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I went to the massive World Cup party in Moscow, where up to 25,000 fans celebrate the games

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FifaWorldCup2018 FanFest (46 of 49)

  • For those who don't have tickets to the 2018 FIFA World Cup but are in Russia, FIFA's Fan Fest zones provide a fun place to watch matches with fans from all over the world.
  • The Fan Fest zones have a ton of games, activities, swag, and giant screens to watch the games.
  • I recently visited one of the biggest Fan Fest zones, at Moscow's Vorobyovy Gory, where tons of fans partied all day while watching the World Cup matches.

Every four years, the world comes together for a festival of football (soccer for Americans) that promises to make us forget all about the world's troubles as best we can for a few weeks and unite in our collective humanity.

That spirit of global togetherness has certainly been on display in pubs and city squares around the world during the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

But nowhere is it more evident than at events FIFA is putting on in this year's World Cup host country of Russia.

For those who don't have a ticket to the games, Russia's 11 Fan Fest sites, spread across the country, promise to be a place where fans can join together and share in each game's triumphs.

With massive screens, entertainment, and activities, the Fan Fests are like the world's biggest sports bars for the duration of the tournament, which began Thursday and runs through July 15.

One of the biggest Fan Fest sites this year is at Moscow's Vorobyovy Gory, a park overlooking the city and Luzhniki Stadium. It holds a whopping 25,000 people at peak capacity.

I recently went to check out the fun while visiting Russia for this year's World Cup. Here’s what it was like:

SEE ALSO: I stayed at the $6.6 billion mega-hotel Kim Jong Un visited in Singapore, and was honestly kind of disappointed

Since the 2006 World Cup in Germany, FIFA has set up official Fan Fest zones for visiting fans and citizens of the host country to watch World Cup games together. To get to the one in Moscow, you have to walk past Luzhniki Stadium, Russia's national stadium and one of the focal points of the tournament.



It's about a 30-minute walk from Luzhniki. You have to cross the Moskva River, which passes through central Moscow. When I went on a Monday afternoon, it was bright, sunny, and warm.



The Fan Fest is technically in Vorobyovy Gory, a park that overlooks Moscow. Literally meaning Sparrow Hills, it's one of the highest points in the city. It seemed to me a bit like Moscow's Central Park.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

Costco employees reveal the 19 worst, grossest, and most bizarre things they've seen on the job

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Costco shopper happy

Costco workers shared their stories about the weirdest and worst things they've seen on the job with Business Insider.

• Some Costco workers reported that colleagues and members can occasionally make life a bit difficult.

• Many Costco employees cited the chain's generous return policy as a source of unexpected situations.



Costco jobs aren't always easy. The retail chain isn't just known for selling some rather unexpected products.

Sometimes, surprising situations crop up as well. The retail chain did make Glassdoor's list of best places to work in 2017, but that doesn't mean it's immune to odd and frustrating scenarios.

Business Insider reached out to Costco employees to find out what strange or bizarre situations they've witnessed on the job.

Many of the stories centered in around what one Iowa-based Costco worker called "abuse of Costco's generous return policy."

"Oh, the stories we could tell," said one Costco employee from San Diego. "Smelly socks, 20-year-old refrigerators, stained mattresses, we've seen it all."

Other anecdotes focused more on bad behavior from members and Costco colleagues. And some stories are just about bad luck or unusual circumstances. A total of 49 employees shared their stories with us.

Here's what Costco workers had to say about the most bizarre things they've seen happen in the store:

SEE ALSO: Costco employees share the 15 things they wish shoppers would stop doing

DON'T MISS: Sneaky ways Costco gets you to buy more

SEE ALSO: 12 Costco food court menu items employees swear by

Dairy-related violence

A worker at a Costco in Ontario once witnessed a "fist fight over a cheese sample."



Bowel movements

"Someone pooped on the floor in the clothing department and tracked it all the way to the bathroom," said one Costco employee based in Chicago.



A shocking fall

"A guy fell through our roof," a Costco employee from Oregon told Business Insider. "He was working on the roof, sat down on the edge and somehow fell backwards. That's why now Costco requires bars on the sun roofs."



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

I got my handwriting analyzed by an expert, and what she could tell about my personality was surprisingly accurate

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pen writing write book notebook diary handwriting

  • Handwriting analysts believe that your style of writing can reveal aspects of your personality.
  • I had a professional handwriting analyst look at my handwriting and tell me what she saw.
  • As it turns out, much of her analysis was spot-on, although I'm not completely convinced.


Some people claim that your handwriting is a window into your personality — that every one of your loops, crosses, and dots can reveal something about yourself.

There's an entire science behind handwriting analysis, called graphology, and it's used by everyone from marriage counselors to potential employers. Supposedly, it can even reveal the vulnerable sides of some of the most powerful and successful people in the country.

Whether graphology is legit has been up for debate for years, so I wanted to put it to the test. I enlisted certified graphologist Elaine Charal, who offered to analyze my handwriting and give me a free personality report. Then, I showed the results to three people who know me well — my sister Sara, my roommate Michael, and my longtime friend Christine — and had them judge whether her assessment was accurate.

First, here's the handwriting sample I sent Charal, in all its chicken scratch glory:

handwriting

One day later, Charal wrote back to me with a detailed, 11-paragraph summary of what she saw in my handwriting. Here are some of the highlights, as well as commentary from my three trusty associates:

"All of your script is vertical slanted, indicating poise, objectivity and your ability to remain (outwardly) calm under pressure … if you don't want anyone to see that you're upset, no one will see it."

Sara: I would agree with this. You are calm most of the time and so I know that if you are visibly upset or angry, it's because of something big or something important to you. 

Christine: I would agree that you always try to remain calm and objective, especially if you're riled up on the inside. Unless it's about sports, or something very silly, then you are totally fine showcasing every hyperbolic note of joy and sorrow.

Michael: I have noticed (see: Eagles playoff run) that you tend to pace a bit when you are nervous/excited.

Me: My sister [Sara] would know! I keep a straight face in most situations, and when I do get animated I even surprise myself sometimes. But as Christine and Michael mentioned, when it comes to sports, I tend to wear my heart on my sleeve.

"Your stick-like l's indicate you to be result-oriented." 

Christine: You do love it when things are measurable and numbers-driven (like Scrabble and baseball!) but you don't live and die by results in your own life.

Sara: You've always seemed more concerned with exploration, experience, and living in the moment over the future and what the outcome will be.

Michael: I'd say so.

Mark: While this piece of analysis made me slightly self-conscious about my l's, I'm not sure it's on the mark as far as my personality goes. Christine and Sara said it best, I usually care more about the process of finding an answer than getting it right, and I try not to measure success purely by the outcome.

unnamed copy

"A few of your t-bars are crossed in the lower portion of your t-stems, indicating you are likely capable of much more than you realize! This is a protection stroke: you may tend to unconsciously keep your aspirations modest so that you don't disappoint yourself or others."

Christine: Oh, snap... Dude, she might be right.

Sara: I'm not sure if you realize this, but I agree. 

Me: I never noticed before that I seem to cross my t's halfway down the t, and sometimes even lower. The bit about my personality is fair — I do find it more practical to set low expectations and exceed them rather than come up short of a big goal. I am very curious to know whether those two elements are actually related.

"A good number of your a's resemble o's, indicating you work hard and make it look easy."

Sara: This is absolutely true.

Christine: Not only does this describe you, but it's also the mark of a true hustler.

Me: Dope! Thanks Sara and Christine.

"Your word spacing is quite wide (where you can fit two or more letters between the words), indicating you are a 'free spirit' who needs 'elbow room' and won't appreciate being restricted or told what to do."

unnamed copy 3

Sara: Yes! This one is spot on. You get things done on your time and in your way and don't appreciate being pushed or instructed to do things someone else's way.

Christine: Very true, the expert has nailed that one.

Michael: Well now we're covering pretty much all of the personality types aren't we?

Me: Right again! It's very fair criticism to say that I resist when people tell me what to do — I'd much rather come up with the idea on my own or do things when I feel it's right. Although Michael's comment is valid, too. The analysis does seem to cover many different personality archetypes.

"The very wide loop in your d-stems in your signature and your printed name indicate some sensitivity to criticism. This can act as a desire for perfection."

unnamed copy 2

Michael: I interpret the desire differently. I think you enjoy discussions about finding an absolute truth … and the process of searching is often more fun than the outcome for you. I don't think you care as much about being perfect to avoid criticism, but rather to reach a neat conclusion to a discussion.

Me: I'm trusting my roommate on this one. I am definitely a perfectionist in some ways, and it's interesting to think that it could be in part because of a sensitivity to criticism. But I think a bigger factor is the value I place on precision and clarity, and my desire to see things through as closely as possible to how I imagined them.

Your signature (your public self) is slightly forward slanted, while your text (your private self) is vertical slanted. This suggests that while you project emotional responsiveness, you are actually a more private person.

Sara: I think this is pretty spot on … The amount someone knows about you correlates with how close you are to them.

Michael: This is somewhat true. I think you are a very outwardly emotional person, not afraid to hide excitement or how you are feeling in any moment. You also are pretty private in some aspects of your life, but I don't think the two are mutually exclusive.

Christine: I would strongly agree with this. You are very open and gregarious while also keeping parts of yourself very private.

Me: We all seem to be in agreement here — I do tend to be a private person until I know someone better, but in the comfort of a bigger group I show a wider range of emotions.

Overall, I was impressed with Charal's analysis, especially the more specific details about my personality that wouldn't necessarily apply to just anyone. I remain a little skeptical that every single flourish of the pen can telegraph an aspect of someone's character. But if three people close to me agree can corroborate most of Charal's assessment, then there very well may be something real behind graphology, and I'd be willing to try my hand at it one more time.

SEE ALSO: Here's what handwriting analysts say about the signatures of Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, and 13 more successful people

DON'T MISS: What your handwriting says about you

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: A writing coach explains how to properly use em dashes, ellipses, and parentheses

Saudi Arabia has lifted its ban on women driving but many activists remain behind bars

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women drive saudi arabia

  • Authorities in Saudi Arabia detained several women's rights activists who campaigned for women's driving rights just before the country lifted its ban on women driving.
  • At least 12 women's prominent rights activists have been arrested in the last month.
  • Saudi Arabia lifted its driving ban on Sunday.


Authorities in Saudi Arabia arrested several women's rights activists who campaigned for women's driving rights in the weeks before the country lifted its long-standing ban on female drivers on Sunday.

At least 12 prominent women's rights activists have been arrested since May 15, nine of them remain in custody and face serious charges and long jail sentences, Human Rights Watch said Friday.

Local media reports that the nine activists will be referred to a criminal court that specifically deal with terrorism-related offenses. 

Two women's rights activists were arrested earlier this month according to the rights group, joining several other men and women all tied to previous campaigns to lift the driving ban. Saudi activists also reported that travel bans were placed on those most recently arrested, along with several others.

Saudi state media has been quick to brand the activists as "traitors," and accused them of forming a "cell" in conjunction with foreign agents, Amnesty International said.

The government first announced it would lift its ban on women driving in September, and the ban was officially lifted on Sunday. Critics of the ban say it was symbolic of Saudi Arabia's strong patriarchal society, an image which Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman is rapidly trying to change with numerous modernization efforts. 

But while the nation was celebrating the abolishment of the ban, the government has been doubling down on activists who had fought for the right.

Activists told the Journal that on the day of the announcement they received calls from the Saudi government banning them from speaking to the media or even praising the move. 

"We were told: ‘Don’t talk. We don’t want you to comment positively or negatively. Don’t do it, don’t give interviews,"' an unnamed activist told the Journal.

Activists said the recent crackdown is aimed at preventing anyone from claiming credit for the government's decision to lift the ban.

"They put pressure on the government and the government is still angry, even if it has accepted that women will be allowed to drive,” another activist told the Journal. "Women will drive soon, and they don’t want anyone who can comment."

Among those still in detention are Loujain al-Hathloul, a well-known young activist who spent 73 days in jail for defying the ban in 2014, and Eman al-Nafjan, a Saudi blogger and women's rights campaigner, along with three others. Two other women, aged 63 and 70, helped organize the first driving protests in 1990 and were arrested last month.

Saudi's Press Agency said the activists were arrested for having "dared to violate the country’s religious and national pillars through making suspected contacts in support of the activities of foreign circles." The statement also said those detained sought to "destabilize the Kingdom."

SEE ALSO: Women in Saudi Arabia can now join the army but still need permission from a male guardian first

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: This top economist has a radical plan to change the way Americans vote

Millennials skip breakfast, Baby Boomers read the paper, and other ways generations differ in their morning routines

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  • Generation Z, Millennials, Generation X, and Baby Boomers begin their days in different ways.
  • Some of the differences in their morning routines can be attributed to age. Baby Boomers are increasingly retiring, so they tend to wake up later than working folks.
  • But some of it can be attributed to generational differences. Millennials, for instance, are the most likely to get their news from online. 

 

Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, and Baby Boomers are very different — and their differences are apparent from the moment they wake up. 

A poll from MSN surveyed Americans on their morning routines. It then used machine learning and big data, such as the census, to model how a representative sample of the US would have responded. It's as accurate as a traditional scientific survey, MSN said.

Some of the differences in their morning routines can be attributed to age.

Baby Boomers are increasingly retiring, so they tend to wake up later than the working population. Nearly a third of them wake up after 7 a.m., compared to 15% of those aged below 65. 

Older age also correlates with healthier mornings. Those aged 65 and up tend to exercise and eat breakfast — two recommended components of any morning routine. 

Some discrepancies are also unsurprising, considering generational trends. Millennials, for instance, are the most likely to get their news online, while 13% of Baby Boomers read the paper every morning. (Just 1% of 20-somethings say they read the morning paper.)

Here's how the generations differ in their sunrise habits.

SEE ALSO: The dramatically different morning routines of Americans at every income level

DON'T MISS: 7 things not to do when you first wake up

Adults aged 64 and under are more likely to lay out their outfits the night before.



Of those younger than 65, 85% wake up before 7 a.m. That drops to 68% once folks reach retirement age.



The older you are, the more likely you prioritize breakfast. Two-thirds of young adults never or seldom eat breakfast.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

The incredible life of Jordan's Instagram-famous Crown Prince, an army officer who flies in helicopters and watches football with Prince William

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Crown Prince Al Hussein bin Abdullah II

23-year-old Crown Prince Al Hussein Bin Abdullah II is next in line to the Jordanian throne.

A Sandhurst graduate and second lieutenant in the Jordanian Armed Forces, he shares his adventurous lifestyle with an Instagram following of 1.3 million— and also uses the platform to promote his initiatives to support and engage the youth in Jordan. 

The young royal made headlines this week for watching World Cup football with Prince William during the Duke of Cambridge's five-day Middle East tour.

From indulging in his passion for extreme sports to meeting Obama, scroll down for a peek inside the life of Jordan's Instagram-famous Crown Prince.

SEE ALSO: The insane life of Brunei's super-rich Prince, who flies choppers, chills with tiger cubs, and plays polo

23-year-old Al Hussein Bin Abdullah II is next in line to the Jordanian throne.

Instagram Embed:
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Source: Instagram 



He officially became Crown Prince in 2009, aged 15.

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Source: alhussein



He has amassed an Instagram following of 1.3 million, and uses the platform to promote his military and political work — and share his adventurous lifestyle.

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Source: Instagram



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

US border officials are allegedly pressuring parents into voluntary deportation in exchange for seeing their kids again

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immigrant child family separation zero tolerance border

  • The US government has begun to reunite children with their parents after they were forcibly separated at the US border.
  • A new report claims federal officials are pressuring parents to give up their asylum claims and accept voluntary deportation to see their kids faster.
  • Some experts doubt whether the government will honor the alleged deportation-for-reunification agreement.


Parents who have been separated from their children at the US border have reportedly been pressured to volunteer for deportation in exchange for seeing their kids again.

A 24-year-old Honduran father who is currently being detained at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Livingston, Texas, told The Texas Tribune on Saturday that he was asked to give up his asylum application and sign a voluntary deportation in order to see his daughter.

Two federal officials allegedly told him he would be reunited with his six-year-old daughter at the airport before they were returned to Honduras if he agreed.

The man, who was identified under the pseudonym of Carlos, is now trying to rescind the form he had signed.

He told The Texas Tribune: "I was told I would not be deported without my daughter. I signed it out of desperation... but the truth is I can't go back to Honduras; I need help."

Carlos is currently being detained at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Livingston, Texas, and was told that his daughter is in Arizona, around 1,000 miles away.

family separation carlos daughter map

Carlos and his daughter were separated late last month in McAllen, Texas, after crossing the US-Mexico border illegally and turning themselves into Border Patrol. They have been able to speak on the phone once since their separation.

It appears he is not the only parent facing such a situation. He told the Texas Tribune that 20 to 25 other men detained alongside him at the IAH Polk County Secure Adult Detention Center were given the same choice.

Anne Chandler, a director at the Tahirih Justice Center, a charity for immigrant women and girls, said she had heard a similar account. Jacob Soboroff, an MSNBC correspondent, also reported on Sunday that parents were "quickly given the option" to sign deportation paperwork, and "many chose to do so," citing a DHS official.

Experts have also questioned whether the government would honor the deportation-for-reunification agreement that the federal officials allegedly made.

Cynthia Milian, a private attorney working with Tahirih, said: "I doubt they would put his child on a plane to get her to where he would get deported out from, especially if she’s in Arizona. I just don't see that happening."

Jeff Sessions and Donald Trump

The US government has started reuniting families as a result of Donald Trump's executive order to end the separation of migrant families along the US-Mexico border.

It does not end the "zero-tolerance" policy, which criminally prosecutes all migrants who illegally cross into the US, but vows to keep families together. The likely result of the executive order is children and their parents being detained together instead.

A Department for Homeland Security "fact sheet" published on Saturday claimed that the US government "knows the location of all children in its custody and is working to reunite them with their families."

It also added: "It should be noted that in the past many parents have elected to be removed without their children."

The DHS added on Sunday night that it had reunited 538 children who were taken away from their parents at the borders as part of the zero-tolerance policy.

The Health and Human Services Department, which is responsible for the separated children's wellbeing, added that more than 2,000 children remain in its facilities.

It said it is working with other government agencies to "foster communications" and reunite them with families "via well-established reunification processes." The DHS did not specify how it was tracking and reuniting the families.

Business Insider has contacted ICE for comment.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: This top economist has a radical plan to change the way Americans vote

Toys R Us will close all of its US stores by the end of the week. Take a look back at what it was like in its heyday.

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Toys R Us NJ 1996

  • Toys R Us stores across the US will be closing this week as part of a liquidation process after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last year. All Toys R Us and Babies R Us stores will close on or before Friday. 
  • The company struggled to keep up with competitors and was burdened with over $5 billion worth of debt.
  • Over its more than 60 years in business, Toys R Us gained lots of fans, many of whom are now mourning the death of the store and remembering their favorite childhood memories there.

As Toys R Us nears its end, fans of the store are lamenting its demise.

The retailer filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September and officially filed for liquidation in March. As a result, more than 700 Toys R Us and Babies R Us stores across the United States will be closing for good by Friday. 

The store has been saddled with debt since a leveraged buyout in 2005 and struggled to keep up with competitors.

Though many Toys R Us fans were aware of this, they're still heartbroken to see it go.

In 1948 in Washington, DC, Charles Lazarus opened a baby-furniture store that would become the first Toys R Us after expanding into toys in 1957.

In the 1990s, Toys R Us was the biggest toy seller in the US, expanding rapidly as it pushed out smaller chains. But by 1998, things had changed, and Walmart began selling more toys than Toys R Us in the US — a signal of more trouble ahead.

Take a look back at what Toys R Us was like in its heyday:

SEE ALSO: We went to a Kohl's store and saw how it's bucking the trend of dying department stores and malls

As Toys R Us prepares to close its doors for good, fans are lamenting the death of the chain and looking back on their favorite childhood memories.



This is what a store in New Jersey looked like in 1996.



It had everything a kid could want. This photo from 2001 shows the Imaginarium section of a New Jersey store.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

In Japan, there are classes and holidays to show men how to appreciate their wives

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  • Japan has begun offering classes and celebrating holidays that encourage men to appreciate their wives.
  • Right now Japan is in the midst of a fertility crisis, which could be partly related to the lack of steady jobs for men and partly related to the all-consuming nature of work.
  • The creator of "Beloved Wives Day, "the holiday that encourages men to appreciate their wives, says the "adoring husband" could be part of a traditional Japanese culture.


The Atlantic recently reported on Ikumen classes in Japan, or classes that teach men how to be better fathers.

The catch? At least in the session that Atlantic reporter Stephen Marche attended, none of the men in the class were dads or expecting dads. Some weren't even dating anyone. The idea is at least partly to impress women with the fact that they have some fatherhood experience.

Men in the class practice bathing fake infants and wear weight suits to simulate a woman's pregnant body — but they also learn other ways of being better husbands and fathers.

The teacher in Marche's class recommended that the men compliment their wives (and potential future wives) with comments like: "This is delicious" or "Your outfit looks cute today!"

Those are suggested as alternatives to comments like, "Why did you sleep in so late?"

A more public spectacle of wife-appreciation is Japan's annual "Beloved Wives Day," in which men stand up in public and shout into a microphone how much they adore their wives.

Beloved Wives Day, which has been celebrated in January for about a decade now, is the brainchild of Kiyo Yamana, the founder of the Japan Aisaika Organization. ("Aisaika" means "adoring husband.")

JAO's "5 Golden Rules of Devoted Husbands" are:

1. Go home early, before 8 p.m.

2. Create a relaxing atmosphere

3. Call your wife by her name

4. Look into her eyes

5. Listen to what she has to say

As Kiyo's wife, Kimi, told Christiane Amanpour in the CNN series "Sex and Love Around the World," she and Kiyo have abided by these rules since they got married — and they explain why the couple are so happy.

Ikumen classes and Beloved Wives Day may be efforts to stem Japan's fertility crisis

Ikumen classes and Beloved Wives Day come at a time when Japan is facing a fertility crisis — or what economists call a "demographic time bomb."

The Atlantic previously reported that a lack of job opportunities for men could be to blame. Japanese men are still expected to support their families, and both men and women may be reluctant to marry and have children if they know it will be financially difficult.

And as Business Insider has previously reported, work in Japan can be so demanding that young people often have no time to date or to start a family.

Meanwhile, JAO suspects that the Aisaika lifestyle could be an "unknown traditional culture of Japan." The JAO website also reads: "The Aisaika group has been initiated by middle-aged men who had come to think that good and sustainable marital relationship may very well lead to the world peace and preservation of the global environment." 

SEE ALSO: Japanese bachelors are playing with dolls to help them find wives

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: We went to the UK's first Japanese capsule hostel where you can pay £25 to sleep in a pod

John Oliver blasts Trump's approach to ending policy of separating immigrant children

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  • John Oliver on Sunday criticized President Trump's approach to ending his administration's controversial "zero tolerance" policy of separating immigrant children from their parents.
  • After pointing out several issues that remain with Trump's recent executive order that put a stop to the policy, Oliver criticized Fox News commentators for continuing to "defend the indefensible" in speaking about the issue on air.

On Sunday's "Last Week Tonight," host John Oliver criticized President Trump's 180-degree turn in his decision to end his administration's controversial practice of separating immigrant children from their parents. 

Days after the president tried to deflect the blame from his "zero tolerance" immigration policy on to "weak and ineffective" Democratic congressional members, saying that there was nothing he could do about the policy through executive order, Trump then signed an executive order that put a halt to his administration's placing immigrant children in separate facilities from their parents. 

"Yes, Trump claimed he couldn’t do a thing and then he did it, which is a little strange because he usually claims he can do things and then doesn't do them, like draining the swamp or locking up Hillary or attending Tiffany's sweet 16," Oliver joked.

Oliver then listed several issues that remain with Trump's executive order. 

"Unfortunately, that executive order has some significant hitches, because while families will now not be separated, that's because they'll be detained together, and under current rules, the children can't be held in detention facilities for more than 20 days, which means less than three weeks from now, they could start splitting families up all over again," Oliver said. 

Oliver went on to criticize political commentators and supporters of Trump on Fox News for continuing to "defend the indefensible" in their commentary on the issue. 

The "Last Week Tonight" host threw to a clip of Fox Business Network host Stuart Varney, who tried to downplay the issue on air:

"If you read the headlines or you watch the evening news today or yesterday or this week at all, it’s 'trade war,' it’s 'children in cages,'" Varney said in the clip. "The real big story that affects everybody in America is the success of the president’s tax-cut package and what it’s done for the economy."

"That deflection technique doesn’t really work when the thing you’re deflecting from is children in cages," Oliver said. "If a realtor selling a house were to say, 'Why are we talking about the children in cages? The kitchen has marble countertops,’ the only acceptable response would be, 'Because they’re children and they’re in cages! Someone needs to let them out, you f---ing monster!'"

Watch the episode on HBO Go

SEE ALSO: China's largest social network has blocked all mentions of John Oliver after the talk-show host criticized Xi Jinping

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: This top economist has a radical plan to change the way Americans vote

The 13 best horror movie directors working today who terrify us over and over again

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The horror movie genre has seen a surplus of fresh talent in recent years, including newcomer Ari Aster, whose chilling feature directorial debut "Hereditary" is in theaters now. And with that talent has come a bevy of future classics in the genre, including "Hereditary," "The Babadook," and "Get Out."

The genre has produced hit after hit, even if you only look at this year and last. "Get Out" scored $255 million worldwide on a $4 million budget and won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. "It," based on the Stephen King novel, blew away expectations and pulled in over $700 million worldwide. This year, John Krasinski's "A Quiet Place" has made over $326 million globally with a $17 million budget, according to Box Office Mojo.

It's no wonder that studios are recruiting horror directors for blockbusters. "Saw" and "The Conjuring" horror-master James Wan is finishing up "Aquaman" for later this year, and "Annabelle: Creation" director David F. Sandberg is directing another DC superhero movie, "Shazam!"

But hopefully they don't forget the genre they came from.

Jason Blum, the producer of "Get Out" and other horror hits like "Happy Death Day" and the upcoming "Halloween" movie, thinks that the genre has been a little too successful. In an interview with Variety, he said there will be a "depression in the horror market real soon, because when you get a bunch of hit scary movies, everyone wants to make them." Hopefully that's not the case, because the genre has been churning out some of its best movies in years.

Whatever happens, we know there are plenty of talented filmmakers bringing new ideas to horror who have bright futures ahead of them. Even some veterans, like Guillermo del Toro, are still redefining what the genre can be and accomplish (see Best Picture winner "The Shape of Water").

Below are 13 of the best horror directors working today:

SEE ALSO: 'It: Chapter 2' has started filming — here's everything we know about the blockbuster horror sequel

Fede Alvarez

Most recent film: "Don't Breath" (2016)

Next film: "The Girl in the Spider's Web" (2018)

First horror film: "Evil Dead" (2013)

Alvarez will be taking on the next chapter in the Lisbeth Salander saga later this year with "The Girl in the Spider's Web." His "Don't Breathe" was a tense thriller about a group of thieves who break into a house where a blind, but dangerous, man stalks them. 



Ari Aster

Most recent film: "Hereditary" (2018)

Next film: Unknown

First horror film: "Hereditary"

"Hereditary" is proving to be a polarizing movie with audiences, but Ari Aster delivers a brutal and meticulously crafted horror film for the ages with his feature directorial debut.

 



Guillermo del Toro

Most recent film: "The Shape of Water" (2017)

Next film: "Nightmare Alley" 

First horror film: "Cronos" (1993)

Del Toro finally won the directing Oscar this year for "The Shape of Water," which also won Best Picture. Some may argue that it's not a horror movie, but I beg to differ. Whatever the case, del Toro is one of the horror masters working today, simply because he so often blurs the lines of what a horror movie can be. His career stretches back over two decades, and includes the likes of fantasy superhero movies (with horror elements) like "Blade II" and "Hellboy," and fantasy horror like "The Devil's Backbone," and the critically acclaimed "Pan's Labyrinth." Next, he'll remake the 1947 film noir "Nightmare Alley."



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

'It's heartbreaking': A Texas landowner who sees immigrants cross through her property regularly says she's horrified by Trump's border policies

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mcallen texas border land

  • One woman, whose Texas property has been in her family for generations, said she wanted Americans to understand that the immigrants she sees on her land are fleeing devastating violence.
  • She has grown concerned about the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" policy, which, until recently, separated families at the US-Mexico border.
  • She said the immigrants she encountered on her land weren't dangerous and needed help and that Americans should remember "we're human first."

MCALLEN, TEXAS — Ana's family has owned a small plot of land along the US-Mexico border in Texas for generations. For years, the family has watched as immigrants illegally crossed the Rio Grande and passed through their property just a quarter of a mile away.

But lately, the immigrants have been traveling a little differently. Ana, who asked to be identified by only her first name, said they had begun arriving in the US as family units rather than as individual adults, now sometimes with very young children in tow.

The immigrants she encounters are never dangerous, she said, adding that they often beg her for water or ask for directions.

Sometimes it appears that the so-called coyotes who smuggled them across the border have lied, telling them they'd be in Houston after crossing the Rio Grande. Ana has to tell them they're in McAllen, some 300 miles away.

The challenges the immigrants face along their journey make it all the more difficult for Ana to wrap her mind around the Trump administration's recent "zero tolerance" policy of prosecuting every adult who crosses the border illegally and, until recently, separating parents from children who crossed with them.

The separations caused a public uproar as stories surfaced of frightened young children flown across the US to stay in shelters or with foster families while their frantic parents remained in detention facilities or were deported back to their home countries.

Ana says it's frightening to see how President Donald Trump and his supporters seem incapable of putting themselves in these immigrants' shoes to understand their situations.

"I think it's heartbreaking — seeing all those children separated, I think about my grandson," Ana said, her voice breaking. "I recently lost my mom last month. I'm 48 years old, and I miss her. Can you imagine being a 3-, 4-, or 5-year-old?"

'A little bit of heart'

migrant child mcallen texasThough Trump signed an executive order last week halting the family separations and seeking instead to detain entire families together, Ana says she's still concerned about his policies.

She also said Trump's recent rhetoric about a "crisis" at the border and unauthorized immigrants who he tweeted "infest our Country" was flat-out wrong.

She acknowledges there may be a few "rotten apples" amid the scores of immigrants she sees. But she doesn't think a small minority of criminals should mean those seeking asylum should be shut out of the country.

"I understand that there are some people who do come in here and do bad things, but eventually they're going to pay for it," Ana said. "Trump, what he needs to do is he needs to come down here himself and look at the people and talk to the people and meet the people. Everything he says is not true."

Ana says she knows there are political arguments against illegal immigration, and she's concerned with the way asylum seekers might affect taxpayers, but she said people had to have "a little bit of heart" regarding immigrants in desperate circumstances — especially when kids are involved.

"The thing is, they need to understand that these people are fleeing their countries," Ana said. "They're being murdered. We're human first. We can't use kids as pawns to get a point across. It's not fair."

Michelle Mark contributed reporting from New York.

SEE ALSO: I visited a Texas courtroom where dozens of chained immigrants were prosecuted under Trump's 'zero tolerance' policy — and it was surreal

DON'T MISS: 'It's always been very peaceful': Texas landowners who live along the border say they feel safe despite Trump's talk of a 'crisis'

AND THEN: The Texas landowners who see people cross through their property on the border say the immigrants are tired, worn-out, and scared

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: This top economist has a radical plan to change the way Americans vote

The Texas landowners who see people cross through their property on the border say the immigrants are tired, worn-out, and scared

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  • The Texas landowners along the US-Mexico border say the immigrants they encounter on their properties are in rough shape after journeying through Mexico.
  • The landowners say they feel sympathy for the scores of people they see each day — they often encounter immigrants with devastating stories of loss or violence in their home countries.
  • They say President Donald Trump's "zero-tolerance" policy hasn't yet appeared to deter people from making the dangerous trek north to the border.

MCALLEN, TEXAS — The unauthorized immigrants who stumble across one Texas landowner's property are usually soaking wet, covered in mud, and exhausted.

The Central American migrants who illegally cross the border in McAllen are usually fresh from crossing the Rio Grande River, and they've journeyed all the way through Mexico to make it to the United States.

"This has been happening for such a long time. Since I can remember, the '80s," the landowner, who asked not to be identified, told Business Insider. "We're so used to this happening, people crossing."

It's not always as simple as a drink of water — occasionally an immigrant will get aggressive, he said. Once, a person grabbed him and tried to force him to open one of the doors to a building on his property.

"There are every now and then a few that are difficult," he said, but for the most part they're respectful. Often, he doesn't even know they're there until he sees a vehicle pull up and watches immigrants rush out from their hiding places and run toward it.

He said the Trump administration's recently implemented "zero tolerance" policy hasn't seemed to deter people from crossing the border near his property — he said he still sees roughly the same number of migrants that he did in the previous months.

'There's a lot of sad cases around here'

migrants mcallen texasChet Miller, a farmer who grows alfalfa on his roughly 200 acres of land, told Business Insider he sees about 15 to 20 migrants crossing through his property each day. Many of them are in rough shape.

Once, Miller said he opened his door at around 3 a.m. to a group of young immigrant women.

"It's four or five girls standing there, half of them crying, wanting me to call Border Patrol for them," he said.

Sometimes he approaches the migrants directly. He said he'll never forget one mid-1980s encounter he had with a man who had just crossed the river and begun walking through Miller's farm. When he asked the man where he was coming from, the man crumpled into tears.

"He had seen his family, his mother, father, and brothers and sisters killed in front of his very eyes. And he had to get out of there or he was going to be dead, too. And he wanted the Border Patrol because he was seeking asylum," Miller said. "You know, there's a lot of sad cases around here."

But Miller clarified that he thinks only about half of them are sad cases. "The other 50% are those damn smugglers and those drugs," he said.

"I feel sorry for them. But they need to be using the damn bridge, doing it the right way," he said, referring to the nearby McAllen-Hidalgo International Bridge, where immigrants can seek asylum at the port of entry — though numerous reports have documented immigrants being turned away by Customs and Border Protection officials.

Another McAllen landowner, who asked to be identified only by her first name, Ana, told Business Insider that the immigrants she sees often look scared. They don't know where they are, what to expect, or whether they should approach Border Patrol to be rescued.

mcallen texas border land

She remembers one encounter her mother had with a Colombian woman fleeing a smuggler several years ago.

"This woman came running, crying that she had just gotten raped by the coyote," Ana said, using the common term for human smugglers. "My mom told her the best thing you can do is turn yourself into Border Patrol."

Ana said she has grown fearful of assisting the immigrants too much, in case the government retaliates against her. Though her grandmother often used to feed and clothe people who looked like they needed it, Ana now merely points at the garden hose in her yard when she encounters thirsty immigrants.

"I'm only human. I was raised to care for people and help as much as I can." she said. "People that we've encountered here, they usually come with nothing. Nothing at all."

Michelle Mark contributed reporting from New York.

SEE ALSO: I visited a Texas courtroom where dozens of chained immigrants were prosecuted under Trump's 'zero tolerance' policy — and it was surreal

DON'T MISS: 'It's heartbreaking': A Texas landowner who sees immigrants cross through her property regularly says she's horrified by Trump's border policies

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Why the North Korea summit mattered even if it was 'mostly a photo op'

11 rising cinematographers taking over Hollywood

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If the director is the most important crew member on set, in most cases the cinematographer is the second-most important.

A skilled director of photography can turn a mediocre movie suddenly into a critical darling or a good movie into an Oscar contender. But unlike directors, who can have a breakout indie and suddenly get snatched up to do the next Hollywood blockbuster, cinematographers are in it for the long game.

Many have to work a decade or two on independent films, shorts, TV shows, and commercials before scoring a studio feature. And even at that point you still have to compete for work with the legends in the field like Emmanuel Lubezi, Robert Richardson, and Roger Deakins to land a job. 

Here are 11 cinematographers who are beginning to make their mark in Hollywood — including the visionaries behind "Moonlight" and "The Last Jedi."

SEE ALSO: "Superfly" director on how making music videos for Drake and Rihanna taught him how to thrive in the Hollywood studio system

Mike Gioulakis (“It Follows,” “Split”)

Gioulakis has found success in the thriller genre with the indie darling “It Follows” and M. Night Shyamalan’s latest hit, “Split,” being the standouts. For both, Gioulakis’ use of natural light and shadows to amp up the spookiness is a very useful tool.



James Laxton (“Moonlight”)

Jumping around from low-budget indies to a few Kevin Smith movies (“Tusk” and “Yoga Hosers”), Laxton reteamed with Barry Jenkins (he shot Jenkins’ debut feature “Medicine for Melancholy”) to make “Moonlight” — and the rest his history. The beautiful exterior shots of Miami are one of the reasons the movie went on to win an Oscar.



Jody Lee Lipes (“Manchester by the Sea,” “Martha Marcy May Marlene”)

In the early 2000s, Lipes was the guy at NYU everyone wanted to shoot their short films, and since he’s been in high demand on the professional level. From shooting episodes of “Girls” to lensing “Trainwreck,” he’s worked on every budget level. His standouts, though, have been his beautiful shooting of tough stories like Sean Durkin’s “Martha Marcy May Marlene” in 2011 and Kenneth Lonergan’s 2016 Oscar-winning movie, “Manchester by the Sea.”



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

13 celebrity-owned liquor brands, ranked by the price of a bottle

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casamigos

What do George Clooney, David Beckham, Ryan Reynolds, and Angelina Jolie have in common — apart from being incredibly famous?

They're all making money from your liquor cabinet.

The number of celebrity liquor brands has gone through the roof in recent years — and with Clooney's tequila company selling for $1 billion last year, it's easy to see why.

Endorsements and side businesses are some of the easiest ways for celebrities to diversify their revenue streams and earn passive income — and you may be surprised to find how many celebrities choose to make their business ventures in the liquor industry.

Business Insider compiled a list of brands you may not have known were owned by celebrities and ranked them by the average the price of a bottle from cheapest to most expensive.

Scroll down to see which celebrity tipples made the list.

SEE ALSO: Ryan Reynolds just bought a gin company he called 'the best on the planet' — but his email reply to us makes it seem like a joke

13. Drew Barrymore, Barrymore Wine — $22 to $28 (£16.70 to £21.25)

Price source: Barrymore Wines.

Barrymore partnered with the Carmel Road winemaker Kris Kato to create an offering of Barrymore Wines.

"I am passionate about wine," Barrymore says on the brand's website. "There is so much to discover and experience and my travels help me do that."



12. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, Miraval Rosé — £20 ($26.35)

Price source: Majestic Wines.

While they were together, Jolie and Pitt produced the award-winning Château Miraval rosé wine.

The pair bought Château Miraval in Provence in 2008 for a reported 40 million euros. They even got married on the estate in August 2014.

While it was believed that Pitt was more involved in the winemaking process than Jolie, in October the couple announced they would be selling Miraval following their split.



11. Channing Tatum, Born and Bred Vodka — $30 (£23)

Price source: Universal Package Store.

Tatum partnered with Grand Teton Distillery to create Born and Bred Vodka in 2017.

"Now, I'm a stripper that became an actor that I guess is working in vodka," Tatum told Bon Appetit. "Nothing surprises me anymore."



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

'It's always been very peaceful': Texas landowners who live along the border say they feel safe despite Trump's talk of a 'crisis'

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  • Despite President Donald Trump's talk about crime and a "crisis" along the US-Mexico border, landowners in McAllen, Texas, say they feel safe on their properties.
  • Their area, known as the Rio Grande Valley Border Patrol Sector, has the highest number of Border Patrol arrests along the entire US-Mexico border.
  • Residents told Business Insider that they frequently see people illegally crossing the border near their land, but many of them simply ask for water.

MCALLEN, TEXAS — For the Texans who live along the US-Mexico border in the Rio Grande Valley, the country's busiest corridor for illegal immigration, the Central American migrants who cross their land every day are simply a part of daily life.

Despite President Donald Trump's bluster about a "crisis on the southern border" and "horrible crime" bred by "open borders," residents in McAllen say they feel safe in their homes and don't fear the immigrants they see on or near their properties.

The area has become the epicenter of the Trump administration's crackdown on illegal immigration, including the controversial "zero tolerance" policy to prosecute every person who crosses the border illegally.

Several landowners who spoke to Business Insider said they frequently see immigrants darting through their land. Sometimes the immigrants beg locals to call Border Patrol to rescue them; other times, they flee at the sight of the officers in their green uniforms.

"Actually here in this area, to me it's always been very peaceful," said one landowner who asked to go only by her first name, Ana. "No gang violence, no people crossing and trying to steal our stuff or whatever — nothing like that."

Ana said her property has been in her family for generations. It used to belong to her grandmother, who would often take in desperate-looking immigrants and feed and clothe them.

"Growing up, definitely we would see illegals crossing by, but we've never encountered any dangerous situations with any of them," she said.

But times have changed, she added. Nowadays, Ana fears that offering too much assistance to unauthorized immigrants could get her in trouble with the government.

So when she sees border-crossers on her property who look thirsty and worn-out from their journey, she merely points them to the garden hose.

'This is the way you'll get across'

mcallen texas border migrantsIn recent years, Texas' Rio Grande Valley, which includes McAllen, has had the highest number of Border Patrol arrests along the entire US-Mexico border.

In the 2017 fiscal year, the area accounted for a whopping 45% of all Border Patrol apprehensions.

One Texas landowner who declined to be identified told Business Insider he was no stranger to the drug smuggling that occurs near the area, but he still never feels fearful.

Instead, he feels sorry for the immigrants he believes are often exploited by drug smugglers.

One morning, he even saw six-foot-tall stacks of black bags on the corner of his property, and he can only imagine what they contained. But he said he hoped the immigrants who hauled them to his property weren't caught, otherwise they'd receive far more than a simple misdemeanor for entering the country illegally.

"Sometimes [immigrants are] used to bring those things over," he said, meaning drugs. "They want to get across and they're told, 'This is the way you'll get across, if you do this.'"

Another landowner, Chet Miller, who owns an alfalfa farm outside McAllen, says illegal crossing has been a constant fact of life along the border — but he has noticed fewer people now than there were than several years ago.

"We had groups coming across the river that were over 100 in a group. Like a herd, a whole herd of people," he said. "They would stand around, and as soon as they see us they'd wave and ask us to call Border Patrol. Because as long as they knew somebody here, they'd get to stay, or a court date."

Like Ana, Miller said many of the people he encounters simply request a drink of water. Summer highs in the area regularly soar past the 90 degrees Fahrenheit, and they've often been walking for days. Roughly one-quarter of the immigrants ask Miller for rides, which he declines.

Miller said he, too, feels safe on his property — even when he's unarmed and encounters people too close to his home in the middle of the night.

"I'll go outside at night without a gun, and get a guy by the collar of the shirt and say 'Come on,'" he said.

Michelle Markcontributed reporting from New York.

SEE ALSO: I visited a Texas courtroom where dozens of chained immigrants were prosecuted under Trump's 'zero tolerance' policy — and it was surreal

DON'T MISS: 'It's heartbreaking': A Texas landowner who sees immigrants cross through her property regularly says she's horrified by Trump's border policies

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: This top economist has a radical plan to change the way Americans vote

A small restaurant in Virginia is suddenly at the center of a political firestorm after an owner asked Sarah Huckabee Sanders to leave. See what it's like inside.

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The Red Hen


Thousands of people — including President Donald Trump himself — have taken to social media to offer their opinion of a small-town Virginian restaurant that kicked out White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders over the weekend.

Sanders said on Saturday that she was asked to leave The Red Hen, a restaurant in Lexington, Virginia, because she works for Trump. One of the owners told the Washington Post that it was Trump's policies, which she called "inhumane and unethical," that had prompted them to deny service to Sanders.

"The Red Hen Restaurant should focus more on cleaning its filthy canopies, doors and windows (badly needs a paint job) rather than refusing to serve a fine person like Sarah Huckabee Sanders. I always had a rule, if a restaurant is dirty on the outside, it is dirty on the inside!" Trump tweeted on Monday.

The restaurant's decision to throw out Sanders has divided the internet. Some angry consumers are comparing it to America's history of racial segregation. 

"I remember the days when certain people in the south were not allowed to eat in restaurants. Looks like nothing has changed with the southern democrat crowd," one Yelp user wrote online.

Others have come out in support of the restaurant.

"I've never been to Virginia. Recent events make we want to travel there just to patronize your wonderful restaurant!!! Thank you for your authenticity and integrity!!!" one customer wrote on The Red Hen's Facebook page.

Yelp has posted an alert to inform customers that the restaurant's page is now in "Active Cleanup" mode. This means that any review that is only related to the news event and not the food or service of the restaurant may be removed.

See inside the restaurant that's at the center of the controversy: 

SEE ALSO: Trump says the restaurant that kicked out Sarah Huckabee Sanders looks bad and dirty

The Red Hen is a farm-to-table restaurant located in Lexington, Virginia. Customers describe its small dining area as cozy and intimate.



The menu changes on a daily basis. Ingredients are sourced from local areas such as the Shenandoah Valley.



It is considered to be one of the best restaurants in the area, with a 4.5 rating on TripAdvisor.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

A drug derived from marijuana has become the first to win federal approval, and experts predict an avalanche effect

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A new drug derived from marijuana just became the first of its kind to get the green light from the US government.

Called Epidiolex, the drug is designed to treat two rare forms of childhood epilepsy using a cannabis compound called cannabidiol (or CBD).

British-based GW Pharmaceuticals makes the drug. It does not contain THC, the well-known psychoactive component of marijuana responsible for the drug's characteristic high.

The federal thumbs-up comes on the heels of several months of promising research results and a positive preliminary vote from the Food and Drug Administration this spring. Experts are hopeful that the approval will unleash a wave of new interest in the potential medical applications of CBD and other marijuana compounds.

“This approval serves as a reminder," Scott Gottlieb, the FDA commissioner, said in a statement on Monday, "that advancing sound development programs that properly evaluate active ingredients contained in marijuana can lead to important medical therapies."

In three large clinical trials which the FDA considered before giving Epidiolex the official green light, researchers presented strong evidence that the pharmaceutical-grade CBD in the medicine had the power to significantly curb some of the worst symptoms of two of the hardest-to-treat forms of epilepsy, known as Lennox-Gastaut syndrome and Dravet syndrome.

"This is clearly a breakthrough drug for an awful disease," John Mendelson, a panel member and senior scientist at the Friends Research Institute, said at a public FDA meeting this spring that was called to discuss the scientific merits of the drug.

But although the green light means that patients will soon be able to access Epidiolex with a doctor's prescription, many will also likely turn to less expensive sources of CBD, such as those sold in marijuana dispensaries. Researchers and advocates cautioned against this, however, with the caveat that it's impossible to verify that what's in those products is actually pharmaceutical-grade CBD.

'A boatload of evidence to show at this point'

Epidiolex 100mg Carton Bottle (unenhanced) (0074c) (j10)

Starting last spring with a study presented at the American Academy of Neurology's yearly meeting in Boston, GW Pharmaceuticals has consistently presented strong clinical studies that appear to support Epidiolex.

"There’s a boatload of evidence to show for this drug at this point," Orrin Devinsky, a lead author on one of those studies and a neurologist at NYU Langone Health, told Business Insider.

A month after the Neurology meeting, Devinksy and his colleagues published a positive study of the drug in children with Dravet syndrome in the New England Journal of Medicine. Roughly 43% of the children in that study who got the drug saw their number of seizures cut in half, and 5% stopped having seizures entirely. In comparison, children who got a placebo had barely any noticeable change in their symptoms.

Almost exactly a year later, Devinksy and his team followed up those results with another favorable study in the same journal using a smaller dose of the drug in patients with Lennox-Gastaut. Devinsky said that low dose might be "the sweet spot" where most patients can achieve relief from symptoms without any unwanted side effects, such as drowsiness.

Also, although Epidiolex is designed to treat only two types of epilepsy, medical professionals can technically prescribe it "off-label" for other conditions as well. (The anesthetic ketamine, for example, is prescribed this way for some hard-to-treat forms of depression.)

"We would expect that once this is approved as a drug it's quite likely this will be tried in other populations off-label so it has a big opportunity to affect others," Lubbers said.

Epidiolex vs. other CBD products

Scientists and advocates representing families of patients with epilepsy are hailing Epidiolex's arrival as a long-awaited treatment. But they are also aware that desperate patients — especially parents of young children — may actively seek alternate sources of CBD that may be cheaper and don't require a doctor's prescription.

In states where marijuana is legal (or in states with laws legalizing CBD on its own), oils and salves made with CBD are widely available. But experts caution that these products may not be what they seem.

"What's different with [Epidiolex] is that this is a well-studied and well-controlled product," Laura Lubbers, the chief scientific officer of a nonprofit called Cure that funds epilepsy research, told Business Insider in April.

But most dispensary-grade CBD products are not well-studied or well-controlled.

For a 2017 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers tested 84 products purchased from 31 different online CBD sellers. Roughly seven out of 10 items had different levels of CBD than what was written on the label. Of all of the items they tested, roughly half of the items had more CBD than was indicated; a quarter had less. And 18 of the samples tested positive for THC, despite it not being listed on the label.

"The main thing is that CBD as approved by the FDA is pharmaceutical-grade CBD. It's manufactured under stringent standards, the same as other FDA-approved drugs," Shlomo Shinnar, the president of the American Epilepsy Society and a professor of neurology and epidemiology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, told Business Insider. "That’s not the same as when people tell you, 'Oh, I’ve got marijuana and it’s high in CBD,' or 'Oh, I've got a CBD product.'"

A powerful catalyst for deeper research into cannabis-derived drugs

marijuanaEpidiolex's approval could also be a powerful catalyst for deeper research into other marijuana-derived medicines. Cannabis has more than 400 compounds, of which CBD and THC are only two, and researchers think the others could hold promise as well.

The drug's green light also means that the Drug Enforcement Agency now has 90 days to reschedule CBD, which it listed in January of last year as a "marihuana extract" separate from "marihuana" or THC.

That means instead of being listed alongside marijuana as a Schedule 1 drug with "no currently accepted medical use," CBD will soon be categorized as either a Schedule 2 or 3 drug, much like the popular ADHD medication Adderall.

"We don't have a choice on that," DEA public affairs officer Barbara Carreno told Business Insider. "It absolutely has to become Schedule 2 or 3."

Once that happens, it'll unleash what Carreno called a "sea change" for CBD manufacturers and the industry as a whole, which up until this point has existed in a legal grey area.

Apart from CBD, researchers are also actively studying THC and other marijuana compounds for a range of potential medical uses, from relieving pain to soothing severe nausea. Although Epidiolex is the first marijuana plant-based drug to land FDA approval, the agency has already given the green light to drugs whose active ingredient is a lab-made version of THC, for example.

In the meantime, experts look forward to seeing Epidiolex made available to patients in need.

"I'm not currently aware of any other major new drugs that are close to being where this drug is," Shinnar said.

SEE ALSO: Pharmaceutical giants are sidestepping US marijuana restrictions to research cannabis-based drugs

DON'T MISS: There’s a sea change coming for the $1 billion marijuana-based industry you’ve never heard of

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Cannibalism used to be a popular medical remedy — here's why humans don't eat each other today

13 places to travel in July for every type of traveler

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  • The best places to visit in July are already on savvy travelers' lists.
  • Business Insider looked at airfare trends, climate data, and peak travel times to find the best places to visit in July 2018.
  • The destinations include tropical getaways, natural wonders, and America's oldest Independence Day celebration.


July is peak travel season for Americans, and if you're a savvy traveler, you're already thinking about where you'll escape.

Choosing the right destination isn't always easy — the summer months bring unrelenting heat in some places, and the threat of monsoon season in others. On top of that, travelers must contend with the throngs of other people who picked the same place for their summer getaways.

We looked at airfare trends, climate data, and cultural calendars to select 13 vacation spots that are some of the best places to visit this July. They include spiritual temple sites in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, the stunning Iguazu Falls in South America, and the charming town of Bristol, Rhode Island — the site of America's longest-running Fourth of July celebration.

Read on to find the 13 best places to visit in July.

SEE ALSO: The 13 best places to travel in June for every type of traveler

DON'T MISS: 13 places to visit in May for every type of traveler

Chicago, Illinois

July is the hottest month of the year in Chicago, so if cold weather turns you off, now's your chance to visit the Windy City.

Timeless tourist classics that are perfect for the warm weather include Millennium Park, Wrigley Field, and the shores of Lake Michigan, and you could spend hours and hours at renowned museums like the Chicago Institute of Art and the Field Museum.

Outdoor festivals abound in July, too, from the Irish American Heritage Festival to the Chinatown Summer Fair. And of course, it wouldn't be the Fourth of July without a robust lineup of fireworks displays at several points throughout the city.
 



Portland, Oregon

Portland, Oregon, is blessed with natural beauty — an "almost unfair abundance" of it, according to Lonely Planet— and summer is the perfect time to explore it.

Popular activities for visitors in July include bike tours through the scenic Willamette Valley wine region and hikes through the winding trails of Forest Park.

Beer lovers will appreciate the many, many breweries that call the City of Roses their home, and the area is well-established as a haven for local music, food, and art. 



Bristol, Rhode Island

Don't have plans for the Fourth of July? Take a trip to Bristol, Rhode Island, to witness America's longest-running Independence Day celebration.

The Fourth of July festivities in this small seaside town date back to 1785. And one month isn't enough to contain the party — it actually starts midway through June, and includes several nights of concerts, carnivals, dances, and other entertainment.

Apart from the patriotic celebration, there are plenty of other activities to do in Bristol, including boating, bicycling, and indulging in some delicious New England seafood.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

Russell Crowe will star as Roger Ailes in a TV series about the rise of Fox News

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  • Russell Crowe is starring as the late Fox News chief Roger Ailes in a Showtime limited series about the rise of Fox News, Entertainment Weekly reports.
  • The eight-episode series, titled "The Loudest Voice in the Room," will be based on Gabriel Sherman's best-selling non-fiction book of the same name, for which he interviewed over 600 people. 

Russell Crowe is coming to TV to star as the late Fox News chairman and CEO Roger Ailes in a Showtime limited series about the rise of Fox News, Entertainment Weekly reports

The eight-episode drama series, titled "The Loudest Voice in the Room," will be based on Gabriel Sherman's best-selling non-fiction book of the same name. 

Tom McCarthy ("Spotlight") and Jason Blum ("Get Out") are serving as executive producers for the series. 

Ailes died in May 2017, nearly a year after he was forced out of his post at Fox News after being accused of sexual misconduct by several employees from the network. EW notes that Crowe's role as Ailes will be the actor's first regular role in a television series. 

"To understand the events that led to the rise of Donald Trump, one must understand Ailes. The upcoming limited series takes on that challenge, focusing primarily on the past decade in which Ailes arguably became the Republican Party’s de facto leader, while flashing back to defining events in Ailes' life," Showtime described the series in a statement.

"Told through multiple points of view, the limited series aims to shed light on the psychology that drives the political process from the top down," the description continued. "McCarthy’s deft handling of similarly complex, high-stakes storytelling in Spotlight earned him an Oscar for co-writing 2017’s Academy Award winner for best picture, plus an Oscar nomination for directing. For the primary source material, 'The Loudest Voice in the Room,' Sherman interviewed more than 600 people."

No premiere date has been set for the series yet, though Entertainment Weekly reported that it's likely to debut in 2019.

SEE ALSO: 15 movie roles that had stars seriously considering giving up acting

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