it. 

SEE ALSO: Facebook faces criminal investigation over controversial data sharing deals

The report did not uncover any major new scandal. We’ve heard about these stories over the past years — the Cambridge Analytica scandal, the squabbles with Instagram founders, the ill-conceived Facebook Research project in which the company paid teens to install an app that granted Facebook detailed insight into their phone and internet usage. 

In short, the fact that not everything’s hunky dory at Facebook has been publicly known for some time (even though the company appears to be healthy financially, and user-base-wise). 

But a troubling undercurrent in Wired’s extremely detailed report — read the whole thing if you can find the time, it’s well worth it — is one of discord and dissent within the company.  For every bad decision Facebook made, like the one to front-run the news reports about the Cambridge Analytica scandal with their own story, the report lists (mostly unnamed) officials who were either out of the loop or deeply dissatisfied with the way things have been handled. 

One example: After COO Sheryl Sandberg and CEO Mark Zuckerberg decided to stay largely silent in the immediate aftermath of the Cambridge Analytica story, some PR people at Facebook were dumbfounded. “We had hundreds of reporters flooding our inboxes, and we had nothing to tell them,” a member of the communications staff at the time told Wired.

In the case of Instagram, and WhatsApp, both social services which Facebook had acquired for outrageous sums, the aftermath was worse: WhatsApp co-founders Brian Acton and Jan Koum, as well as Instagram co-founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger left the company on uneasy (if not downright hostile) terms. The report sheds additional light to the way they were treated within Facebook’s complicated system of hierarchies, and highlights just how hard it is for outsiders to fit in. In one example, the report claims that “WhatsApp employees had special bathroom stalls designed with doors that went down to the floor, unlike the standard ones used by the rest of Facebook.”

Another important theme in the report is that Facebook’s inability to deal with its issues may be stemming from the very concepts that propelled Facebook’s immense growth. Facebook is an important source of news, but when fake news had become a real problem, the company found that getting rid of it is much tougher than it seemed. When Facebook adjusted its algorithms to show users more posts created by their friends and family, news outlets suffered, and backlash ensued. When Facebook executive Alex Stamos tried to counter The Guardian’s Cambridge Analytica report on Twitter, no one trusted him — partly, the report claims, because Facebook’s “algorithms helped sustain a news ecosystem that prioritizes outrage.”

It’s not all bad. Some of Facebook’s important efforts over the past couple of years — to integrate WhatsApp and Instagram with the main app more closely, combat fake news and make News Feed more about friends and family — worked quite well, the report asserts. Profits are up again, and the company’s stock price has been recovering quite well since December 2018. 

But important questions about the future of Facebook remain. “The idea of Facebook is to bring people together, but the business model only works by slicing and dicing users into small groups for the sake of ad targeting. Is it possible to have those two things work simultaneously?” the authors of the report ask. 

Mashable has reached out to Facebook for comment on the report and will update the article when we hear from them. 

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Pete Buttigieg responds to the Notre Dame fire in perfect French

Pete Buttigieg flexed his multilingual talents with a message for France in the wake of the Notre Dame Cathedral fire.
Pete Buttigieg flexed his multilingual talents with a message for France in the wake of the Notre Dame Cathedral fire.

Image: Spencer Platt/Getty Images

By Marcus Gilmer

Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg has just set the gold standard when it comes to responding to the devastating fire at Paris’ famous Notre Dame cathedral.

Speaking to a reporter for French station BFM TV, Buttigieg, who is currently the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, delivered his condolences and solidarity with the French people in perfect, fluent French.

Loosely translated, Buttigieg’s message was, “To the people of France I would like to say that Notre Dame Cathedral was like a gift to the human race. We share the pain but we also thank you for this gift to civilization.”

SEE ALSO: The most striking newspaper tributes to Notre-Dame

Buttigieg later shared a very similar sentiment on Twitter as he shared a message from Gérard Araud‏, French ambassador to the U.S. thanking Buttigieg for his kind words. 

The Cathedral of Notre Dame has been a gift of civilization to all humanity, and we are of one spirit with the French people this evening. https://t.co/Hwx1I4iCaH

— Pete Buttigieg (@PeteButtigieg) April 16, 2019

Buttigieg speaks seven languages, and his message of hope stood in stark contrast to President Trump’s suggestion of using air-borne water tankers. 

As of Tuesday morning, a pair of French billionaires have already pledged over $330 million dollars to aid the restoration of the cathedral which lost its spire and roof in the fire. Damage assessment of the centuries-old cathedral will continue in the coming days.

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