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A body language expert analysed the relationship between future royal sisters-in-law Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton — here's her verdict

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kate maghan

  • Meghan Markle will become a fully-fledged member of the royal family on Saturday, May 19. 
  • She'll also become the Duchess of Cambridge's sister-in-law. 
  • Markle and Middleton have only made a few public appearances together but experts have already used it as an opportunity to analyse their relationship.
  • Judi James identified 'team member' respect for one another when the pair spoke at a London forum in January, but no 'overt displays of sisterly friendship.' 
  • There's still presumably time for that to blossom into 'sisterhood.'

 

In a just a few days' time, Meghan Markle will become a fully fledged royal, making her sister-in-law to the Duchess of Cambridge. The pair have only made a few public appearances but body language experts have already used it as an opportunity to analyse the relationship between them. 

Markle, Kate Middleton, and Princes Harry and William appeared for their first official royal engagement as a foursome in January at the first annual Royal Foundation Forum in London. Markle and Middleton wore coordinating blue dresses, although the former's apparently cost at least 10 times more than the latter's.

The Duchess wore a royal blue tailored maternity dress by Seraphine, which reportedly costs $169, while Markle opted for a dark blue wrap dress by Jason Wu, which retails for $1,795.

But that wasn't where the differences ended, according to author and body language expert Judi James, who offered her take on the event.

The first time the two couples were photographed together was on Christmas Day at Sandringham.

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Their first official royal engagement as a foursome was at the first annual Royal Foundation Forum in January in London, where they answered questions about their past and future charity work and the foundation's programmes from host Tina Daheley. 

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James told Cosmopolitan that overall the plentiful smiles made for some "strong family vibes."

"There seemed to be a 'team member' respect for one another but they also seemed to steer clear of any more overt displays of sisterly friendship," she told the magazine. 

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James also pointed out that whenever Middleton spoke, Markle would make a concerted effort to turn to listen to her "intently," as per below. 

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But most people who watched the interview noticed a difference in the way the two handled questions, which is hardly surprising given their very different backgrounds. Markle is, after all, used to being on screen in a very different way. 

"Meghan's approach is hugely 'hit-the-ground-running' with her upright posture and her trait of sitting with one elbow in partial splay mode suggesting high levels of confidence and a desire to get her message across," James said.

Meanwhile, Middleton seemed a little more laid back, which again is hardly surprising as she's far more well-versed in royal protocol.

"Kate's calmer, simpler approach, sitting back in her chair with a rather demure hand clasp gave a glimpse of what being a royal must have taught her, which is that people listen anyway with no need to ramp up the passion and drama."

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Markle indicated that her focus in the foundation could be on women's rights, and she was candid in speaking about these issues, even discussing the #MeToo movement. 

"I hear a lot of people speaking about girls’ empowerment and women’s empowerment — you will hear people saying they are helping women find their voices," she said. "I fundamentally disagree with that because women don’t need to find their voices, they need to be empowered to use it, and people need to be urged to listen."

She added: "I think right now in the climate where we are seeing so many campaigns like Me Too and Time’s Up, there is no better time than to really continue to shine a light on women feeling empowered and people really helping to support them."

Markle appeared a lot more emotionally reactive when it came to some of the more personal questions posed by Daheley, too — including whether or not the family ever disagree with one another.

"When Harry joked we saw both women share genuine matching smiles and mirror the partial cut-off gesture when their hands mimicked face-covering," James said. "The cause was clearly also important to both although there was some interesting body language thrown up when suggestions of 'disagreements' were thrown up.

"Both women initially hid their faces behind their hair and then Meghan laughed and grabbed Harry's arm in a rather telling gesture. William's 'Oh yes' told us sparks had clearly occurred, but Kate's demure smile wasn't giving any clues about who had been battling with who."

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Markle's spirited and candid approach to the interview has even led to comparisons between her and Princess Diana, William and Harry's late mother.

But it's still early days — we'll have to wait to see how Markle finds her place in the royal family following her wedding to Harry on Saturday, after which she'll formally become the fourth patron of the foundation.

SEE ALSO: We asked the Queen's former chef what Prince Harry was like as a kid, and the stories suggest he was just as mischievous as you'd imagine

Join the conversation about this story »

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We learned how much money Melania Trump made in 2017 from her husband's financial disclosure form

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  • First lady Melania Trump earned hundreds of thousands in royalties from Getty Images, according to President Donald Trump's financial disclosure that was released on Wednesday.
  • In 2017, the former model received between $100,000 and $1,000,000 from Getty for licensed photos of her.
  • She also disclosed three companies related to her defunct business ventures, and an apartment at Trump Tower in New York.

On Wednesday, the Office of Government Ethics released President Donald Trump's financial disclosure form for 2018.

While it revealed much about Trump's finances, including the reimbursement of the hush money Trump lawyer Michael Cohen paid Stormy Daniels, the form also provided an insight into first lady Melania Trump's income.

According to the form, the first lady received anywhere between $100,000 and $1,000,000 in royalties from Getty Images last year.

Getty typically licenses photos that celebrities pose for with their professional photographers. Melania has dozensofphotos under a "rights-managed" license with Getty, which in this case means people wanting to use the images have to contact Getty, which then reaches out to the Trumps' representative, who can greenlight their use for a fee.

The Trumps have tons of photos on Getty of them posing at their various properties and offices, and even some of Melania's closet at their home in Trump Tower.

melania trump financial disclosure form

She also disclosed three companies related to her now defunct jewelry and skincare businesses, which produced little to no income in 2017.

The fourth and fifth disclosures are related to a one-bed, 1.5-bath apartment in Trump Tower in Manhattan that Melania bought from the building's condo board for almost $1.5 million in January 2016, according to The Real Deal and City Realty.

SEE ALSO: Incredible facts about Melania Trump that show she's completely unlike any other first lady

DON'T MISS: A look inside the daily routine of first lady Melania Trump, who eats 7 pieces of fruit a day, is a 'full-time mom', and is finally stepping into the spotlight as first lady

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: What Trump University was really like — according to a former professor

The 3 most commonly spoken languages in every New York City neighborhood

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  • New York City includes dozens of neighborhoods across its five boroughs: Brooklyn, Manhattan, Staten Island, Queens, and the Bronx.
  • Those neighborhoods draw people from around the world, and residents speak a plethora of languages.
  • Using census data from the Minnesota Population Center, we found the three most commonly spoken languages in each neighborhood. 

People from all over the world come to live and work in New York, and that shows up in the wide variety of languages spoken in the city.

The Census Bureau's American Community Survey provides a picture of several demographic, economic, and social characteristics of the US population. One of the questions on the survey asks respondents what language they mainly speak at home. Using data from the Minnesota Population Center's 2011-15 ACS Integrated Public Use Microdata Series, we found the top three languages spoken in each neighborhood.

For our working definition of neighborhood, we used the Census Bureau's Public Use Microdata Areas, which are designed to allow small-scale geographic analyses of individual-level ACS data. In New York, these areas mostly correspond to the city's community districts (or groups of two for areas with smaller populations), so they're a pretty good proxy for neighborhoods.

Here are the three most common languages spoken at home in each New York City neighborhood.

SEE ALSO: The most expensive college in every state, in one map

The most commonly spoken language in most neighborhoods is English.

Spanish is the most common language spoken at home in several neighborhoods in the Bronx, Brooklyn, and northern Manhattan and Queens.

Brooklyn Community District 13, covering Brighton Beach and Coney Island, has Russian as its most common language.



The No. 2 most commonly spoken language in most neighborhoods is Spanish.

Several neighborhoods in Queens and Brooklyn have other languages falling in the second-place spot.



Here's a close-up of Brooklyn and Queens highlighting some of the second most common languages that aren't English or Spanish.

Pockets of Chinese and Russian show up here, and Haitian or French Creole (marked as "Creole" on the map) is common in a large swath of eastern Brooklyn.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

The first drug for opioid withdrawal has gotten the green light — and it targets risky symptoms that others ignore

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  • More than 63,000 Americans died of opioid drug overdoses last year, more than the number killed in car crashes.
  • On Wednesday, the FDA approved the first drug designed to treat the symptoms of opioid withdrawal, which can be painful and hook users in a potentially deadly cycle of addiction.
  • Called Lucemyra, the drug is made by pharmaceutical company US WorldMeds.

Deaths from drug overdoses often start with a last-ditch attempt to subdue painful, flu-like symptoms.

Among the signs that someone has suddenly quit taking a painkiller like OxyCodone or Vicodin: nausea, vomiting, shakiness, and pervasive feelings of panic and depression.

Together, those symptoms constitute withdrawal from opioids. Until today, there were no approved drugs specifically designed to treat that condition, which left few options for people who had been taking the drugs. If they took more painkillers (or a cheaper illegal alternative like heroin), they risked overdose, addiction, and death.

But on Wednesday, the US Food and Drug Administration approved the first medication made expressly to treat signs of opioid withdrawal. The drug will be sold under the brand name Lucemyra by pharmaceutical company US WorldMeds, and its active ingredient is lofexidine. The compound stops the brain from getting flooded with the chemical transmitter that produces most of those flu-like withdrawal sensations.

Mark Pirner, the medical director of clinical research for US WorldMeds, told Business Insider the drug addresses an issue that's central to the problem of opioid use disorder, or OUD.

"When people need to transition from one stage in their treatment for OUD into whatever comes next, withdrawal is a huge obstacle. If that happens and they can't get through it, they're lost," Pirner said.

In clinical trials, lofexidine was pitted against a placebo and found to work better at curbing withdrawal symptoms. People who got it were also significantly more likely to complete a week-long treatment program for stopping opioid use than those who got the placebo.

Another tool in the toolbox of medications for drug use

methadoneWe already have several medications that can curb the most deadly aspects of opioid use disorder, including cravings and the feeling of a high.

Those drugs are buprenorphine and methadone, and researchers have found that when they're available to people with drug use disorder, the number of overdose deaths plummet.

But despite numerous studies suggesting that these drugs save lives, the medications remain difficult to access.

Meanwhile, the only drug that works to curb withdrawal symptoms is a cheap and widely available blood pressure medication called clonidine, which some medical providers commonly prescribe "off label" for withdrawal.

A large review of studies suggested that clonidine and lofexidine were equally effective for cutting opioid withdrawal symptoms. But clonidine hasn't been studied specifically for its potential to treat opioid withdrawal, so it's unlikely the FDA would greenlight it for that use.

Additionally, lofexidine appears to have a slightly lower impact on blood pressure than clonidine, which makes it a bit more appealing to patients and providers.

"This is an FDA-approved drug with clear dosing guidelines," Pirner said. "We hope this will open up opportunities for prescribers."

SEE ALSO: There's a science-backed treatment for drug addiction that works — but it's nearly impossible to get

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Meghan Markle is about to leave behind a surprisingly relatable life to become Britain's first-ever American princess — see her former house, car, and wardrobe

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  • Prince Harry's fiancée Meghan Markle is an actress on the television drama "Suits," which films in Toronto, Canada.
  • Markle may be a millionaire and soon-to-be royal, but she doesn't live a lavish lifestyle.
  • Markle previously rented a modest home and car in Toronto, and favors affordable fashion brands.

 

Prince Harry's fiancée Meghan Markle isn't a commoner — but she's not yet royalty either.

Sure, the 36-year-old actress and Los Angeles native was earning close to half a million dollars a year starring in the USA Network drama "Suits," but she didn't live in the lap of luxury.

Up until her recent engagement to Prince Harry, Markle rented a three-bedroom bungalow in Toronto, Canada, and leased an Audi SUV. And before she landed the role on "Suits," she was juggling a few side hustles to make ends meet.

Below, take a peek inside the surprisingly relatable life of Meghan Markle:

SEE ALSO: Meghan Markle is reportedly wearing a Ralph & Russo wedding gown — here are their stunning designs

DON'T MISS: Meghan Markle could wear a custom-designed tiara worth nearly $700,000 on her wedding day — here's how much the tiaras of other British royal brides are worth

With an estimated net worth of $5 million, she's rich — but she doesn't act like it.

Markle has starred on the television drama "Suits" since 2011 and earns about $50,000 per episode, according to knownetworth.com and Town & Country Magazine.

But the actress also makes around $80,000 a year from sponsorships and endorsement deals, bringing her annual salary to about $450,000. Celebritynetworth.com estimates Markle is worth $5 million.



Markle rented out a bungalow in Toronto — where a 3-bedroom goes for $1,770 a month on average — for part of the year while filming 'Suits.'

"Suits" shoots eight months out of the year in Toronto. During production, Markle rented out a three-bedroom, two-bathroom home with a private backyard garden in the Seaton Village of Toronto.

Back in 2013, the self-proclaimed "California girl" told Esquire, "I am an adopted Canuck now."

According to Numbeo, the cost of a three-bedroom rental in Toronto, outside the city center, is $1,770 a month, but it's unknown exactly how much Markle was paying. 

The couple who owned the home bought it for $508,000 a decade ago, and recently sold it for nearly $1.4 million after Markle moved out.



While she was auditioning for acting roles before landing 'Suits,' Markle maintained a 'super-lucrative' side job writing calligraphy invitations, she told Esquire.

"I've always had a propensity for getting the cursive down pretty well," Markle told Esquire. "What it evolved into was my pseudo-waitressing job when I was auditioning. I didn't wait tables. I did calligraphy for the invitations for, like, Robin Thicke and Paula Patton's wedding."

Pre "Suits," Markle also worked as a briefcase holder on "Deal or No Deal," which she calls a "learning experience ... [that] helped me to understand what I would rather be doing." 



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

What everyone gets wrong about ADHD — and how it can be used as a superpower

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  • Some people have preconceptions about what it's like to ADHD.
  • You may imagine someone who is very loud and annoying.
  • In reality, having ADHD is just a different way of functioning, and it can be a real asset.
  • For example, people with ADHD are highly creative and can learn a lot about a broad range of topics.
  • Understanding how different people are wired can help form stronger bonds between people with different personality types — it will simply take compromises.



Picture someone with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). You're probably imagining a person who is easily distracted, can barely sit still, and impulsively jumps from topic to topic at a hundred miles an hour.

For some people this is endearing, but for others, someone with ADHD sounds like their worst nightmare.

But our preconceptions aren't always entirely correct. For example, it's a myth that people with OCD always want things clean, or that introverts are unsociable hermits.

ADHD is simply another form of neurodiversity — which is the name for all the different ways our brains are wired.

Doctor of psychology Perpetua Neo told Business Insider we can learn to leverage the glory of those differences instead of being held back by the stigma.

She said it is presumed that people with ADHD cannot sit still, are always moving around, cannot finish projects, and don't concentrate.

"If you think about it, most of us go to school, and this education setting is designed for people who sit still," she said. "That's essentially the way society is wired to operate in. And ADHD kids, the high functioning ones, can be extremely high ability but they fall through the cracks because they cant be bothered — because class is so boring for them."

Sometimes, they give up completely and fall all the way to the bottom of the class. Either way, she said, children with ADHD tend to be neglected, and this doesn't set them up well for having faith in themselves as they get older. Simply telling them to sit still when they cannot breeds an environment of not being good enough — which can produce a lot of anxiety and shame about who they are.

Some people are 'settlers' and others are 'explorers'

Neo said there is another way of thinking about ADHD. It is a kind of variation that humanity needs, she said, because every society needs people who are "settlers," and also those who are "explorers."

"The settlers are those who stay in a place and make it good, and keep the stability, but explorers are those who conquer new lands and new opportunities," she said. "Over time, there are always going to be disasters or catastrophes happening, so we need the explorers to actually go forth and conquer new opportunities and new land — and so the ADHD team continues to go forward."

Day to day, this translates to taking risks and trying new things, as people with ADHD can learn a lot about a broad range of topics.

"Because your brain is highly active, you get very creative, so you can put together many of these disparate concepts that other people might not otherwise see," Neo said. "The ADHD brain has the potential to be a polymath, because they have so many wide interests. They can be pretty resilient, they can be extremely creative, and they can be obsessively focused. So they can actually conquer new frontiers."

When it comes to sitting down and working, people with ADHD can struggle to concentrate, and end up procrastinating. Neo recommends that you work for just 20 minutes at a time, because it's about the quality of the time you're spending, not the quantity — and people with ADHD can be hyper-focused and get a lot done in these short blocks of time.

"The thing with people with ADHD is there's almost this time bending ability," she said. "Because when there is a time urgency, and they have maybe 20 minutes instead of 40 minutes, their brain just kicks into gear. The threshold for action is reached, and they start giving superhuman amounts of output in that 20 minutes."

For people who know someone with ADHD — perhaps a colleague or someone you're in a relationship with — Neo said it's best to remind yourself they are wired a bit differently to you. Every relationship has compromises, and you should work out what yours will be, and where your boundaries are.

For instance, you could ask them to try and speak a bit slower when they're around you, or recommend they put aside a few hours for their adventurous projects if you just want some time to chill out.

"Essentially this compromise is a relationship lubricant, rather than a way of putting someone else down," Neo said. "That actually helps the relationship to blossom, because whether we have a person with ADHD or not, it's about understanding each other, not attacking each other."

SEE ALSO: What everyone gets wrong about introverts — including why they are not antisocial or lazy

Join the conversation about this story »

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The 10 most popular TV shows of the year so far, according to Nielsen ratings

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Several of the most popular TV series this year have been established favorites like "The Big Bang Theory," "The Voice," and "NCIS."

But the surprise hit of the year is ABC's reboot of "Roseanne," a program that has drawn many millions of viewers each week along with controversy from its firebrand, Trump-supporting lead, Roseanne Barr.

To find out which shows were the most popular this year so far, Nielsen estimated the average number of US viewers tuning in to regularly scheduled programming.

ABC's massive success with "Roseanne," along with CBS' high ratings across numerous shows on this list, demonstrates how broadcast networks remain the heavyweights in overall viewership — even in the age of streaming.

Here are the 10 most popular TV shows of 2018 so far, according to Nielsen's ratings:

SEE ALSO: The worst TV show of 2018 on each network — from Fox to Netflix to HBO

10. "The Voice" (NBC) — 12.5 million

Series run: 14 seasons (2011-present) 

Summary: "Singers square off for a coveted recording contract in this reality talent contest from the producers of 'Big Brother' and 'Survivor.' Four vocal coaches mentor the contestants."



9. "NCIS: New Orleans" (CBS) — 12.7 million average viewers

Series run: 4 seasons (2014-present) 

Summary: "A drama about the local field office that investigates criminal cases involving military personnel in The Big Easy, a city known for its music, entertainment and decadence."



8. "Blue Bloods" (CBS) — 13.2 million average viewers

Series run: 8 seasons (2010-present)

Summary: "A drama about a multi-generational family of cops dedicated to New York City law enforcement."



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

This why Harry is called Prince of Wales, not England

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  • Prince Harry's official title is of Prince Henry of Wales.
  • The real Prince of Wales is his father, Charles, who has held the title since 1958.
  • It dates back to 1301, when it was created for Edward II, who was born in Caernarfon, Wales.
  • It is normally passed on when the existing Prince of Wales takes the throne.
  • There is no Prince of England, as the country's monarchs rule all of Great Britain.


When Meghan Markle marries Prince Harry on Saturday, in keeping with tradition, she will be awarded the name Princess Henry of Wales — though it's a title she's unlikely to ever use, as it dates back to days when royal spouses took their husband's name.

Prince Harry's name is actually Henry, and his full, official title is Prince Henry of Wales.

The official Prince of Wales is Charles, who has held the title since 1958, but his sons William and Harry have also held versions of it. William was also Prince William of Wales until he married Kate Middleton and became The Duke of Cambridge.

The title Price of Wales was originally used by Welsh princes in the 12th and 13th centuries, according to Wales Online, and became a title also given by the English monarch after Edward I conquered Wales.

However, the title in its current format apparently dates back to 1301, when it was created for Edward I's son, the future Edward II at the time, who became the first of the current line of Princes of Wales. He was born in Caernarfon, Wales.

While he did not pass the title on to his son Edward III, and it instead went to his grandson, since then it has been held by the eldest surviving son of most kings and queens. The title isn't automatically given, but is normally passed on when the existing Prince of Wales takes the throne.

Charles investiture as Prince of Wales took place at Caernarfon Castle on July 1, 1969.

Even though the British royal family doesn't really use last names, you may even see Wales used as a surname for the royals from time to time, particularly for military purposes. Harry was known as Captain Wales during his time in the British Army.

There is no Prince of England

Meanwhile, nobody has the title of Prince of England, because England does not have its own royal family.

The country's monarchs rule all of Great Britain, and have done so since the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland merged their crowns in May 1707.

SEE ALSO: The best photo from every single year of Prince Harry's remarkable life

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All the TV shows that have been canceled in 2018

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As the year flies by, the list of canceled TV shows is piles up.

Networks are starting to make announcements in May, including Fox which canceled comedies "The Mick," "Brooklyn Nine Nine," and "The Last Man on Earth."

Amazon kicked off the year with a slew of cancellations, announcing the end of three quirky comedies, including the Golden Globe nominee "I Love Dick" and the comedian Tig Notaro's semi-autobiographical show, "One Mississippi." It canceled Golden Globe nominee "Mozart in the Jungle" in April, after four seasons, and recently canceled "Transparent," which will end after the upcoming fifth season.

Also in April, Netflix canceled the 90s coming-of-age comedy, "Everything Sucks," which came to the streaming service in February. 

There are many more cancellations to come, as networks announce the fate of newer shows as well as older ones.

We'll update this list as more are announced.

Here are all the shows that have been canceled this year, including those from networks and Netflix:

SEE ALSO: The worst TV show of every year since 2000, according to critics

Amazon



"Jean-Claude Van Johnson" — Amazon, one season



"I Love Dick" — Amazon, one season



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'Deadpool 2' director opens up about the pressures of jumping into a hit franchise and what working with Ryan Reynolds was like

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  • David Leitch, the director of "Deadpool 2," explains why he took on the movie following the exit of the first movie's director, Tim Miller.
  • Leitch also explains the pressures of working on a big studio movie that has a set release date in place before production even begins.
  • He also tells us why doing multiple test screenings made "Deadpool 2" better.

David Leitch has proved to be one of the top filmmakers in the action-movie genre with only two movies under his belt — but they certainly left an impression.

After building one of the most respected stuntman crews in Hollywood with Chad Stahelski in the early 2000s (they were called on to do all the big action movies like "The Bourne Legacy" and the "Expendables" movies), the two made their directorial debut with the surprise hit "John Wick" starring Keanu Reeves in 2014. It proved that they could do more than just come up with innovative fight sequences. Leitch then went on his own to make "Atomic Blonde" last year (Stahelski made "John Wick 2") and proved it wasn't a fluke. He could really direct. His stylized Cold War ultraviolent tale starring Charlize Theron wowed audiences.

Now he's hit the big time, having signed on to direct "Deadpool 2" (in theaters Friday) after the first movie's director, Tim Miller, exited the project. The sequel doesn't just deliver on bigger fights and jokes. With Leitch at the helm (and most likely a little more budget than the first one), and with Ryan Reynolds reprising the outlandish Marvel superhero, the movie feels bigger and more slick.

But Leitch isn't letting up. He's now prepping his next movie, "Hobbs and Shaw" starring Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham, the first spin-off project from the "Fast and Furious" franchise.

Leitch sat down with Business Insider to talk about the pressures of jumping in a franchise like "Deadpool," how the looming predetermined movie release date brought lots of anxiety, and why test screenings really helped the movie.

Jason Guerrasio: Was getting on "Deadpool 2" similar to what you did with "Atomic Blonde" where you showed Charlize a kind of sizzle reel of your vision of the movie?

David Leitch: It was a completely different experience. I was actually working on "X-Force" with Ryan and Simon Kinberg, for a very short window of time. I had gotten the gig to develop it and I had just started working in that world, and then when this opportunity came up for "Deadpool" — "We're going to be doing 'Deadpool 2' first, would you be interested in directing?" — I was like [does a big exhale]. It was more an offer because we had a relationship.

It was a daunting decision to make because what I liked about the idea of "X-Force" was that I would be able to break new ground and create my own world. Here you have this franchise that's a global phenomenon and how are you going to meet the expectations of that? But because there's an element of "X-Force," really the introduction of these characters in this world, I sort of got to have my cake and eat it too, I guess. I felt there was enough room in the creative palette of what "Deadpool" can be for me to have an impact as a director but also stay true to what people love from the original.

Deadpool 2 20th Century FoxGuerrasio: And I'm assuming there was something on page already, so you could have some vision of where they wanted to go with the sequel when you came on?

Leitch: Well, no. [Laughs.] It was more of a pitch. They had gone down the road of trying to crack the story of what we wanted to do for number two, and when I came on board they were sort of piecing things together from those ideas. So I was loosely involved in the beginning of that process as I was coming on board. We put the movie out in note cards, as you do, and they went away and wrote it as I started to prep. We had a short time. We knew we were shooting in Vancouver, so we were scouting locations as the pages were coming in.

Guerrasio: So because of the speed this was very different from doing "John Wick" or "Atomic Blonde."

Leitch: It is. It's because of that release date. The release-date pressure.

Guerrasio: It's hanging over everyone's head.

Leitch: It's hanging in the air and every week you push principal photography it gives you less days on post. And on these big visual-effects movies, post is key. It's really hard with these release-date schedules.

Guerrasio: And with this movie in particular, because your main character is wearing a mask, post is crucial because if you guys think of a better line or joke, you can place it in with very little extra work.

Leitch: You want to allow for that process to take place. You need a window of creativity in post that you may not have in another movie. You have the luxury of putting words in the mask: making a joke more current, or work better, or help the narrative with a couple of lines. You want to maximize that.

Guerrasio: Were you aware of that need in post going into the project?

Leitch: I was pretty aware of it. I had never done it before, but talking to Ryan and his experience on the last film and understanding how post works, it's a great tool. But we needed time to experiment. And test jokes. We needed some sort of development period where we're not under the pressure of the release date.

Guerrasio: Did you test this movie with audiences a lot?

Leitch: Yeah. And I'm grateful we did. We were testing really high. We were testing in the 90s in our first test screening. It was crazy. On an independent film you get that score you pack up shop and polish the color and sound and ship the movie. But because we had the resources of the studio and we had gotten our first test out early we felt we could improve on this. We did test a couple of more times and we refined jokes and we trimmed scenes, and it was definitely progressive. Our scores were increasing all the way to the last one where we had this insane score. But it was all due to this refinement process in post.

Guerrasio: And not every movie can be pulled off this way.

Leitch: Well, you have some help with the character being in a mask.

Guerrasio: You can put in anything and it's going to match.

Leitch: Yeah. It helps.

Atomic Blonde 2 Jonathan Prime Focus Features finalGuerrasio: Compare Ryan to working with Keanu and Charlize.

Leitch: They are in the position they are in the world because there's a work ethic and a level of professionalism and then there's a talent. So those three things are the mix that makes them who they are. I had close collaborations with Keanu on "John Wick" in the beginning process. A lot in the script and who he is as a character, and then once he connected with the character and found his emotional way in then he let Chad and myself, the filmmakers, go and do what we had to do. Charlize was a producer on "Atomic" so she had a lot of say in the beginning as well, but once I gave her the pitch of making it a punk noir music mashup she got really excited, and once she found the character and trusted the vision she's all business. Ryan is a different process because he's a producer, writer, performance artist —

Guerrasio: Keeper of the Deadpool flame.

Leitch: Yeah. Head of marketing, not really, but you know what I mean. He's essential in marketing. So there's a big brand that he's shepherding so it was a little different process but it was really collaborative and really supportive. He was really supportive of me as a filmmaker to the studio. He wanted this to be a David Leitch film. It was a great experience.

Guerrasio: You've been working nonstop. Have you had a moment to take a breath and take in everything you've done in the past few years? Not just the movies, but the level of difficulty and scope in such a short time.

Leitch: I haven't. My close collaborator since "Atomic" has been my wife, Kelly McCormick, and we were kind of looking at each other last night and were like, "Are we ever going to take a break?" And we do find joy in the process. But, in my below-the-line career I didn't take breaks.

Guerrasio: But I hope you're doing things now that are more financially satisfying than when you were doing stunt work.

Leitch: [Laughs.] Granted, this is a Champagne problem. But it's just that the material has spoken to us and we see a path in. That's so rare that I want to grab it. I know we're now jumping into "Hobbs and Shaw" really quickly, but I'm not daunted by it.

SEE ALSO: "Solo" is the worst "Star Wars" movie since "Attack of the Clones," according to critics

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Meghan Markle could wear a custom-designed tiara worth nearly $700,000 on her wedding day — here's how much the tiaras of other British royal brides are worth

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  • The world debates whether Meghan Markle will wear a tiara during her wedding to Prince Harry.
  • Queen Elizabeth II has one of the world's best jewel collections from which to loan Markle a tiara.
  • It's speculated the future Her Royal Highness Princess Henry of Wales could wear the Strathmore Rose Tiara or the Spencer Tiara.
  • Markle could also wear a custom-designed tiara, which one expert says would cost about $687,360.

 

Will she or won't she?

Besides the wedding dress, one of the biggest speculations regarding the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle is whether the future Her Royal Highness Princess Henry of Wales will walk down the aisle at Windsor Castle in true royal fashion — donning a dazzling tiara

If Markle does opt for this regal look, she has plenty of diamonds and gems to choose from. Queen Elizabeth II has a famed, well stocked royal collection of tiaras — one of the best in the world.

The Queen lent the Queen Mother's Cartier Halo Tiara to Kate Middleton as a "something borrowed" for the Duchess' wedding to Prince William. If tradition dictates anything, she'll also loan a princess' ultimate treasure to her future granddaughter-in-law.

While it's not expected that Markle will wear the same tiara as the Duchess of Cambridge, rumors are circulating about what possible tiaras she could wear — such as the Strathmore Rose Tiara or Princess Diana's Spencer Tiara. The latter would be fitting considering Markle's engagement ring contains two diamond stones from Princess Diana's collection, and that she and Harry plan to honor his mother on the big day.

Then again, she and Harry are a modern-day couple — she could also have her own tiara made for her.

Whether Markle goes for an heirloom tiara or a custom tiara, there's no denying the jewels and metals that will sparkle atop her head go for a pretty penny. 

We took a look at some of the most famous weddings in the British royal family and their equally famous tiaras — and just how much those tiaras might be worth.

SEE ALSO: Meghan Markle will have loads of tiaras to choose from on her wedding day — and she could pick one worn by Princess Diana

DON'T MISS: The royal wedding is a month away — here's how much Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are expected to spend on their big day

Queen Elizabeth and Princess Anne — Queen Mary's Fringe Tiara

When Queen Elizabeth II (then Princess Elizabeth) married Philip Mountbatten, Duke of Edinburgh, in 1947, she sparkled underneath the Queen Mary's Fringe Tiara. It was gifted from Queen Mary to her daughter-in-law, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, who loaned it to Elizabeth as a "something borrowed." In tune with tradition, the tiara was then loaned to Elizabeth's daughter, Princess Anne, to wear as she tied the knot to Mark Phillips. 

This dazzler is actually the product of dismantled jewelry — it's comprised of 47 diamond bars using diamond stones taken from a necklace Queen Victoria gifted to Queen Mary. Jeweler Garrard & Co. set the stones in gold and silver and separated the bars with smaller diamond spikes.

There's no word on its value, but a 0.5 carat diamond averages around $1,500 while a 2-carat diamond can range from $18,000 to $21,000, depending on cut and clarity.



Princess Margaret — Poltimore Tiara

Princess Margaret departed from tradition and wore a tiara that wasn't already part of the royal collection, acquiring it shortly before her wedding to Lord Snowdon in 1960. The Poltimore Tiara, another Garrard creation, boasts cushion-shaped and old-cut diamond clusters and diamond-set scroll motifs surmounted by old-cut diamond terminals, all mounted in silver and gold. 

It was auctioned for £5,500 (roughly $7,570) at the time it fell into Princess Margaret's hands, and was recently sold at a 2006 auction for £926,400 (around $1,275,154) — about four times its estimate. 



Princess Diana — Spencer Tiara

When marrying Prince Charles in 1981, Princess Diana donned a tiara not from the royal treasure troves, but from her family's own aristocratic archives — the Spencer Tiara. This diamond encrusted piece shaped into tulips, stars, and scrolls belonged to her father and was worn by her mother and sisters on their wedding days.

This dazzler is made of a variety of other jewelry — the central portion was part of a wedding present to Lady Cynthia Hamilton (Diana's grandmother) when she married Albert, Viscount Althorp; the topper was given to Cynthia by Albert's great aunt, Lady Sarah Isabella Spencer; and the ends come from a tiara once belonging to Frances Manby, the last known Viscountess of Montagu. The current version was reportedly finalized in the 1930s.

There is no estimate on how much it's worth, but a similar headpiece with 800 cut diamonds and an estimated weight of 48 carats was recently sold by the Spencer family for $225,000.

 



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Here is Michael Jordan's 56,000-square foot house in Chicago and why it is still on the market after 6 years

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Michael Jordan house

Michael Jordan's enormous house in Chicago is still on the market after six years despite cutting the price nearly in half and still paying more than $100,000 each year in property taxes.

The house was originally listed for $29 million and has every bell and whistle you can think of. There's a pool with a grass island in the middle of it, a door from the Playboy Mansion, a table based on the streets of Baghdad, and MJ-branded golf flags.

Below we take a closer look at the house and why it is struggling to find a buyer. Most images are from footage provided by Concierge Auctions.

Tony Manfred contributed to this post.

The 56,000 square-foot, 7-acre compound from the air.



The gate to get in, fittingly.



The price on the house has dropped several times and is now going for $14.9 million, or about $265 per square-foot. That is a far cry from the original $517-per-square-foot price. It should also be noted that the exact price is $14,855,000 and the numbers in that price add up to 23 because of course they do.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

Amazon, Wegmans, Tesla, and Chick-fil-A top the list of most-liked companies — employees explain why they have such a cult following

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  • Amazon, Wegmans, Tesla, and Chick-fil-A are all wildly popular companies in the US.
  • They all appeared on The Harris Poll's 2018 ranking of the companies with the best reputations.
  • The rankings were based on factors like emotional appeal, vision, and social responsibility.


Amazon, Wegmans, Tesla, and Chick-fil-A are well-liked companies.

That's according The Harris Poll's 2018 ranking of companies with the best reputations among American consumers.

First, The Harris Poll surveyed 25,800 American adults to determine which companies are the most "visible" to the public. The top 100 most visible companies were then assigned reputation quotients based on participants' perceptions of each brand's social responsibility, vision and leadership, financial performance, products and services, emotional appeal, and workplace environment.

According to The Harris Poll, a score of 80 and above indicates an "excellent" reputation, while scores of 75 to 79 indicate a "very good" reputation. The top 14 companies on the list received scores within the "excellent" range.

To determine what's working for these brands, Business Insider compiled statements from current and former employees at these popular companies made on Quora and Glassdoor.

Do you work at any of these companies? Email acain@businessinsider.

SEE ALSO: Target employees shared 4 of their worst horror stories — and it will make you appreciate how hard their job is

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An employee said that 'making sure the customer is 100% satisfied' is key at The Home Depot

Reputation quotient: 78.78

Home Depot employee Angélic Brodie wrote on Quora that working for the home improvement company was mostly like "working at any other retail place." But she added that "everything revolves around the core values of the company and making sure the customer is 100% satisfied."

And the brand has reportedly taken steps to better the experience of shoppers in the past.

Some customers, like Boston.com's Scott Burns, decried understaffing issues at the chain in the mid-2000s. But Home Depot has since streamlined and improved its application processes, in order to ensure customers aren't dealing with stores manned by skeleton crews.

And, in a store review written for Business Insider, Jessica Tyler found that Home Depot had a lot to offer consumers.

"Home Depot's selection was astounding," she wrote. "It had all types of flooring in a huge variety of styles and patterns, and there were a few employees in each department to help."



A LG Corporation employee described a fast-paced company dedicated to creating quality products

Reputation quotient: 78.92

An anonymous LG Corporation employee took to Glassdoor in 2017 to write that the South Korea-based conglomerate was "very customer-focused" and able to churn out truly "great products."

"Decisions can be made very fast to stay relevant and ahead of competitors," the employee wrote.

And, if the company's recent record earnings are any indication, consumers are liking what they're seeing from LG.

Business Insider's Antonio Villas-Boas gave LG's latest G7 'ThinQ' a positive review — and he was also a fan of the LG G6. And individual consumers aren't the only ones taking notice. CNET reported that Netflix recently gave "the vast majority" of LG's 2018 TV models its blessing.



A Berkshire Hathaway employee said the company has been able to become so successful by valuing "individual responsibility"

Reputation quotient: 78.97

Led by famed investor Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway has a sterling reputation as one of the most successful companies in the world.

As Buffett's influence grew over the decades, Berkshire Hathaway's annual Q&A meeting in Omaha has morphed into a widely-attended, veritable "carnival" Business Insider's Akin Oyedele reported.

But, within the company itself, it's not all about Buffett. Sam Tucker, a former transportation underwriter at Berkshire Hathaway, wrote on Quora that company strives to live up to this by operating with a "lack of multiple layers of management."

"Another really great part of working there was the level of individual responsibility," Tucker wrote. "That may seem kind of weird, but knowing exactly what is expected of you — and what is not — is quite refreshing compared to many other corporations today."

That's probably why the Oracle of Omaha himself isn't worried about how Berkshire Hathaway will fare when he retires.

"That's for two reasons: the company's assets and its culture," Markets Insider's Jacob Sonenshine reported.



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BJ's Wholesale Club just filed to go public — we compared it to rivals Costco and Sam's Club to see which bulk retailer does it best (COST, WMT)

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  • Costco, Sam's Club, and BJ's Wholesale are similar membership-based warehouse stores that offer a wide variety of products and services.
  • The only significant difference between Sam's Club and Costco is the cost of membership — Sam's Club costs $15 less annually.
  • BJ's, which filed for an IPO on Thursday, differs from the other two stores in a few ways, including the presence of a self-checkout option and the lack of a food court. BJ's locations used to have food courts, but most are being replaced by Dunkin' Donuts kiosks.
  • I went to a Costco and Sam's Club in New York and a BJ's in New Jersey and found that the costs were comparable, but BJ's would rank lowest because it didn't have as much to offer.

Costco, Sam's Club, and BJ's Wholesale are membership-based warehouse stores selling groceries, clothing, furniture, and, well, lots of other stuff.

All three stores offer eye and ear exams, a pharmacy, one-hour photo services, and either a food court or kiosk at affordable prices. Even the return policies are similar, though BJ's stops accepting items after a year, while Costco and Sam's Club will do so for most items at any time.

After visiting all three stores, I found that aside from the cost of membership, Costco and Sam's Club were very similar, while BJ's seemed as if it was struggling to catch up.

But BJ's is showing some signs of strength. On Thursday, the warehouse chain filed to go public, with plans to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker "BJ." The warehouse chain had previously traded publicly until 2011, when it made a deal with two private-equity firms to take it private, according to CNN Money.

Costco's yearly membership is $60, while BJ's comes in second at $55 and Sam's Club is the least expensive at $45. The annual cost of premium memberships ranked similarly, with Costco costing $120, BJ's $110, and Sam's Club $100.

According to a grocery-store ranking from Consumer Reports, the higher membership costs at Costco might be worth it — it ranked higher than Sam's Club and BJ's in cleanliness, meat and produce quality, customer service, store-brand quality, and prices of organic items.

BJ's ranked higher than Sam's Club in just two categories: healthy organic options and checkout speed.

To see for myself which store offered the best deal, I went to a BJ's Wholesale in Jersey City, New Jersey, and Costco and Sam's Club stores in Westchester County, New York. Here's what I found.

SEE ALSO: These were the biggest menu flops in fast food

During my visit to the BJ's store in Jersey City, I found that a membership was $55 a year for the basic plan and $110 a year for premium, falling between Costco's and Sam's Club's prices. No one checked for my membership here — non-members can use a guest pass to shop, but they'll have to pay a 20% service fee at most locations.



Tech items were at the front of the store, and prices ranged from $500 to $2,000 for things like TVs.



BJ's snacks were all sold in bulk, but the variety felt relatively small. There was more candy than snacks, and the produce selection was smaller than I would find at a Costco or Sam's Club.



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A vape pen killed a 38-year-old man — and it's a type of e-cig that's wildly popular among one group of vapers

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woman vaping vape e-cig

  • In the first recorded US death from a vape pen, a 38-year-old man in Florida has died after an e-cigarette exploded, pierced his skull, and set a room on fire.
  • The type of pen that Tallmadge Wakeman D'Elia, or "Wake," was using is called a mechanical mod, or "mech mod."
  • It's a device that's popular among e-cig hobbyists and experienced vapers because of how precisely it can be customized.


In the first recorded US death from a vape pen, a 38-year-old man in Florida has died after an e-cigarette exploded, pierced his skull, and set a room on fire.

Tallmadge Wakeman D'Elia, whom friends called "Wake," had been at home in St. Petersburg, Florida, when the explosion happened, The New York Times reported. D'Elia suffered burns on roughly 80% of his body but his cause of death was ruled a “projectile wound to the head,” from the vape pen.

The type of pen that D'Elia was using is called a mechanical mod, or "mech mod." It's a device that's popular among e-cig hobbyists and experienced vapers because of how precisely it can be customized.

Although this is the first recorded death from an e-cig, it has long been known that the devices pose an explosion hazard. In what remains the largest and most comprehensive report on the health hazards of vaping, researchers from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine found "conclusive evidence" that e-cigarettes "can explode and cause serious injury."

A 2017 report from the US Fire Administration also documented an explosion risk linked with vape pens and highlighted the risks of those that used lithium-ion batteries, which it called a "new and unique hazard." The report documented 195 non-deadly fires and explosions related to e-cigarettes between 2009 and 2016.

In general, e-cigs heat and vaporize an e-liquid solution (often nicotine) that a user inhales. But mech mods are more customizable and can be more risky.

A special type of device popular among experienced vapers

mech mod ecig vape penThe device D'Elia was using at the time of his death was made by Smok-E Mountain Mech Works, headquartered in the Philippines. The e-cig falls into a class of vape pens known as "mechanical mods" or "mech mods."

Mech mods are popular chiefly among enthusiasts and experienced vapers, who enjoy the high degree to which they can be customized for a longer pull or a higher nicotine hit. In general, mech mods include three parts — the housing or casing (which can be metal or wood and may be tube- or box-shaped), one or more batteries, and an atomizer (the heating part of the device that vaporizes e-cig liquid).

A Smok-E Mountain representative told ABC Action News that its devices do not explode and said instead that the problem may have stemmed from the battery that was used.

In general, other more popular e-cig devices don't have an external battery or atomizer; many disposable vape pens, for example, are all-in-one devices that can be used on their own with no additional pieces of equipment.

Researchers are still assessing the health risks of those types of devices, but some concerns have begun to mount over their surging popularity among teens whose brains are highly vulnerable to addiction and because they appear to expose users to some of the toxic chemicals also present in traditional cigarettes.

SEE ALSO: An e-cigarette with twice the nicotine of comparable devices is taking over high schools — and scientists are sounding the alarm

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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's engagement couldn't be any more different than Charles and Diana's nearly 40 years earlier

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  • Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are to wed Saturday.
  • We looked back at their engagement interview, and realized how different it is from Prince Charles and Princess Diana's, and even from Prince William and Kate Middleton's.
  • Body language experts have noticed that Prince Harry and Markle were more affectionate in their official announcement than the other two couples.


Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are unlike any royal couple that came before them.

You can tell that right away by watching their first public interview after they announced their engagement.

Prince Charles and Princess Diana often looked tense during their 1981 interview, and Prince William and Kate Middleton barely touched at all when they gave their interview in 2010. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, on the other hand, held hands, giggled, and gazed lovingly into each other's eyes.

One potential reason for these differences is that Prince Charles and Prince William are much higher in the line of succession to the English throne than Harry, who can act less formally knowing he's further removed from one day being king.

We took a look at what body language experts have said about the three engagement interviews, and what each couple's nonverbal cues might convey about their relationship.

SEE ALSO: Meghan Markle's whirlwind romance is the opposite of Kate Middleton's 10-year courtship — and it shows how different their marriages will be

Prince Charles and Princess Diana got engaged in 1981. Diana was 19 and Charles was 32.



They had only met each other 13 times when Prince Charles proposed.

Source: Harper's Bazaar



During their engagement interview, Prince Charles and Princess Diana showed different facial expressions, body language expert Robin Kermode told The Express. "Charles looks assured while Diana often looks sadder when she is listening — her lips and mouth are held together, here eyebrows lifted and her cheeks pushed forward with watery eyes."

Source: The Express



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

The most important career decision you can make is who you marry — here's what that means for Meghan Markle

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  • Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will wed on Saturday.
  • That means Markle will leave behind both her acting career and her political pursuits.
  • Successful people say your choice of spouse is the most important career decision you can make — and it seems like Prince Harry and Markle have spent time thinking about how they can jointly change the world.


The royal wedding is (almost) upon us. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will tie the knot on Saturday, about two years after they were set up on a blind date by a mutual friend.

Markle's new life will look drastically different from her life before she met her future husband. Not only will she move from the United States to the United Kingdom and become a British citizen; she'll also transition from an acting career to being full-time royalty.

In the couple's first interview after announcing their engagement, Markle, who is 36 years old, addressed her decision: "I don't see it as giving anything up, I just see it as a change."

She added that she had already been working on the television series "Suits" for seven years. "So we're very, very fortunate to be able to have that sort of longevity on a series and for me, once we hit the 100-episode marker, I thought, 'You know what? I have ticked this box and I feel really proud of the work I've done there and now it's time to, as you [Harry] said, work as a team with you."

In addition to playing Rachel Zane on "Suits," Markle also appeared on the soap opera "General Hospital." She's been everything from a United Nations women's advocate to a freelance calligrapher, and she recently shut down her lifestyle blog, "The Tig."

While nothing will expressly prohibit Markle from acting, INSIDER's Kristin Salaky and Talia Lakritz reported that royals are forbidden from being politically active and from publicly discussing their political views.

Markle and Prince Harry say they're on the same page about wanting to change the world

Markle's experience marrying into royalty isn't something most of us can relate to. But the general theme of making big life changes for your partner is universal.

As Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg frequently tells young women, "The most important career choice you'll make is who you marry."

Legendary investor Warren Buffett said much the same thing in a conversation with Bill Gates at Columbia University. He told the audience: "The most important decision many of you will make, not all of you, will be the spouse you choose," since "you will move in the direction of the people that you associate with."

INSEAD professor Jennifer Petriglieri said on an episode of the Harvard Business Review's podcast "Women at Work," that couples, in order to maximize both partners' satisfaction, should have a conversation twice yearly about what they're "aiming for individually and together" in the near future.

In fact, in the post-engagement interview, Markle mentioned that she and Prince Harry had had this type of conversation on an early date: "It was really one of the first things we connected on, it was one of the first things we started talking about when we met, was just the different things that we wanted to do in the world and how passionate we were about seeing change."

In the same interview, Prince Harry responded to a question about whether he feels a sense of responsibility for Markle leaving acting behind. "Of course," he said, adding that, "I still have to have some pretty frank conversations with her to say, you know what you're letting yourself in for, it's a big deal, and it's not easy for anybody."

Prince Harry went on: "Whatever we have to tackle together or individually, will always be us together as a team."

More on the royal wedding:

SEE ALSO: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's engagement couldn't be any more different than Charles and Diana's nearly 40 years earlier

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There's an outlandish conspiracy theory that Melania Trump is a Russian spy

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  • There's a wild conspiracy theory that first lady Melania Trump is a Russian spy.
  • The only "evidence" internet commenters seem to have is that she speaks six languages and met Russian Vladimir Putin at the G-20 Summit last year.

There's an outlandish conspiracy theory floating around that first lady Melania Trump is really a Russian spy.

As "evidence," internet commenters point to a chat she had with Russian President Vladimir Putin at a dinner for last year's G-20 Summit.

While Trump doesn't speak Russian, she does know English, French, German, Italian, and Serbian, in addition to her native Slovenian — more languages than any previous American first lady.

Many saw her engaged in conversation at dinner with Putin, and reports described the two as friendly during the meal.

But there is no proof that Trump and Putin have had any other interaction, and no reason to think she has performed any work as a Russian spy beyond the occasional satire piece.

Melania Trump and Vladimir Putin

Trump was born and raised in Slovenia before she moved to New York in 1996 when she was 26. She still has a Slovenian accent, which is different from a Russian accent.

Slovenia is a former Soviet Republic that broke from the USSR in 1989, when its people rose up to push for reform, becoming a parliamentary democracy. Today, the country is part of the European Union and NATO.

This isn't the first conspiracy theory about the first lady. Since the 2016 presidential campaign season, she's been accused of having a body double and not living in the White House, both claims her staff have flatly denied.

The slew of similarly shaky conspiracy theories seem to thrive on the first lady's private, steely public persona.

But Trump is slowly stepping into the spotlight as she becomes a more visible figure in her husband's administration, and people who have close personal relationships with her describe her personality very differently.

French first lady Brigitte Macron said she gets along well with Trump, whom she called "really fun".

"We have the same humor; we both laugh a lot," Macron said in April. "She is a woman who has a lot of character but who is keen to hide it. She laughs very easily about everything, but she shows it less than me."

SEE ALSO: Melania Trump has a Secret Service agent who looks strikingly similar to her — and it's fueling a wild conspiracy theory

DON'T MISS: Incredible facts about Melania Trump that show she's completely unlike any other first lady

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9 of the hardest languages for English speakers to learn

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  • Some languages are harder to learn than others.
  • For English speakers, it is especially difficult to learn languages like Japanese, Arabic, and Hungarian.
  • That's because they contain very different grammar systems, sounds, and features than English.


Learning a new language can be a rewarding experience, but as with any new skill it takes a lot of practice and hard work.

Naturally, some languages will take longer than others to learn. The Foreign Service Institute of the US Department of State classifies the world's most popular languages into five categories based on how long it takes for a typical English speaker to achieve proficiency.

We compiled a list of nine of the toughest major languages to learn, according to the Foreign Service Institute standards. If you're going to tackle one of these, be prepared to invest at least 1,000 study hours and, in some cases, as many as 2,200 to become proficient.

These are nine of the hardest languages in the world to learn for English speakers:

SEE ALSO: Words and phrases people think are wrong, but are actually correct

DON'T MISS: 8 common words you probably didn't know came from TV shows

Japanese

Native speakers: 128 million

Where it's spoken: Japan

Why it's hard: Japanese is difficult for English speakers because, among other reasons, it has more than one set of written characters, and readers need to memorize thousands of characters to achieve fluency.

Japanese is also a highly contextual language that requires different forms depending on the formality of the social situation. Even a pronoun like "you" could have more than 10 different translations depending on the person you're talking to.



Arabic

Native speakers: 315 million

Where it's spoken: Throughout the Middle East and northern and northeast Africa

Why it's hard: Reading Arabic can be immensely difficult for English speakers: It's written in a different alphabet, usually omits vowels, and has very few words in common with English.



Mandarin

Native speakers: 909 million

Where it's spoken: Northern and southwestern China

Why it's hard: Mandarin is a tonal language, meaning the intonation you put on a word can change its meaning. For example, the syllable "ba" could mean either "eight," "pull out," "hold," or "dad" depending on which tone you use.

Mandarin also has a complex writing system with thousands of characters. For the world's most spoken language, there's a high barrier to entry to achieve competency.



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11 rules for writing a best man's speech so you don't crash and burn

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Few events in life will be as nerve-wracking as your wedding day — except perhaps the day you're someone's best man. 

Often it's the best man's speech that the guests are waiting for, because traditionally it's the one that's the most fun. You're likely to hear uncensored, embarrassing stories of the groom's youth, and even the bride might learn something new about their new husband.

But all of this means there's a lot of pressure on the best man. The royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle takes place on Saturday, and if best man Prince William isn't prepared, his speech may fall flat — or he may be outshone by his sister-in-law-to-be, who is a professional actress.

Based on tips from experts, here are 11 rules you should follow to prepare for and deliver a winning best man's speech. After all, once your moment is over, you can finally enjoy the day.

SEE ALSO: How not to mess up a wedding speech, according to etiquette coach William Hanson

1. Preparation is key

Starting with the obvious, it's really important you rehearse and re-rehearse your speech. Unless you're the most charismatic person alive, being unprepared will probably leave you floundering, and there's nothing worse than forgetting your lines when you have hundreds of eyes on you.

You should also give yourself plenty of time to write the speech. According to experts at Blinkist, an app that condenses nonfiction books into 15 minute chunks, there are some books to help you nail a speech too. They recommend "Pitch Perfect: How to Say It Right the First Time, Every Time" by Bill McGowan and Alisa Bowman, and "The Story Factor: Inspiration, Influence and Persuasion through the Art of Storytelling" by Annette Simmons, which will help you tell your anecdotes in an exciting and memorable way.



2. Remember your audience

Some best men may be so focused on trying to make their speech funny, they can forget their real audience — the bride and groom. 

"While [it] can seem hilariously funny to make jokes about old girlfriends or questionable past behaviour, it's important to keep it clean," Australian etiquette expert Anna Musson told the Daily Mail.

Ultimately, you want to make sure your speech is well received by the couple, because it is their big day after all. 

"Remember there are now two families to consider when bringing up old jokes and stories of laddish behaviour," Musson added.

The father of the bride may have spent a lot of money on the day, so it's not going to be much fun avoiding him for the rest of the night.



3. Watch your language

There's a good chance you may attend an international wedding at some point. If you're picked to be best man, then you'll probably be delivering your speech where one half of the room is from one country and the other half is from another. This complicates things, not least because the risk of your jokes crashing and burning or being misunderstood dramatically increases.

Experts at Babbel, the language learning app, say in this case you should practice your speech with someone who speaks the first language of the bride or groom. That way, they can let you know if anything is lost in translation, or you've used the wrong word. For example, "embarazada/o" in Spanish doesn’t mean "embarrassed," but translates to "pregnant," while "excité" in French means "aroused" — a couple of mistakes you don't really want to make.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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