• A rehab facility in Los Angeles that gave marijuana to patients dealing with addiction has had a major shakeup.
• After an internal dispute, the founder of High Sobriety has moved to San Francisco to open a new facility called Remedy Recovery.
• High Sobriety's new clinical director said the old facility was "like walking into a cloud of smoke."

The treatment was unconventional. People addicted to everything from alcohol to opioids were given the option of using marijuana to help deal with withdrawal symptoms from their former drugs of choice. But nearly a year after the facility, a Los Angeles-based rehab center known as High Sobriety, opened its doors, a consultant to the operation started to notice problems.

"It was like walking into a cloud of smoke," Sherry Yafai, the facility's new clinical director, told Business Insider. That's no longer the case, according to Yafai, who took on a leadership role at the facility roughly a year after it opened and made some major changes to its treatment protocol.

Her changes hint at a tough reality about the use of cannabis as medicine. Although marijuana is being increasingly recognized for its potential health benefits, using (and dispensing) it remains an inexact science that can be further complicated by stigma and misunderstandings about drug use.

Created by Joe Schrank, a trained social worker from New York, High Sobriety was founded as an alternative to the traditional abstinence-based rehab model, which Schrank says is heavy on spirituality and religion but low on science and compassion. 

"Abstinence-only drug education is about as effective as abstinence-only sex education," Schrank told Business Insider.

Schrank ran High Sobriety in Los Angeles for a little over a year before he decided to leave after an internal dispute broke out. He's currently based in San Francisco, where he is operating a new rehab facility based on the old High Sobriety model — if you want to use marijuana, you can.

"I like to remove anything someone's going to potentially hurt themselves with. That's why I'm a weed advocate," Schrank said. 

Yafai also believes that cannabis has a place in addiction treatment, but she disagrees on the details of how and when it is dispensed to patients.

'When you're dealing with life and death, you can't get that concept across when they're high'

Since Schrank's departure, Yafai has made major changes to High Sobriety.

Smokeable marijuana is no longer allowed on the premises. Instead, patients may be given cannabis oils, creams, or edibles — but they are not allowed to carry them or take them home.

Cannabis products are dispensed "just like any other medication," said Yafai, citing the examples of methadone and buprenorphine, which are generally given to patients addicted to opioids at a specific time of day. Also, all High Sobriety patients must go through 30 days of detox without cannabis.

"The way we try and medicate patients is so they’re not high all day," Yafai said. "I want people to function."

After 30 days of sobriety, patients meet with Yafai, who decides what type and dose of cannabis-based product could help them. She might recommend using a cream made with CBD (the non-psychoactive component of marijuana) for pain, or she might recommend a THC-based edible at night for sleep.

These changes are designed to address some of the problems that Yafai said she saw at the facility when she was working as a consultant.

When she'd walk onto the facility grounds, for example, she'd see smoke everywhere and find patients who were "high for the majority of the day." As a result, patients were not addressing the underlying issues that may have brought them to High Sobriety in the first place, such as depression or other forms of mental illness. 

"I found a group of individuals who were not able to engage in a conversation and were just actively smoking in front of me. I don’t think that’s appropriate. When you’re dealing with life and death with a group of 20-year-olds, you can’t get that concept across or expect them to deal with anything — let alone remember anything — when they’re high."

Now, she believes her patients are more engaged in the various components of therapy offered at High Sobriety, whether it's mutual help meetings like those offered by Alcoholics Anonymous or individual work with a psychologist to address issues like anxiety and PTSD. Cannabis plays a complementary role in those aspects of recovery, said Yafai.

"I can teach patients how to use cannabis so that when you leave High Sobriety, you can walk into a facility where you can pick a product that helps you address your issues," Yafai said. 

From High Sobriety in LA to Remedy Recovery in SF

Schrank maintains that if people want to use marijuana, they should be free to use as much as they need.

"People lead productive lives with cannabis," Schrank said. "And the truth is this stuff is probably safer than Doritos."

Schrank's new facility, called Remedy Recovery, is headquartered at a loft space in San Francisco's China Basin neighborhood, which he envisions eventually being used as a community space. Schrank and a new a team of social workers — plus a new Remedy Recovery CEO who also has his own private equity firm — currently oversee six patients in an apartment complex nearby.

He hopes the new center will operate similar to the way High Sobriety once did. But he said doctors will play a prominent role. 

"If the doctor's counsel with cannabis, whether it's smokeable or edible or whatever, is 'OK, take this much,' we'll say, 'Thank you doctor, we'll follow your counsel."

Yafai, who calls herself a cannabis clinician and is a member of a nonprofit called the Society of Cannabis Clinicians, said that wasn't happening enough at High Sobriety before.

"There wasn’t another PhD on board giving cannabis medications," she said. 

Having a physician on board to dispense marijuana and make product recommendations could be vital for recovery centers looking to incorporate cannabis into their models. Several studies suggest that marijuana could play an important role in treating pain and helping peoplerecover from addiction to other drugs like nicotine and opioids, but none have yet tested out High Sobriety's model.

In contrast, thousands of rehab facilities across the US operate using abstinence-only approaches such as the ones outlined in the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous with scant peer-reviewed research behind them.

Yafai said she's been "thrilled" with the changes she's seen in her patients at High Sobriety over the past few months. But she also worries that other facilities may try to emulate the High Sobriety model without enough scientific guidance.

"I think other places will try to do this, but without the guidance of a cannabis clinician they will fail," Yafai said.

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

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: The fascinating way helium changes your voice

• First class flight tickets can sometimes cost upwards of $10,000 and come with high-tech entertainment systems and in-flight chefs. 
• High-spending customers are important to airlines, so they go to great lengths to make sure they have an excellent flight experience. 
• According to The Wall Street Journal, flights also come with some luxury products that passengers have made a habit of walking away with.
• Some of the highly expensive products include Givenchy pajamas, Saks Fifth Avenue duvets, and Bowers & Wilkins headphones.  

If you're paying thousands of dollars for a first class flight, chances are your expectations for that flight are pretty high.

Most of the time, the airlines deliver by offering luxury features like extensive entertainment systems or in-flight chefs. All of these luxury features are, of course, in addition to the high-end amenity kits, designer sleepwear, and one-of-a-kind designer cutlery that is available to first class passengers. 

High-spending customers are hugely important to airlines, which is why they're often willing to go to such lengths to pamper them and make sure they have an excellent flight experience.

But sometimes, passengers take advantage of all the great designer bedding and amenities offered by the flights by quietly slipping blankets or headphones into their carry on luggage before leaving. Other products, however, have to be left behind, like a bottle of Dom Pérignon, for example. 

While some airlines try to counter this by selling their luxury products online, like United's Saks Fifth Avenue bedding for sale on its site, it seems hard for customers to resist just taking them for free. But many airlines are completely aware of this — “Almost anything that is not nailed down will at some point disappear,” travel-industry analyst Henry Harteveldt told The Wall Street Journal.

From custom designed cutlery from an Italian design firm to Givenchy pajamas, these are some of the most expensive things you get when you fly first class: 

SEE ALSO: The 10 most luxurious first-class cabins in the world

FOLLOW US: On Facebook for more car and transportation content!

Cathay Pacific has a first class amenity kit with products like hand lotion and moisturizer from the Australian brand Aesop. The Aesop products can range from $35 to over $100.

Source: Business Insider

United Airlines partnered with Saks Fifth Avenue to create luxury bedding for its international business class, Polaris. They were so popular that the airline started selling them — a Polaris duvet costs $59.99, and a memory foam pillow costs $27.99.

Source: The Wall Street Journal

Westin Hotels & Resorts-branded "Heavenly" bedding was offered for Delta first class customers. The blankets retail at $49.00.

Source: Westin Hotels & Resorts

• Vladimir Putin may be the wealthiest man in the world.

• Forbes won't even estimate his net worth, because it can't verify his financial assets, Newsweek reported.

• The Russian president does indulge in some displays of immense wealth, however.

• Putin is reported to own luxury watches, a fleet of yachts, and multiple expensive properties, including a $1 billion palace.

• American financier Bill Browder estimated that Putin had "accumulated $200 billion of ill-gotten gains," according to the Atlantic.

Vladimir Putin very well may be the richest man in the world.

But it's impossible to say for sure. According to the Kremlin, the Russian president earns around $133,000 a year and lives in a small apartment.

That description doesn't jive with most accounts of Putin's lifestyle. Former Russian government adviser Stanislav Belkovsky estimated his fortune is worth $70 billion. Hedge fund manager Bill Browder, a noted critic of Putin, claimed it was more like $200 billion. A fortune that enormous would propel him straight past Amazon founder and richest man in the world Jeff Bezos, who Forbes estimates has $150.2 billion to his name.

So why can't we pin down Putin's net worth with any certainty? The 2015 Panama Papers revealed that Putin may obscure and bolster his fortune through proxies.

We've put together a list of all the clues that indicate Putin is likely one of the richest people on the planet:

SEE ALSO: 9 Vladimir Putin quotes that offer terrifying insights into his mind

DON'T MISS: Vladimir Putin's hard-core daily routine includes hours of swimming, late nights, and no alcohol

DON'T FORGET: Trump and Putin's morning routines contain a striking parallel

As president of Russia, Putin's official residence is the Moscow Kremlin.

Source: Business Insider

As president of Russia, Putin's official residence is the Moscow Kremlin. However, he spends most of his time at a suburban government residence outside of the city called Novo-Ogaryovo.

Source: Business Insider

He reportedly has access to 20 different palaces and villas.

Source: Up North

Sacha Baron Cohen's new Showtime series, "Who Is America?," caused a stir before its premiere on Sunday, as several Republican politicians felt the need to get ahead of the show last week in explaining how Cohen "duped" them to appear on it.

Former vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin, former congressman Joe Walsh, and former Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore were among those who preceded the show's premiere with statements explaining their appearances on the series, and criticizing Cohen. 

For the show's first episode, Cohen, disguised as an Israeli "anti-terror expert," roped several Republican congressmen and former elected officials into voicing their support for a program that would arm toddlers with guns to prevent school shootings. He also interviewed Senator Bernie Sanders as a different character.

Last week, Matt Drudge of The Drudge Report tweeted an extended list of political and media figures that Cohen had "finked" for the series. The list included Palin, Dick Cheney, Ted Koppell, and Howard Dean — all of whom we can expect to see in the show's subsequent six episodes. 

Here are the notable people and politicians who have appeared on "Who Is America?" so far:

SEE ALSO: Former congressman Joe Walsh says Sacha Baron Cohen 'duped' him into supporting arming toddlers with guns

Senator Bernie Sanders

The show's first episode began with Cohen interviewing Vermont Senator and former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders as a right-wing conspiracy theorist character called Billy Wayne Ruddick, Jr.

Sanders, with a perplexed expression, politely dodged and shut down various absurd questions from Cohen's Ruddick on income inequality and other topics. 

Larry Pratt, executive director emeritus of Gun Owners of America

In the strongest segment on Sunday's episode, Cohen's Israeli "anti-terror expert" character, Col. Erran Morad, introduced Larry Pratt, the executive director emeritus of Gun Owners of America, and a number of other conservative political figures to a fake program called "Kinderguardians," which would arm children as young as 3 years old.

Pratt endorsed the program and, reading off a teleprompter, said "toddlers are pure, uncorrupted by fake news or homosexuality. They don't care if it's politically correct to shoot a mentally deranged gunman. They'll just do it."

Florida congressman Matt Gaetz

Cohen's Morad character interviewed Florida congressman Matt Gaetz for the segment on arming toddlers, but Gaetz wisely side-stepped the topic, saying, "typically members of Congress don't just hear a story about a program and then indicate whether they support it or not."

• Republicans blasted President Donald Trump for his remarks on Monday at a press conference alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin.
• Republicans described Trump's performance as "shameful," "an absolute disgrace," and "moronic." 

Republicans blasted President Donald Trump on Monday for his performance during a press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, Finland.

At the press conference, which followed an hourslong private meeting between Trump and Putin, Trump cast doubt on the US intelligence community's assessment that Russia interfered in the 2016 US presidential election. He also attacked his Democratic opponents and the FBI, and he said when asked about the election meddling that he held both countries accountable for their state of relations.

"My people came to me — Dan Coats came to me, some others — they said they think it's Russia," Trump said, referring to the director of national intelligence. "I have President Putin. He just said it's not Russia. I will say this: I don't see any reason why it would be."

He cited Putin's "extremely strong and powerful" denials of such interference. And he seemed to endorse a plan Putin proposed that would allow the special counsel Robert Mueller's team to work with Russian investigators to question 12 Russians indicted last week.

Some Republicans responded to Trump's remarks within moments of the press conference ending:

• Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska issued a statement calling Trump's comment that both countries were responsible for the state of US-Russia relations "bizarre and flat-out wrong."
• "The United States is not to blame," Sasse said. "America wants a good relationship with the Russian people but Vladimir Putin and his thugs are responsible for Soviet-style aggression. When the President plays these moral equivalence games, he gives Putin a propaganda win he desperately needs."
• Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan tweeted that someone could be in favor of improved relations with Russia and of Trump meeting Putin "and still think something is not right here."
• Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a golfing partner of the president, called the event a "missed opportunity" for Trump "to firmly hold Russia accountable for 2016 meddling and deliver a strong warning regarding future elections."
• He later added that he would advise Trump to "check the soccer ball" Putin gave him at the press conference "for listening devices and never allow it in the White House."
• Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona, who has frequently sparred with the president, described the remarks as "shameful."
• "I never thought I would see the day when our American President would stand on the stage with the Russian President and place blame on the United States for Russian aggression," he said. "This is shameful."
• Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, a close Trump ally, said in a statement that "Russia interfered in the 2016 election."
• "Our nation's top intelligence agencies all agree on that point," he said. "From the President on down, we must do everything in our power to protect our democracy by securing future elections from foreign influence and interference, regardless of what Vladimir Putin or any other Russian operative says."
• Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, tweeted that she was "deeply troubled by President Trump's defense of Putin against the intelligence agencies of the U.S. & his suggestion of moral equivalence between the U.S. and Russia."
• Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, who has bristled with Trump, said he "did not think this was a good moment for our country."
• Sen. John McCain of Arizona, who also has not seen eye-to-eye with the president, said the press conference "was one of the most disgraceful performances by an American president in memory."
• Rep. Trey Gowdy, the chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, said in a statement that "Russia attempted to undermine the fundamentals of our democracy, impugn the reliability of the 2016 election, and sow the seeds of discord among Americans" and that he hoped Trump administration leaders "will be able to communicate to the President it is possible to conclude Russia interfered with our election in 2016 without delegitimizing his electoral success."
• House Speaker Paul Ryan said in a statement that "there is no question that Russia interfered in our election and continues attempts to undermine democracy here and around the world."
• "The president must appreciate that Russia is not our ally," Ryan continued. "There is no moral equivalence between the United States and Russia, which remains hostile to our most basic values and ideals. The United States must be focused on holding Russia accountable and putting an end to its vile attacks on democracy."

Other Republicans called Trump's remarks "outrageous," "an absolute disgrace," and "moronic." A former chairman of the Republican National Committee even said Trump was acting as if he were an "asset" next to his "handler."

More coverage of the Trump-Putin summit:

• Putin attacks US reporter's question about Mueller probe and collusion
• Trump says he doesn't 'see any reason' why Russia would have hacked the US election
• Former CIA director says Trump's press conference with Putin was 'nothing short of treasonous'
• Anderson Cooper slams Trump-Putin press conference as 'perhaps one of the most disgraceful performances by an American president'

SEE ALSO: Mueller found that the Russian hacker scheme was dependent on bitcoin, and it may have gotten them caught

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: North Korean defector: Kim Jong Un 'is a terrorist'

It's almost that time of year again: new emoji are on the horizon for iPhone users.

We've had a general idea of what the new emoji would look like since February— that's when Unicode, the consortium responsible for choosing the new emojis across all platforms, approved 157 new emojis. 

Now, for the first time, Apple has revealed what the emoji will look like on iPhones in honor of "World Emoji Day." 

Apple didn't reveal every single new character — there have to be some surprises, after all — but it did give us a look at a few of them, including a lobster, cupcake, redheads, and more.

You won't be able to get the new symbols on your iPhone just yet, however — Apple typically releases new emoji as part of a software update sometime in September.

But for now, here's an early look at some of the new emoji confirmed to be arriving this fall. 

SEE ALSO: Millionaires, billionaires, and tech titans are swarming to Sun Valley, Idaho — here's a look at who's attending Allen & Co.'s annual mogul fest

You'll now have a new way to say happy birthday, or to give someone "puppy dog eyes."

There will be a bald woman ...

... and a bald man.

• Vladimir Putin sticks to a standard daily schedule.

• As president of Russia, Putin has overseen the country's slide back into authoritarianism, according to the Economist's Democracy Index.

• Putin's daily routine reportedly features a late start, a morning press briefing, and lots of exercise.

Vladimir Putin loves badly behaved dogs and a breakfast of quail eggs.

That's according to a 2014 profile of Putin by Newsweek's Ben Judah, who spent years researching the foreign leader for his book, "Fragile Empire: How Russia Fell in and Out of Love with Vladimir Putin."

The Russian president has also been a fixture in global news lately due to — among other things — the ongoing investigation into alleged collusion with President Donald Trump's campaign, meddling in the 2016 presidential election, and the poisoning of a Russian ex-spy and his daughter in Britain.

The former KGB agent served as Russia's prime minister from 1999 to 2000 and from 2008 to 2012. From 2000 to 2008 and 2012 to the present day, he has held the office of the presidency. While some have praised Putin's partial reversal of Russia's economic fortunes, his tenure has sent the country sliding back into authoritarianism, according to the Economist's Democracy Index.

Take a look at a day in the life of Vladimir Putin:

SEE ALSO: A look inside Donald Trump's Manhattan office

DON'T MISS: In 1946, Winston Churchill gave a speech at a tiny Missouri college that changed the way everyone thought about Russia

SEE ALSO: Before he became the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin was a KGB spy — take a look at his early career

Putin rises late in the morning, taking breakfast around noon.

Source: Newsweek

He usually tucks into a large omelet or a big bowl of porridge, with some quail eggs and fruit juice on the side.

Source: Newsweek

Newsweek reports that the ingredients are "dispatched regularly from the farmland estates of the Patriarch Kirill, Russia's religious leader."

Source: Newsweek

• A psychology study suggests that we underestimate how much people pay attention to us. We think we walk around in an "invisibility cloak."
• But when they do pay attention to us, people aren't necessarily focusing on the flaws that we're fixating on.
• There are some benefits to realizing that other people are thinking about you as much as you're thinking about them.

I like the catchy term that scientists recently came up with to describe a common psychological phenomenon: the "invisibility cloak illusion." I don't quite like what it describes.

According to the scientists, and their 2016 paper in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, we incorrectly assume that other people aren't paying nearly as much attention to us as we are to them.

That is to say, while you're bobbing along to music during your morning commute, casually taking note of the fidgety fellow on your right, there's a good chance said fidgety fellow is casually taking note of you and your lack of rhythm.

Consider one study described in the 2016 paper.

A pair of students were asked to bide their time in a "waiting room" before an experiment — little did they know, they were already participating in the experiment. After sitting in the waiting room, the students were asked to indicate how much they'd noticed the other person in the room (their behavior, mannerisms, and appearance). They were also asked to indicate how much they thought the other person had noticed the same things about them.

As one of the paper's authors, Erica J. Boothby, writes in a New York Times op-ed, "Although people surreptitiously noticed all kinds of details about each other — clothing, personality, mood — we found that people were convinced that the other person wasn't watching them much, if at all."

I learned about this phenomenon while reading "Cringeworthy" by Melissa Dahl, which explores the science of awkwardness in everyday life. Dahl describes the "invisibility cloak illusion" in the context of a related psychological phenomenon, called the "spotlight effect."

In 2000, psychologists found that people aren't paying nearly as much attention as we think they are to the things we're self-conscious about. In a now well-known study, students walked around a party in a Barry Manilow T-shirt and ended up wildly overestimating how much the other party guests noticed their attire.

The title of the Times op-ed says it all: "You're too focused on what you're too focused on."

There are benefits to realizing that other people are thinking about you as much as you're thinking about them

Reading through the research, I thought back to the day I somehow showed up to work in boots that were heavily stained with dirty snow. As soon as I realized, that was all I could think about every time I passed a coworker in the hallway. And while I haven't taken a poll, I'm guessing that few coworkers actually took the time to look down at my shoes and take account of my slovenliness.

On the other hand, as I've been writing this article, donning my metaphorical invisibility cloak, my coworkers may have been noticing everything from how loud I'm typing to how much I'm slouching. Who knew?

The point here isn't to feel self-conscious whenever you're in public. Instead, as Boothby suggests in The Times op-ed, it's to understand how miscommunication can happen. For example, she writes: "Employees pull their hair out in frustration while bosses obliviously believe their instructions are simple and straightforward."

Meanwhile, Margaret S. Clark, another author on the paper, told Psychology Today that it's worth remembering how much other people may in fact be thinking about you. Clark said, "If I want to go out to lunch with you, and I think that I'm thinking it more than you're thinking it, then I might be hesitant to ask."

So: Remove your invisibility cloak and ask. The other person might be pleasantly surprised, and relieved.

SEE ALSO: All that advice to 'find your passion' isn't just cliché — it could be actively bad

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: A psychologist explains one of the most common phobias and how to get over it

• The dictionary is a living document that changes as our language does.
• Every year, new words are created and added to the dictionary, and other words take on new meanings over time.
• Merriam-Webster added 850 words and definitions to the dictionary in March 2018.
• Here are 10 words you didn’t know were part of the dictionary.

As the executive editor at Avenue, a luxury lifestyle magazine based in New York City, I’ve experienced the evolution of the English language firsthand. New technology and social trends demand the invention of new words to describe them. When a word becomes decisively engrained in the spoken language, Merriam-Webster steps in and adds it to the dictionary.

Back in March, the dictionary added 850 new words and definitions to Merriam-Webster.com. Some, like “cryptocurrency,” are completely new words. Others, like “glamping,” are two words blended together. And still others, like “unicorn,” are words that have long been in the dictionary, but have recently taken on new meanings.

When they announced the new additions, Merriam-Webster outlined the protocol for inclusion: “If you’re likely to encounter a word in the wild, whether in the news, a restaurant menu, a tech update, or a Twitter meme, that word belongs in the dictionary.”

Below, here are 10 words and definitions that you didn’t realize were a part of the Merriam-Webster dictionary:

SEE ALSO: 9 grammar rules you're probably breaking without realizing it

Chiweenie

As people breed different types of dogs, new blended words emerge.

Chiweenie: “A dog that is a cross between a Chihuahua and a dachshund.”

Cryptocurrency

Cryptocurrency isn’t just for finance experts or technophiles to understand. With its inclusion in the dictionary, now everyone can be one step closer to grasping how this currency may affect our future.

Cryptocurrency: “Any form of currency that only exists digitally, that usually has no central issuing or regulating authority but instead uses a decentralized system to record transactions and manage the issuance of new units, and that relies on cryptography to prevent counterfeiting and fraudulent transactions.”

Dark chocolate

Though some may think that dark chocolate is self explanatory, Merriam-Webster opted to put in the dictionary for universal clarity — notably, it’s the ingredients, and not just the color, that allow a chocolate to be referred to as dark.

Dark chocolate: “Chocolate that is dark in color and contains a high percentage of cocoa and cocoa butter, usually no milk, and varying amounts of sugar.”

President Donald Trump ignited a firestorm on Capitol Hill following his first summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The political salvos came from both sides of the aisle after Trump on Monday stopped far short of condemning Russian meddling in the 2016 US election and appeared to take Putin's denial at face value.

"My people came to me — Dan Coats came to me, some others — they said they think it's Russia," Trump said during a joint press conference with Putin, referring to the director of national intelligence. "I have President Putin. He just said it's not Russia. I will say this: I don't see any reason why it would be."

US intelligence agencies and officials, including Coats, have given a scathing assessment of Russia's actions and concluded it used cyberattacks and other means to meddle in the election. Just three days before the summit, the special counsel Robert Mueller also indicted a dozen Russian intelligent officers suspected of interfering with the election.

Trump later backtracked his comments, saying in a tweet that he had "GREAT confidence" in the US intelligence community. But to some lawmakers, his support came too little, too late.

Here's what Republican lawmakers had to say about Trump's remarks:

SEE ALSO: Putin laughs and waves aside Mueller's indictment of Russian intelligence officers during Fox News interview

Sen. John McCain of Arizona

In a scathing rebuke, McCain called Trump's press conference "one of the most disgraceful performances by an American president in memory."

"The damage inflicted by President Trump's naiveté, egotism, false equivalence, and sympathy for autocrats is difficult to calculate," McCain said. "But it is clear that the summit in Helsinki was a tragic mistake."

"President Trump proved not only unable, but unwilling to stand up to Putin."

House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin

Ryan agreed with US intelligence assessments in saying "there is no question that Russia interfered in our election and continues attempts to undermine democracy here and around the world."

"There is no moral equivalence between the United States and Russia, which remains hostile to our most basic values and ideals," Ryan added. "The United States must be focused on holding Russia accountable and putting an end to its vile attacks on democracy."

Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina

Graham expressed disappointment in Trump's words at the press conference.

"Missed opportunity by President Trump to firmly hold Russia accountable for 2016 meddling and deliver a strong warning regarding future elections," Graham said on Twitter. "This answer by President Trump will be seen by Russia as a sign of weakness and create far more problems than it solves."

We are looking for a confident, experienced, and enthusiastic writer and editor to join our lifestyle team in London.

The right candidate should be able to quickly and confidently write accurate news stories as well as conduct interviews and compose more in-depth features.

They should also be comfortable with editing and adding value to both short and long-form pieces of writing on a daily basis.

This person will:

• Pitch, develop, and report on stories about travel, food, health, fitness, relationships, property, and general lifestyle news.
• Work on both our Insider and Business Insider brands.
• Assist the Senior Editor in coordinating coverage across the desk, both in London and globally.
• Develop relationships within relevant industries.
• Assist with managing and editing three full-time staff, deputising in the absence of the Senior Editor.

The best candidates will show the following:

• Strong writing samples as a lifestyle reporter, showing a mix of news and feature writing skills.
• Experience editing.
• Experience managing a team.
• A love of Business Insider and what we do.
• A desire to work as part of a team in a fast-paced environment.

A journalism background, Photoshop skills, and a solid grasp of SEO are a plus.

Apply here with a CV and cover letter explaining why you are the perfect fit for this role. Please also include a link to your LinkedIn profile and at least 5 writing samples.

This full-time position is immediate and is based out of our London office. Business Insider offers competitive compensation packages complete with benefits. 

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: 5 science facts that 'Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom' totally ignored

• President Donald Trump received a soccer ball from Russian President Vladimir Putin at a their joint press conference in Helsinki, Finland on Monday, and it could be a listening device. 
• Russia's spycraft and ingenuity is first class, and history is replete with its triumphs in stealing US secrets via bugs.
• The US can never really know whether or not the ball has been somehow altered, so they should probably stick it in a museum. 

President Donald Trump received a soccer ball from Russian President Vladimir Putin at their joint press conference in Helsinki, Finland, on Monday, and the US may never know if it's actually a listening device or some kind of spy gadget.

Quite simply, Russia has devised some of the most ingenious spy devices and methods of all time, and there's plenty of reason to think they could have had the ball bugged.

While the Secret Service will almost certainly examine the ball, that hasn't stopped Russia intelligence before.

In fact, in 1945 the Soviets gave the US a gift so inventive and subtle that it covertly broadcast from the US Ambassadors office for seven years until being exposed by dumb luck.

"The Thing"

At the close of World War II, Soviet children presented the US Ambassador with a large, hand-carved wooden Great Seal of the United States. The Ambassador installed it in his office without knowing that it contained a covert listening device. The Soviets had coerced Leon Theremin — the Soviet inventor who lends his name to the theremin, a bizarre electronic instrument played exclusively by hand gestures that create the spooky wailing sound beloved of old sci-fi movies — into designing the mechanism. 

Using absolutely no power and emitting no frequencies of its own, a mechanical microphone inside "The Thing" captured conversations held in the office. The Soviets beamed a radio frequency at the device, which bounced back the sounds in the office.

It went completely undetected until British spies, listening for the Russians, started overhearing the Ambassador's conversations too. The device represented the first of its kind, and something the modern world wouldn't wrap its mind around until modern RFIDs decades later. 

Sonic attacks

Just as the US had no idea about "The Thing," it is also scrambling to understand a recent rash of possible "sonic attacks" happening to Americans abroad. US State Department employees overseas have experienced a range of symptoms consistent with damage from sound frequencies in a disturbing trend that's caused brain injuries in Cuba and China. 

Sound frequencies can harm humans, but the scientific communities and US government have yet to point to any suspected culprit in the episodes. Basically, something is hurting US diplomats with sound in some of its former Cold War rivals, and the US has no idea what it is, or if it's even an attack.

Better safe than sorry

"The Thing" and the ongoing and mysterious brain injuries sustained by US diplomats overseas both point to the limits of the US's knowledge, even at its most top-secret levels. As early as the 1850s, US diplomats have marveled at the ingenuity and persistence of Russia's spies.

The US can look, but simply can't know if anything from Russia, let alone from Putin himself, is somehow a spying device. Though it seems silly to suspect something as harmless as a soccer ball may be a clandestine tool to hurt or spy on the president, history tells us the notion can't be dismissed even after a thorough examination. 

"If it were me, I’d check the soccer ball for listening devices and never allow it in the White House," South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham warned on on Monday.

Luckily, whether or not the ball is a completely ordinary gesture of sporting goodwill or a covert listening device, the best place for it, as a gift from Putin to the US, is still probably a museum. 

SEE ALSO: Putin made Trump wait an hour before their summit in a move that's both a power play and a backhanded compliment

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• Floyd Mayweather, a former 147-pound boxer, punches well above his weight when it comes to wealth accumulation.
• Mayweather outmuscled the likes of George Clooney, Kylie Jenner, and The Rock to sit atop Forbes' list of the highest-earning celebrities.
• Mayweather earned over $275 million for his 2017 fight against UFC star Conor McGregor.
• He has since teased a comeback to combat sports, most notably with UFC, but has since cooled off on that idea and focused on real estate development.

Floyd Mayweather may only come in at 147 pounds, but when it comes to wealth accumulation he punches well above his weight.

In Forbes' recently-released list of the world's highest-paid celebrities, the retired boxer Mayweather beat out George Clooney, Kylie Jenner, and Dwayne Johnson, also known as The Rock.

20-year-old Jenner recently attracted headlines for being within reach of becoming the world's youngest self-made billionaire, as Forbes estimated her net worth to be $900 million earlier this month.

But Mayweather broke that barrier last year when his landmark crossover boxing rules contest against UFC star Conor McGregor, a fight he won in the 10th round, earned him $275 million and took his total career earnings past $1 billion.

It was that fight alone that ensured he topped Forbes' list, as Mayweather was paid for his participation in the actual fight, and also for his role as its promoter.

The Las Vegas showdown generated over $550 million in revenue, and was the second most popular fight in pay-per-view history.

Since then, Mayweather has teased a combat sports comeback, most notably with UFC, but has since cooled off on that idea and focused on real estate development.

SEE ALSO: Floyd Mayweather just bought an $18 million 280-carat diamond watch called 'The Billionaire' — take a look

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UP NEXT: This is everything boxing champion Floyd Mayweather eats and drinks for breakfast, lunch, and dinner

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NOW WATCH: Brazil's empty $300 million World Cup stadium

• The Thai soccer team dug a 16-foot-deep hole into the wall of the cave to try to free themselves, an army doctor said.
• This was despite the boys' not having any food to eat.
• Lt Col Dr Pak Loharachun also praised the team's coach for putting the boys before himself while stranded in the cave for 17 days.
• The boys were rescued last week and are recovering in hospital.

A Thai army doctor who stayed inside the Tham Luang cave complex with the 13 members of the Thai soccer team said the boys dug a massive hole into the wall of the cave in an attempt to free themselves.

Lt Col Dr Pak Loharachun praised the boys in a Facebook post on Monday for their "optimism and great morale in the wake of the ordeal."

"Every day, the kids dug a hole into a wall with rock fragments to find a way out. They managed to dig five meters (16 feet) deep although they had nothing to eat," Loharachun wrote.

The doctor also praised the 25-year-old coach, Ekapol Chanthawong, for putting the boys before himself while stranded in the cave for 17 days.

"I saw from the first day that Ek waited for the boys to satisfy their hunger first. He gave his meal to the young," Loharachun wrote.

"Coach Ek has a beautiful heart. He is truly dedicated."

The soccer team were successfully extracted over the course of three days last week, with the last ones coming out on Tuesday. Video of the boys from over the weekend showed them in good health and recovering in hospital.

SEE ALSO: Diver in Thai cave rescue says the bravest boys were likely rescued first

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• Hebron is the biggest city in the Palestinian West Bank with a population of 200,000 Palestinians and around 1,000 Israeli settlers. 
• Many call the city a microcosm of the Israel-Palestine conflict due to its importance to both Jews and Muslims, the many incidents that have occurred there, and the fact that the city is split into a Jewish section and a Palestinian section.
• I recently visited Hebron on a "dual narrative" tour. Half the tour was guided by an Israeli Jew and the other half was guided by a Palestinian from Hebron. Each told their side of the conflict in Hebron. It was an enlightening and tense experience.

It’s not an exaggeration to say that if you want to understand the Israel-Palestine conflict — its array of conflicting narratives and the harsh realities that make peace a distant possibility — go to Hebron.

The ancient city of Hebron has been at the center of the conflict since the early 1900s. Like Jerusalem, it is a site considered holy and immeasurably important to Jews, Muslims, and Christians. Events that occurred there are, in many ways, where the differing narratives start and where much of the persisting animosity simmers and boils over.

The city is so contentious that even after the 1993 Oslo Accords brought an end to the First Intifada — a Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation in the West Bank and Gaza — a separate negotiation process was required to deal with Hebron.

On a recent trip to Israel — my first — I decided that I had to see Hebron to better understand the reality of the country, beyond the cheerful beaches of Tel Aviv.

I decided to take a tour led by Eliyahu McLean, an Orthodox Jew who moved from the US to Israel 20 years ago. The founder of Jerusalem Peacemakers, McLean runs what he calls a “dual narrative” tour of Hebron.

Like the city, the tour is divided: For half the time, McLean leads participants through the Jewish part of Hebron to tell the Israeli narrative; for the other half, a Palestinian guide takes participants through the Palestinian section of Hebron to talk about his and his fellow Palestinians’ experience in Hebron.

As McLean joked, the tour might as well be called Israel-Palestine 101. Here’s what it was like:

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Hebron is located 20 miles south of Jerusalem in the West Bank. With a population of 200,000+ Palestinians and around 1,000 Israeli settlers, Hebron is the biggest city in the Palestinian territory. Its name in both Hebrew (Hevron) and Arabic (Al-Khalil) translates to "friend."

The city is religiously significant to Jews, Christians, and Arabs because it is considered the burial site of biblical patriarchs and matriarchs. Jews and Arabs lived together in Hebron in the early 1900s, but Arab-led riots in 1929 left approximately 67 Jews dead and drove the remainder out of the city.

Jordan controlled Hebron after the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and lost it, along with the rest of the West Bank, to Israel after the Six-Day War in 1967. The city has been under some kind of military occupation ever since. In 1968, the first Israeli settlers moved into the city and, in effect, started the settler movement, where Israelis establish communities on lands within the Palestinian territories.

• IHOP is selling a short stack of pancakes for just 60 cents on Tuesday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
• The deal is in honor of the chain's 60th birthday — as well as to celebrate its official name change back to IHOP, after a period of time as IHOb. 
• "We'd never turn our back on pancakes (except for that time we faked it to promote our new burgers)," the chain posted on Facebook.

IHOP is selling pancakes for less than a dollar to celebrate its 60th anniversary. 

On Tuesday, the chain is selling a short stack of pancakes for $0.60 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. local time to celebrate IHOP's 60th birthday. IHOP is also launching delivery in 300 locations on Tuesday through a partnership with DoorDash. 

IHOP announced the 60 cent pancake deal earlier in July, when it officially changed its name from IHOb — International House of Burger — back to IHOP. 

"That's right, IHOP! We'd never turn our back on pancakes (except for that time we faked it to promote our new burgers)," the chain posted on Facebook.

In June, IHOP changed its name to IHOb to promote its new line of burgers. The pancake chain began revamping its burgers more than a year ago, IHOP President Darren Rebelez told Business Insider, as it has tried to boost sales outside breakfast.

The name change lit up social media. IHOP's "word of mouth" score skyrocketed following the name change, according to YouGov BrandIndex data. Before the IHOb campaign, 19% of US adults said they had talked about the chain in the past two weeks. Afterward, that figure increased to 30%, the highest score since late 2012.

The IHOb name change was never meant to be permanent. And IHOP never took pancakes off the menu.

"The pancakes haven't gone anywhere ... They're still there. They're on the cover of the menu," Rebelez said in late June.

"Just because we have pancakes doesn't mean we can't do anything but pancakes. That's what we're after: giving more people more reasons to come to IHOP more often."

SEE ALSO: IHOP changed its name to IHOb to promote its new lineup of burgers. They're shockingly good.

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• Fast-food chains often experiment with their menus to try to appeal to new customers or offer healthier options.
• Even though some of these items take off, many of them end up huge failures.
• Other items that have been long discontinued include Taco Bell's Seafood Salad, McDonald's Hula Burger, and Wendy's Frescata.

Not every fast-food option can be a best seller.

Some experimental menu items actually end up costing chains millions, like McDonald's Arch Burger, a "gourmet" burger that aimed to appeal to a more adult crowd but failed miserably. McDonald's spent an estimated $150 million to $200 million advertising the Arch Deluxe's rollout, which, at the time, was the most expensive promotional campaign in fast-food history, The New York Times reported.

Other menu items failed because they were just unappetizing, like Taco Bell's Seafood Salad or Domino's Oreo Pizza. 

Here are some fast-food items that didn't make it:  

SEE ALSO: 21 of the craziest McDonald's menu items you still can't get in America

McDonald's: Pizza

McDonald's Pizza took years to develop. It required developing a quick-cook oven, remodeling kitchens to fit the new equipment, and expanding drive-thru windows to accommodate pizza boxes. Even after all of that work, customers still complained that the wait was too long and the price was too high. The pizza began disappearing from menus not long after it was added.

McDonald's: Mozzarella Sticks

McDonald's launched mozzarella sticks in late 2015, but customers were furious when they found most of their mozzarella sticks didn't actually have cheese in them. They were sold at three for $1 but were discontinued not long after they launched.

Burger King: Yumbo

In 2014, Burger King relaunched the Yumbo sandwich, a ham-and-cheese sandwich that was originally removed from the menu in 1974. The chain promoted it with nostalgic, '70s-themed ads and commercials, but it has since been discontinued again. 

• Iga city in Japan is suffering from a ninja shortage.
• The city, which is about 280 miles from Tokyo in central Japan, claims to be the birthplace of the ninja.
• The mayor is hoping to bolster tourism by drawing on the city's ninja heritage.
• There's just one problem — there aren't enough ninjas.

You may have heard about Japan's demographic crisis— but the country is facing another, lesser-known crisis as well.

Japan does not have enough ninjas.

In an episode of NPR's "Planet Money" podcast, Sally Herships visited Iga, a small city in central Japan that claims to be the birthplace of the ninja.

Each year the city of around 100,000 swells by around 30,000 as tourists come to experience the annual ninja festival.

Unfortunately, Iga is suffering from depopulation. "It's facing a shortage of those two key things you need to keep an economy humming: stuff to sell and people to buy the stuff," Hership's cohost Stacey Vanek Smith says.

Iga is also losing its young people, who don't want to live in the rural countryside: "They want life in the big city like Tokyo or Yokohama."

In order to revive the local economy, the mayor of Iga, Sakae Okamoto, is promoting its ninja heritage with the aim of drawing more tourists.

"Right now in Iga, we are working very hard to promote ninja tourism and get the most economic outcome. For example, we hold this ninja festival between late April to around the beginning of May. During this period visitors and also local people come here. Everybody will be dressed like a ninja and walks around and enjoys themselves — but recently I feel that it's not enough," Okamoto tells Hership.

Japan is currently experiencing a major tourist boom — the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) estimates that almost 29 million tourists visited Japan in 2017. That's an increase of almost 20% from the year before.

While some cities are benefitting economically from the influx of tourists, rural ones like Iga are apparently not.

With the hope of encouraging tourists to stay longer than a day in Iga, Mayor Okamoto is relocating city hall and building a second ninja museum in its place. While the budget is not disclosed, Okamoto has received funding from the central government from the public — "Japan's government is funding ninjas," Herships says.

The project faces some hurdles, though. Iga needs to attract labour forces to work and live in the rural city as the ninja tourism scheme is extended.

This means not just builders and planners — but also ninjas themselves. "There's a ninja shortage," Herships says, "or — to be accurate — a ninja performer shortage."

This issue is especially difficult given Japan's extremely low unemployment rate, which is just 2.5%.

It is therefore hard to find workers in Japan, let alone highly-specialised ninja performers.

"Ninja is not an inheritable class. Without severe training, nobody could become a ninja. That's why they have silently disappeared in history," Sugako Nakagawa, curator of the local Ninja museum, told Reuters in 2008.

"But this job does have a lot to offer," Herships says. "First of all, the pay is quite competitive, today, ninjas can earn anything from $23,000 to about $85,000 — which is a really solid salary, and in fact, a lot more than real ninjas used to earn in medieval Japan."

Herships quotes the International Ninja Research Centre, which states that in Iga, the typical ninja earned between $8,000 and $17,000 a year — salaries adjusted for inflation.

Mayor Okamoto faces an uphill battle, though. The Mie Prefecture (the prefecture where Iga is located) as a whole attracted just 43 new young residents last year, meanwhile, Iga alone lost 1,000 residents.

If ninjas are going to save Japan's depopulation crisis, they'd better act fast.

SEE ALSO: How an American became one of Japan's rare professional ninja

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• Singapore Airlines is the best airline in the world for 2018, according to a ranking by the consumer-aviation website Skytrax. 
• The Singapore-based airline ranked in second place in 2017 
• This the fourth victory for Singapore Airlines which also won in 2004, 2007, and 2008.
• Overall, airlines from Asia dominate the elite end of Skytrax's rankings — taking nine of the top 10 spots.

Singapore Airlines has been named the best airline in the world for 2018 by the leading consumer-aviation website Skytrax.

"Singapore Airlines is honored to be named World’s Best Airline in the Skytrax awards, and I dedicate it to the 26,000 SIA Group employees who focus every day on delivering the world’s best travel experience to our customers," Singapore Airlines CEO Goh Choon Phong said in a statement. "The recognition will further motivate us to improve upon the three main pillars of our brand promise – product leadership, service excellence and network connectivity – to ensure we retain our competitive advantage and continue to meet and exceed customer expectations."

The Singapore-based airline was presented with the award on Tuesday at a ceremony in London.

This the fourth time SIA has taken top honors at the World Airline Awards. The airline was also victorious in 2004, 2007, and 2008. 

Overall, airlines from Asia dominate the elite end of Skytrax's rankings — taking nine of the top 10 spots.

At the same time, no US airline cracked the top 35. Delta got the closest with a 37th place finish

The Skytrax rankings are based on the impressions of 20.36 million travelers from more than 100 different countries. The unpaid survey, which covered more than 335 airlines, measured 49 parameters ranging from boarding procedures to seat comfort to the quality of service.

Here are the 20 best airlines in the world, according to the results of the Skytrax survey:

SEE ALSO: These are the 15 best airports in the world

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20. Hong Kong Airlines

Previous rank: 24

Why it's awesome: Hong Kong Airlines has been on an impressive growth streak over the past couple of years. Not only has it rapidly expanded its global network, the carrier has also worked to improve service and product. Hong Kong Airlines is a subsidiary of China's HNA Group. 

See additional airline information at Skytrax.

19. KLM

Previous rank: 22

Why it's awesome: Royal Dutch KLM is considered the oldest continuously operating airline in the world. Based out of Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport, KLM is famous for its bright blue livery and Dutch house liquor bottle figurines. The airline is one half of the Franco-Dutch conglomerate Air France-KLM. 

KLM also took home the prize for Best Business Class Seat in Europe. 

See additional airline information at Skytrax.

18. Turkish Airlines

Previous rank: 12

Why it's awesome: Turkish Airlines is the flag carrier of Turkey and has its main hub at Istanbul's Ataturk Airport. The airline, with its ability to fly to over 100 countries and over 200 cities worldwide, hopes to turn its home base into a global transit hub.

Even though political unrest and security concerns have made life more complicated for Turkish Airlines, the carrier's high-quality service, and product offerings remain unchanged. 

Turkish is a member of Star Alliance and had won the Skytrax award for Best Airline in Europe six years in a row before losing the title to Lufthansa last year. 

See additional airline information at Skytrax.

As a cinematic genre, "drama" has taken many forms over the decades. 

The Rotten Tomatoes' list we compiled here from the site's most critically heralded drama movies includes the most acclaimed films that feature a "drama" tag. This resulted in a list that spans classic drama films, contemporary dramas, and dramadies of all sorts.

The list ranks movies by an adjusted critical score that Rotten Tomatoes derived from a weighted formula to account for the variation in number of reviews for each film.

It includes classic dramas like "Citizen Kane" and "Taxi Driver," along with recent titles like the Best Picture-winning films "Spotlight" and "Moonlight." At the top, there's a conspicuous lack of movies made in the 1980s and 1990s, with the most acclaimed titles falling into either the oldies or more recent films.

Here are the 100 best drama films of all time, according to critics:

SEE ALSO: The 100 best horror movies of all time, according to critics

100. "Love & Friendship" (2016)

Critic score: 97%

Audience score: 60%

What critics said: "Following many staid and treacly Austen adaptations, this sublime period romp adds a thrilling splash of bemused, acidic humor." — Minneapolis Star-Tribune

99. "The Rules of the Game (La règle du jeu)" (1939)

Critic score: 98%

Audience score: 90%

What critics said: "The word 'Mozartean' ... gets thrown around a little too eagerly by critics, but one movie, as almost everyone agrees, deserves this supreme benediction -- Jean Renoir's 'The Rules of the Game.'" — The New Yorker

98. "City Lights" (1931)

Critic score: 98%

Audience score: 96%

What critics said: "Excruciatingly funny and terribly, terribly sad." — New York Daily News