• Julio Jones delivered the biggest hit of Week 11.
• Jones had to switch to defense mid-play on Sunday against the Cowboys after a Matt Ryan pass was about to get picked off.
• Thanks to a quick-thinking play, Jones stopped the pick, and delivered a huge hit that had NFL fans claiming Jones should start playing safety himself.

Julio Jones has been one of the best wide receivers in football for the past five years, but on Sunday, he made a play that had people wondering if he might be able to play more than one position at an NFL level.

With the Falcons and Cowboys tied in the closing minutes of the first half on Sunday, quarterback Matt Ryan put up a deep ball for Jones to run under and try and make a play.

Jones quickly realized that he wouldn't be able to come down with the ball, but rather than giving up on the play, he immediately switched from playing as a receiver to playing as a defender, and delivered a huge hit to Cowboys safety Jeff Heath who surely thought he was about to come down with an interception.

Watching the play again, it's clear that if not for Jones' head's up play, Heath would have been taking the ball the other way.

Across Twitter, fans agreed that Jones likely could have played safety.

It's hard not to be impressed with Jones' play — not only does he deliver a huge hit, but he does it with impeccable form, getting his shoulder across his target's chest and bringing him down.

Unfortunately, Jones' effort wouldn't be enough, as the Cowboys would eventually go on to win the game 22-19.

SEE ALSO: Lamar Jackson led the Ravens to a touchdown on his first drive as a starter without a single pass, and it's an early sign oh how his unique skills translate to the NFL

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Fintech hubs — cities where startups, talent, and funding congregate — are proliferating globally in tandem with ongoing disruption in financial services. 

These hubs are all vying to become established fintech centers in their own right, and want to contribute to the broader financial services ecosystem of the future. Their success depends on a variety of factors, including access to funding and talent, as well as the approach of relevant regulators.

This report compiles various fintech snapshots, which together highlight the global spread of fintech, and show where governments and regulatory bodies are shaping the development of national fintech industries. Each provides an overview of the fintech industry in a particular country or state in Asia or Europe, and details what is contributing to, or hindering its further development. We also include notable fintechs in each geography, and discuss what the opportunities or challenges are for that particular domestic industry.

Here are some of the key takeaways:

• Most countries in Europe have made some formal attempt to foster the development of domestic fintech industries, with Germany and Ireland seeing the best results so far. France, meanwhile, got off to a slow start, but that's starting to change. 
• The Asian fintech scene took off later than in the US or Europe, but it's seen rapid growth lately, particularly in India, China, and Singapore.
• The increasing importance of technology-enabled products and services within the financial services ecosystem means the global fintech industry isn't going anywhere. 
• Fintech hubs will continue to proliferate, with leaders emerging in each region.
• The future fintech landscape will be molded by regulatory bodies — national and international — as they seek to mitigate the risks, and leverage the opportunities, presented by fintech. 

 In full, the report:

• Explores the fintech industry in six countries or states, and identifies individual fintech hubs.
• Highlights successful fintechs in each region.
• Outlines the challenges and opportunities each country or state faces. 
• Gives insight into the future of the global fintech industry. 

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Emerging markets are going to be essential for e-commerce growth, as retailers in developed markets may soon reach saturation in terms of consumer growth.

For example, almost half of US households now have a Prime membership, diminishing Amazon's growth potential in the country. Meanwhile, in China, the world's largest e-commerce market, nearly half of the population is actively making online purchases, leaving little room for growth. 

However, India, Southeast Asia, and Latin America are worth keeping an eye on. E-commerce penetration rates in these areas hover between 2-6%, presenting a huge opportunity for future growth as online sales gain traction. Moreover, these regions are expected to grow at compound annual growth rates (CAGRs) of 31%, 32%, and 16%, respectively, through 2021.

This report compiles several e-commerce snapshots, which together highlight the most notable emerging markets in various regions. Each provides an overview of the e-commerce industry in a particular country, discusses influential retailers, and provides insights into the opportunities and challenges for that specific domestic industry.

Here are some of the key takeaways:

• Emerging markets are going to be essential for e-commerce growth, as retailers in developed markets may soon reach saturation in terms of consumer growth.
• India is the clear overall leader in e-commerce potential, but countries in Southeast Asia and Latin America are also worth keeping an eye on. Within Southeast Asia, Indonesia shows the most promise for retailers, as the government is loosening restrictions on foreign investments, and its massive population is gaining spending power and more access to internet. Meanwhile, Mexico is a retailer's best bet for expansion in Latin America, due to its stable economy and rising middle class, but Brazil may be gearing up to steal the top spot.
• However, doing business in these regions can be difficult. In most of these emerging markets, infrastructure is underdeveloped and the population is largely unbanked, making digital payments a challenge.
• If retailers can build a brand presence in these markets while online shopping is still in its nascent stages, they may become market leaders as e-commerce takes off in the regions. Moreover, these markets could provide new sources of growth for companies that would otherwise stagnate in more mature e-commerce markets.

 In full, the report:

• Explores the e-commerce industry in India, Southeast Asia, and Latin America.
• Highlights the leading country in each region, as well as key e-commerce players there. 
• Outlines the challenges and opportunities each region faces.
• Gives insight into how these emerging markets may shape the future of e-commerce.

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• Mark Zuckerberg told Facebook executives at a meeting in June that he was going to be a more aggressive CEO in light of criticism over the company's handling of Russian interference in the 2016 election, the Wall Street Journal reported Sunday night. 
• The new approach is causing "unprecedented turmoil" in Facebook's most senior ranks, according to the report. 
• According to the article, Zuckerberg also told employees at a recent Q&A that recent negative media stories were  "bulls---." 

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg told a meeting of top executives in June that he would become a more aggressive CEO because the company was at "war," according to the Wall Street Journal.

The meeting came at a time when users, lawmakers, and investors were angry over the company's handling of the Cambridge Analytica scandal. The 34-year-old CEO reportedly expressed frustrations that executives weren't moving quick enough at times this year and said it was time for executives to "make progress faster." 

The report added that the new approach had caused "unprecedented turmoil"in Facebook's most senior ranks, and had led to the departures of a number of top executives, including the cofounders of Instagram and WhatsApp. 

Read more: Facebook employees react to the latest scandals: 'Why does our company suck at having a moral compass'

Facebook came under fire again last week after a New York Times report detailed how COO Sheryl Sandberg oversaw an "aggressive lobbying campaign" to hurt its critics, including liberal billionaire George Soros. 

The New York Times report found that Facebook employed a "Republican opposition-research firm to discredit activist protestors, in part by linking them" to Soros.

"It also tapped its business relationships, persuading a Jewish civil rights group to cast some criticism of the company as anti-Semitic," the report stated.  

At a Q&A with Facebook employees at the company's headquarters in Palo Alto, California two days after the report was published, Zuckerberg called recent negative coverage in the media as "bulls---," according to the report. 

Read the full story at the Wall Street Journal»

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• Broward County, Florida Supervisor of Elections Brenda Snipes has reportedly resigned. 
• Sources told the Sun-Sentinel that Snipes sent in her letter of resignation on Sunday, hours after a recount was finished. 
• Snipes was criticized for incompetence by Gov. Rick Scott, who will now become one of the state's senators. 

The head of Broward County, Florida's elections has reportedly resigned, according to a report from the Sun-Sentinel.

Representatives for Snipes also confirmed the report NBC 6 on Sunday.

Sources told the newspaper that Brenda Snipes sent in her letter of recommendation within hours of a recount concluding on Sunday. 

Evelyn Perez-Verdia, a former spokeswoman who left the office several years ago, said she saw an early draft of the resignation, which cited 75-year-old Snipes' need to spend more time with her family. 

Those familiar with Snipes' resignation said that she is aiming to end her job in January, meaning that Governor-elect Ron DeSantis will likely have the responsibility of filling the position. 

Outgoing Gov. Rick Scott had accused Snipes of being slow and trying to "steal" the election for the Democrats, though no evidence has been provided. 

Scott was elected to a seat in the US Senate in the November 6 election, in a tough battle with Democrat Bill Nelson, who conceded defeat on Sunday. 

During the recount, Snipes was criticized when she acknowledged on Saturday that her office couldn't find 2,040 ballots that had been included in the first count but not in the machine recount. She said they were probably in her office somewhere. 

SEE ALSO: Rick Scott defeats Bill Nelson for Florida Senate seat after tense recount

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• Mark Zuckerberg allegedly met with his COO, Sheryl Sandberg, in the spring and said he blamed her for the fallout over the Cambridge Analytica scandal, according to a new Wall Street Journal report. 
• The reports says that Sandberg told friends after the meeting that she wondered if she should be worried about her job.

Sheryl Sandberg wondered whether she should fear for her job after the Cambridge Analytica scandal, according to a new Wall Street Journal report. 

Mark Zuckerberg reportedly told Sandberg this spring that he blamed her and her teams for the fallout from a scandal involving a research firm that improperly accessed Facebook users' data for political purposes ahead of the 2016 presidential election. 

Zuckerberg is said to have told Sandberg that she should have been more aggressive in tackling the troublesome content. 

Read more:Facebook's latest scandal is the last straw pushing some users to delete their accounts — here's how to do it

Following her meeting with Zuckerberg, Sandberg allegedly told friends that she wondered whether she should be worried about her job.

A New York Times report last week detailed how Sandberg oversaw an "aggressive lobbying campaign" in the aftermath of the scandal. In a Facebook post after the story was published, Sandberg said she had been unaware of Facebook's involvement with a public-relations firm called Definers Public Affairs, which The Times said disseminated research to journalists linking the billionaire George Soros to anti-Facebook movements.

Zuckerberg later supported Sandberg, telling reporters last week that Sandberg is a "very important partner to me, and continues to be, and will continue to be." 

Sandberg has been COO of Facebook since 2008, and is author of the bestselling women's empowerment book "Lean In."

Read the full story at the Wall Street Journal»

SEE ALSO: Mark Zuckerberg reportedly told Facebook execs the company's at 'war,' and called recent media coverage 'bulls---'

DON'T MISS: The 'secret sister' gift exchange on Facebook is actually an illegal pyramid scheme

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Warning: There are spoilers ahead for season nine, episode seven of "The Walking Dead,""Stradivarius."

Michonne "murdered" a violin, Enid and Tara are alive and well at the Hilltop, and Eugene's stuck in a barn somewhere, hopefully.

Sunday's episode of "The Walking Dead" may not have had as much action as previous weeks, but AMC's zombie drama set up a lot for next week's mid-season finale and gave us a much-needed heart-to-heart between Daryl and Carol.

This week's breakdown doesn't focus so much on callbacks to previous episodes and the comics. Instead, INSIDER spoke with episode director Michael Cudlitz, who played Abraham on the show, to get some inside knowledge on Sunday's episode. Keep reading to see what you may have missed on "Stradivarius."

The opening sequence with Rosita running through the woods was partially inspired by "The Blair Witch Project."

Cudlitz said his idea for the opening sequence was to make a mini movie.  

"We shot a ton of footage," Cudlitz told INSIDER. "But the idea behind it was I didn't want the audience to know what was happening at all. I want them to be discovering it as she was discovering it."

The final opening sequence we see is under a minute. Cudlitz says what he put together was maybe a full two minutes.

"One of the things that popped into my mind was 'The Blair Witch Project,'" said Cudlitz. "I wanted a 'Blair Witch Project' feel to that opening sequence, where you really felt like you were there with her, not watching it happen to her, but also having it happen to you. So we shot a bunch of stuff, where we were running with her, and following her, and tracking her in the woods."

Cudlitz said Christian Serratos, who plays Rosita, ran with a small camera attached to her, and that he wanted it to look and feel very personal to her as her character was on the verge of passing out. 

If you were wondering about this week's episode title, "Stradivarius," it's tied to a very particular violin, but has a much larger statement for society.

"Stradivarius, [are] probably the most beautiful violins ever made, certainly the most expensive," said Cudlitz. "The juxtaposition of that fact in this world, always struck me. It's something that in our world right now has a tremendous amount of value, but in that world [of 'The Walking Dead'] would have zero, except for the fact that it's connected to music, which has a tremendous amount of value."

On Sunday's episode, Michonne destroys one of these violins that Luke (Dan Fogler), a former music teacher, is holding.

"You can look at it and go, 'Well who the hell cares? It's Stradivarius, but who cares in this world?' And I think that Dan's character gives us that talk about what music, and art, and poetry mean," Cudlitz continued. "It's so significant to society. It is one of the first things that we lose when things get tight, either financially, or there's not enough time to do something. The first thing that goes is what we consider these things that are extra, which is music, art, and poetry. But it's one of the defining things that makes us who we are, makes it so we can survive as a people and come together as a group and strive and, as he puts it, thrive as humanity."

"That is what separates us from other creatures, is our ability to build things, to talk about things, to share stories, to make music," he added. "And our ability to do those things is only intensified by our ability to work with each other in doing those things, because we do make each other better."

Jesus is listening to records from Georgie, the mysterious woman who was introduced briefly last season.

When the Hilltop is introduced we can hear the song "April Skies" by The Jesus and Mary Chain. It turns out that's one of Georgie's records Jesus has borrowed. 

Georgie (Jayne Atkinson) is the woman Maggie came across on season eight, episode 12, "The Key." She wanted to trade plans for the new world in exchange for some food and records. 

Earlier this season, Jesus hinted Maggie may go and join Georgie's group. Georgie had been writing letters to Maggie to persuade her to join along on her adventure. It looks like something pretty significant happened to make her change her mind. 

Atkinson told INSIDER earlier this year that Georgie, who she believes to be a historian and professor, has a good reason to want to preserve music.

"Maybe she's communicating that creativity and artistry is so important to a surviving and thriving world. As you know, when things start to get very difficult and try to skew towards the more conservative, there is sometimes a desire to shut down the arts and not fund the arts and not fund creativity, because that's where consciousness lies," Atkinson said. "That's where evolution and change lie, in our imagination. We have the best gift on the planet at the imagination. And you can't buy it, you can try to co-opt it. But you can't shut it down. You can't ever shut it down. But there is always a movement to do that. So maybe that's the message."

It's very similar to what Cudlitz had to say about music.

Warning: There are some spoilers ahead for "The Walking Dead" universe.

Former "Walking Dead" showrunner Scott M. Gimple recently announced Rick Grimes' story will continue in a series of AMC original movies, and there's at least one other fan favorite who is down to return in his own project.

Michael Cudlitz, who directed Sunday's episode of "The Walking Dead" told INSIDER he's interested in doing a future "Walking Dead" movie or short with his character Abraham. 

"Yep. Yep, absolutely," said Cudlitz, who even has an idea of how he could appear even though his character was brutally killed off the show on the season seven premiere. 

"I think they've hinted in that direction when they showed last year, on 'Fear the Walking Dead,' the tapes that were made by the reporter that were inside the truck. One of the tapes, when they did a close-up insert on it said Abe/Doctor," said Cudlitz referencing Maggie Grace's journalist character, Althea.

"That would be Abraham and Doctor Eugene Porter. So there's an interview somewhere. There's a story somewhere floating around out in that universe about us," he continued. "So I would certainly be open to that. I had a great time with the people in the show. It by no means defines my career, so I'm not in any rush to run away from it, so I would be fine with any of that."

The tape Cudlitz mentions was seen on the season four mid-season finale of "Fear The Walking Dead." It's known that Abraham and Eugene started their journey on "The Walking Dead" from Texas before they wound up heading to Washington, D.C. There's definitely some backstory waiting to be filled in there with how the two met up with Rosita.

For now, Cudlitz said he hasn't been approached about any sort of movie or short.

"No," he said. "And if I was, I couldn't tell you."

Fair enough.

And if we don't see Cudlitz return as Abraham, he said he'd love to return and direct more episodes of "The Walking Dead."

"Yes, I would love to," Cudlitz said. "If they'll have me, I would certainly come back. Everyone seemed happy. That doesn't always define what happens on the business side of things, and the creative side of things. All those choices are made, decisions are made by other people. But I've let them know that I'd be more than happy to come back if they wanted me to. So, we'll see what happens."

You can currently see Cudlitz on ABC's "The Kids are Alright," which was recently picked up for an entire season. He's also hoping to direct an episode on that show in the future.

Join the conversation about this story »

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Warning: There are spoilers ahead for Sunday's episode of "The Walking Dead," season nine, episode seven, "Stradivarius."

The six-year time jump on "The Walking Dead" has given us new looks for some of our characters, but it has also introduced a new, darker mystery involving the letter "X" carved into the backs of some fan favorites. 

We first saw Michonne with the "X" on the lower left side of her back on season nine, episode six. On Sunday's episode, it was revealed Daryl has a matching mark on the same area of his back. His back was also covered in a number of scars. 

"Where we're dealing with Michonne, where she has separated herself from the Hilltop group, and sort of isolated herself with just Alexandria, we're not exactly sure why. We will find out later," Michael Cudlitz, who directed Sunday's episode of "The Walking Dead" and formerly starred on the show as fan-favorite Abraham, told INSIDER. "A lot of it's tied to the 'X' that we see on her back, that we just revealed on Michonne's back. Now we see it on Daryl's back."

"The audience is going to want to know what that's about," said Cudlitz, hinting that we may see the mark show up on others. "They're going to find out what that's about, but that is something that connects them all, even though they're all separated right now, we're going to find out why."

Some fans thought the "X"may have had to do with the remaining Saviors or another group trying to take over Alexandria.

On Sunday's episode, we see Michonne grapple with a hesitation to head to the Hilltop. Cudlitz said the "X" on her back has something to do with it, and we most likely won't have to wait too long to find out how she and Daryl both received their scars.

"We're going to find out why Michonne had distance with Maggie when last we saw [her], she didn't. I mean, they had conflict over the Negan thing, but that was resolved. She stepped aside. She let Maggie tell that story, and carry that story off the way that she had to, because she knew she had to," said Cudlitz of some change that occurred in Michonne and Maggie's relationship. "So there's no conflict left there, really. They actually agreed."

"So what's different now? We're gonna find out. But right now we know, in episode seven, that they're separated, and it's a wonderful reflective moment for Michonne to hear a small group sort of like holding a mirror up to what they used to be," Cudlitz said, comparing Magna's group to Michonne's original group with Rick. "This small group that not only needs each other, but is there for each other. And one of the people in that group is telling the story of, basically civilization, and what civilization needs to thrive, and one of the main things it needs to survive and thrive is to share."

"That's a really tremendous moment for Michonne, because she's hearing something that's going directly against how she's approaching life right now," added Cudlitz of the effect Magna's group is having and will continue to have on Michonne moving forward. "This is going to be really exciting to see what impact this new group has on them long term. We start the episode with... There's no way in hell she's going to Hilltop, we know that. And then by the end, the ultimate kicker that tilts it in the other favor is the Rosita thing, but would one person really pull her there?"

"Or is it a combination of what she's seeing with this group, that she's just thinking about going, and that was the defining moment that made her go to the Hilltop? Even though she didn't know until Siddiq tells her that Maggie's no longer there. So it's interesting. It's fun to watch the journey, it's fun to be part of it. And I think Angela [Kang]'s telling great stories," said Cudlitz.

You can follow along with our "Walking Dead" coverage here.

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• Communications employees at Facebook are fuming at COO Sheryl Sandberg after they were thrown under the bus over a smear campaign targeting the company's critics, the Wall Street Journal reported Sunday night.
• Last week, a bombshell New York Times report detailed Facebook’s involvement with a public-relations firm called Definers Public Affairs, which reportedly disseminated research to journalists linking the billionaire George Soros to anti-Facebook movements.
• Both Sandberg and CEO Mark Zuckerberg have denied knowledge of the company's involvement with the PR-firm, with Zuckerberg pointing a finger at the company's communications team. Sandberg admitted that she "should have" known that the firm was hired and the nature of the work they were conducting. 
• Sandberg's response angered many communications and policy team members, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Employees at Facebook are fuming at COO Sheryl Sandberg for after they were thrown under the bus over a smear campaign targeting the company's critics, including the billionaire George Soros, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Last week, a bombshell New York Times report exposed the company's chaotic leadership, and detailed Facebook’s involvement with a public-relations firm called Definers Public Affairs, which it said disseminated research to journalists linking the billionaire George Soros to anti-Facebook movements in the wake of fallout over the Cambridge Analytica scandal. 

Though Sandberg, 49, has long had broad control over the Facebook teams that control communications and policy, both she and CEO Mark Zuckerberg have denied knowledge of the company's involvement with Definers. Zuckerberg directly blamed Facebook’s communications team, and Sandberg admitted that she "should have" known that the firm was hired and the nature of the work they were conducting. 

Sources familiar with the matter told the Wall Street Journal that many people on teams under Sandberg's watch were angry over Sandberg's comments, given how closely Sandberg managed Facebook's media strategy, even involving herself in wording changes.

Read more: Facebook employees react to the latest scandals: 'Why does our company suck at having a moral compass'

On Friday, Sandberg said during an internal Q&A session that she took full responsibility for the communications team and their actions, the Journal added. 

Facebook cut ties with Definers less than 24 hours after The Times’ story broke. 

Zuckerberg blamed Sandberg for public outcry over the Cambridge Analytica scandal earlier this year, sources told the Journal, contributing to confrontations with Sandberg and other top Facebook executives.

Isobel Asher Hamilton contributed to this report. 

Read the full story at the Wall Street Journal»

SEE ALSO: Sheryl Sandberg says she also didn't know about a Facebook smear campaign, as Mark Zuckerberg throws the firm's comms team under a bus

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• An anonymous man just paid for all of the layaway items at a Vermont Walmart, several local news outlets reported. 
• Shoppers expressed surprise and gratitude upon finding that they didn't owe anything on their layaway purchases.
• This isn't the first time a Walmart location has received such a visit — similar incidents have happened across the country.

A Walmart store in Derby, Vermont, seemingly had an early visit from Santa.

The anonymous benefactor may not have ridden up with eight reindeer and a sleigh, but he did pay off all the layaway items in the store, several local news outlets reported.

Customers purchase items on layaway by handing over an initial deposit to ensure the store holds the product. When the shopper pays the item off in full, they can take it home. The payment method allows customers to obtain a product without putting down a major sum in one sitting.

Walmart shopper Julie Gates told local station WCAX that she encountered the anonymous man in the store.

"This can't be, who can afford to pay for [everyone's] layaway?" she said. "And he said 'Santa Clause can.'"

Customer Tammy Desautels also told WCAX that her items had been paid for.

"It was kind of like surreal when they said no balance due, then it was really a reality," she said.

A Walmart spokesperson did not immediately return Business Insider's request for comment. This isn't the first time that a generous secret Santa has made a trip to Walmart, though.

One anonymous benefactor struck two Ohio Walmarts in 2015, according to USA Today, paying over $106,000 to cover layaway goods. The same donor reportedly also paid $200,000 for layaway items at two Florida stores, too.

Another secret Santa paid for the layaway items that over 200 families had accrued at a Pennsylvania Walmart in 2017, local station WJAC reported. And working through the Salvation Army in 2016, an anonymous donor paid off an entire store's layaway debt, according to AJC.com.

Last year, a West Virginia church ensured that Christmas would come early for some local shoppers, by paying off all layaway bills at a Ohio County Walmart, the Journal-News reported.

SEE ALSO: Walmart is kicking off Black Friday on Thanksgiving with millions of free cookies and cups of coffee

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SEE ALSO: A Walmart parking lot in California has become a camp for wildfire evacuees

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Jim Henson's Muppets have a long legacy that spans multiple television shows, movies, and late night appearances. For nearly six decades the singing, dancing, and joke cracking Muppets have entertained viewers.

Here are 12 things you probably didn't know about Henson's felt-covered creations.

Jim Henson had a puppet show prior to "The Muppet Show" called "Sam and Friends."

Before he created "The Muppet Show," Jim Henson's first television venture was called "Sam and Friends," a puppet ensemble show that ran from 1955 to 1961.

In addition to featuring the original version of Kermit the Frog, a wide array of early Muppets appeared on "Sam and Friends" including Harry the Hipster, Icky Gunk, and Pierre the French Rat.

The Muppets made regular guest appearances on late-night talk shows in the '60s and they still do from time to time.

In the 1960s, during their "The Muppet Show" fame, several characters made guest appearances on talk shows. Rowlf the Dog and Kermit the Frog were the most popular of the Muppets and made frequent appearances on "The Ed Sullivan Show."

Rowlf the Dog eventually became the first Muppet to have a regular spot on late-night television when he was signed to "The Jimmy Dean Show" alongside comedian Jimmy Dean.

"The Muppet Show" won four Emmy awards in its five-year run.

"The Muppet Show" ran from 1976 until 1981 in the United Kingdom until finding syndication in the United States. It was nominated for multiple Emmy awards and won four.

• Walmart'sBlack Friday in-store event starts at 6 p.m. local time on Thanksgiving, which falls on November 22.
• The company is throwing a party two hours before the sales start, complete with free cookies and coffee.
• Meanwhile, select Black Friday deals on Walmart.com began cropping up November 8.
• Walmart's online Black Friday sales will be out in full force on November 21 at 10 p.m. ET.

Walmart is launching its in-store Black Friday sales at 6 p.m. local time on Thanksgiving this year.

For online shoppers, Black Friday deals will appear on Walmart.com on November 21, starting at 10 p.m. ET.

But the store is also offering a selection of online Black Friday sales much sooner than that. Select deals on products like LED TVs, laptops, and basketball hoops began popping up on the company's website on November 8.

Walmart US' chief merchandising officer Steve Bratspies expressed excitement about Walmart's upcoming holiday season during a call with reporters earlier in November. 

"We look forward to it all year," Bratspies said. "We've been planning for it for a long time now."

He pointed out a number of innovations to Walmart's strategy for this year's Black Friday. Online Black Friday sales will kick off a day earlier than last year. What's more, Walmart will host a special pre-Black Friday gathering in the hopes of hyping up shoppers.

Read more: What you need to know about Black Friday this year

"We're throwing a big party before the event begins," Bratspies told reporters.

The chain will host its inaugural Light Up Black Friday party from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. local time on Thanksgiving, just before the deals land. The company expects to pass out four million cups of free Keurig coffee and two million Christmas cookies from the store's bakery to customers.

Once the in-store sales get started on Thanksgiving, Walmart will implement a few measures to help customers navigate their way. The company's app will feature color-coded Black Friday store maps. The updated map will feature pins directing shoppers "to the top eight Black Friday deals" in the store.

This Black Friday map will be color-coded to highlight hotspot departments like home, apparel, electronics, and toys, as will Walmart's event circular. Associates will also distribute printed-out maps, and the store will sport signs and balloons in order to signal special deals.

To avoid long lines at the cash registers, Walmart plans to situate yellow-sash-wearing "check out with me" associates throughout the store. These associates have the ability to check out customers within the department itself.

When it comes to Walmart's associates, Bratspies said that they will all get a 25% discount — their usual 10% discount, plus an additional 15% — on a basket of goods at some point during the holiday season. Those working Thanksgiving also will receive a free dinner.

Speaking with reporters, he added that Walmart still views Black Friday as an important event, despite the perceived decline of the sales-oriented day.

"We expect it to be a good event, like it has been in past years," Bratspies said. "The season has been stretched out a bit, but we don't think that will take any of the wind out of our sails. We just want customers to choose Walmart and we're agnostic about what channel they use."

Read more about Black Friday 2018: 

• What you need to know about Black Friday this year
• Black Friday sales are starting soon — here's when stores will open
• Online retailers are in a bitter competition for holiday shoppers — and customers are winning
• Amazon just ratcheted up the war for holiday shoppers with an unprecedented promotion
• These are the best stores to shop for toys now that Toys R Us has died

SEE ALSO: Walmart is building 'town centers' in its parking lots — and it could redefine the one-stop shop

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• A Chinese court sentenced an author to ten years in jail for publishing a book that "obscenely and in detail" described gay sex, state media reported.
• Pornography is illegal in China, as is same-sex marriage.
• Many people have argued that the sentence was too harsh. Some people accused of sexual assault have received shorter sentences in the past.
• China has been cracking down on what it considered inappropriate content, such as pornography and even people having tattoos.

A Chinese court sparked outrage after sentencing an author to ten years in prison after she published a book that detailed gay sex.

The author, surnamed Liu, was found guilty by a court in Wuhu, eastern China, after self-publishing a book last year that "obscenely and in detail described gay male-on-male acts," the state-run Wuhu Broadcasting Channel news reported.

Pornography is illegal in China, as is same-sex marriage.

The novel, titled "Occupation," includes "violence, abuse, and insults related to sexual perversion," state media reported, adding that the contents were "unsightly."

Wuhu county court called for the ten-year sentence because Liu — who writes under the pen name Tian Yi — made 150,000 yuan ($21,600) by selling more than 7,000 copies, the state-run Global Times tabloid reported. The outlet referred to the money earned from the book as "illegal profits."

The judge likely thought that the book "has a baneful impact on the society," the Global Times reported, citing lawyer Lü Xiaoquan.

Police were alerted to the book after it went viral online shortly after its publication in 2017.

Liu has appealed her sentence, the Global Times reported.

Many people have since leaped to Liu's defense, saying that the sentence was too harsh.

One unnamed person said on popular microblogging site Weibo that she was sexually assaulted and injured in Beijing this May, but the perpetrator was sentenced to eight months in prison, the Global Times reported.

Others noted that an official in Yunnan province, southwestern China, was sentenced to eight years in prison for abducting and raping a four-year-old girl, the BBC and South China Morning Post reported.

In 2013, the son of two famous singers was sentenced to ten years in jail after he and four other people were accused of raping a woman at a Beijing hotel. Ten years is the maximum sentence for rape under Chinese law.

Read more:Planting spies, paying people to post on social media, and pretending the news doesn't exist: This is how China tries to distract people from human rights abuses

China's crackdown on content

The Chinese Communist Party has recently intensified its crackdown on what it considered inappropriate content, such as pornography.

Popular social media platform Sina Weibo censored LGBT content alongside pornography earlier this year, likely to honor a government initiative, but reversed the decision after China's gay community who said the company had smeared homosexuality.

Earlier this year Beijing also called on video-streaming sites to censor content that included tattoos, gambling, drinking, smoking, "flirtatious" dancing, and even scenes that use "a bed or sofa as a prop or background."

In May, Douyin, one of China's largest video-sharing apps, also banned content about Peppa Pig from its platform because the cartoon pig had become an icon of Chinese "slackers," which runs against Communist Party ideals.

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• On Thursday, Frankie Muniz revealed that his five-story brownstone apartment had been completely flooded, apparently because his cat managed to turn on a faucet.
• "Everything I own, destroyed. Every wall, piece of artwork, personal photos, furniture," he wrote.
• "I know this sounds ridiculous, but I swear it's true. You wouldn't believe the destruction."
• Muniz said he told Twitter because he needs support — but fans are almost exclusively interested in the cat's wellbeing.

Frankie Muniz took to Twitter on Thursday to "vent" about the destruction of his home and possessions — all thanks to his cat, he claims.

The "Malcolm in the Middle" star wrote that he had left his cat home alone for a few days while attending his uncle's funeral. Apparently in that time, Muniz's cat managed to turn on a faucet and flood the five-story brownstone.

"Everything I own, destroyed. Every wall, piece of artwork, personal photos, furniture," he wrote. "All because my cat accidentally turned on a sink a few days ago while we were gone."

"I'm devastated and exhausted from a tough week with the loss of my Uncle Skip, 45 hours of travel to and from France to walk in to find this disaster," he continued. "I've cried more yesterday and today then my whole life combined. Forgive me for venting.. I just need some support."

"I know this sounds ridiculous, but I swear it's true. You wouldn't believe the destruction," he wrote.

Some fans were quick to offer condolences and support, but most seemed preoccupied with one missing piece of the story: Is Muniz's cat OK? 

Representatives for Muniz did not respond to INSIDER's request for comment on the cat's wellbeing.

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• On Friday, 6 people were trapped in an elevator in Chicago after it fell over 80 floors. 
• The express elevator in the John Hancock building was sent falling after a cable snapped.
• The group got in on the elevator on the 95th floor, but they were sent falling.
• At least one passenger believed they were going to die.
• They were ultimately rescued by firefighters.

Six people became trapped in an elevator after it malfunctioned and plummeted over 80 floors just after midnight on Friday.

The group boarded the express elevator at the former John Hancock Center in Chicago on the 95th floor. But shortly after, one of the cables holding it broke, sending the elevator falling, per the Chicago Tribune.

Among those trapped were two Northwestern University law students, tourists from New Zealand and Mexico, a pregnant woman, per the Huffington Post.

"It was really bumpy — it felt like a flight into Chicago," one of the Northwestern students, who asked not to be identified for privacy reasons, told the Chicago Tribune.

As the elevator fell, the group, who had been calm at first "started freaking out," the student said.

"I thought we were going to die," Jaime Montemayor, one of the tourists from Mexico said. 

After 45 minutes, the fire department got involved, the Chicago Tribune reported. But even then it wasn't an easy rescue mission as they could not locate the fallen elevator.

"They couldn't find us," the law student told the Chicago Tribune. "We thought we only fell a few floors, but we ended up falling 84."

But once the firefighters determined the scope of the fall, they were able to rescue to the group by cutting a 5-foot by 5-foot hole in the building's brick wall, according to the outlet.

"We don't like to have to go through walls unless it's absolutely necessary," Larry Langford, the director of the Chicago Fire Department, said. "The only other way to get to the elevator would have been ropes from the 97th floor, and that would not be safe. We don't come down like Batman so we must go through the wall."

To carry out the rescue, the firefighters put up struts and bracings to keep the elevator from dropping more. Then, they sent one firefighter down to survey the scene.  To accomplish the rescue, the door was forced open and a "small ladder" was used, Langford said.

Then, the 6 trapped were brought out.

Langford said one person was experiencing anxiety at the time, but there were no serious injuries.

The John Hancock building, which was recently renamed 875 North Michigan Avenue, is 100 stories tall. Construction started on the building in 1965. City Buildings Department spokesman Gregg Cunningham told the paper said that the elevator passed an inspection in July. The department is investigating Friday's incident.

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• If you're traveling with a baby or a toddler, you're more than a little crazy if you travel without a stroller.

• But leave behind the clunky old behemoth you use in every day life and make the trip as smooth as can be with a great travel stroller.

• The Colugo Compact Stroller is our top pick because it folds down with one hand in about two seconds, so you never miss a moment while you and the family are on the go.
  

When you're away from home with your little one, a stroller is more than just a child conveyance system — It's like a mobile command post. A stroller is a tactical nap station, a baby wipe, diaper, snack, and spare clothes supply depot, a foul weather baby bivouac, and, of course, a child conveyance system. Any decent everyday stroller will meet all those metrics what with an adjustable seat, a storage basket, a reliable canopy and often an additional rain cover, and smoothly rolling, easy-to-control wheels down there at the bottom.

Finding a travel stroller that checks all those boxes while still being compact enough to bring along on planes, trains, and automobiles (and subway cars and uh... ocean liners?) is a trickier proposition. Far too many compact, collapsible strollers sacrifice quality and convenience in the name of reduced weight and size. But when you're miles from home, you don't need a stroller that's less effective and reliable than your larger everyday unit. In fact, if anything you need to trust your travel stroller even more than its workaday counterpart, because all the rest of your baby hardware might be across the city, state, or even back across an ocean.

After experiencing a stroller all but fail on my family while we were in Europe on a vacation, I can tell you personally how important it is to have a great travel stroller. Thus I've put together this list of five options, each of which boasts its own specific merits and any of which will likely serve your on-the-go gang just fine.

When choosing the best travel stroller for your baby or toddler, consider the child's size and age, the amount of weight you feel comfortable carrying when the stroller is folded, and the places you'll visit and the ways you'll get there. While all of the strollers on this list fold up easily, roll along smoothly, and enjoy excellent safety ratings, not all are suitable for the same uses and the same ages. But hey, that's why we feature options, right?

Here are the best travel strollers you can buy:

• Best travel stroller overall: Colugo Compact Stroller
• Best multi-age travel stroller: Joolz Hub Stroller
• Best lightweight travel stroller: Maxi-Cosi Lara Stroller
• Best travel stroller and car seat combo: Doona + Infant Car Seat/Stroller
• Best rolling luggage-style travel stroller: Baby Trend Jetaway Plus Compact Stroller

Read on in the slides below to check out our top picks.

The best travel stroller overall

Why you'll love it: The Colugo Compact Stroller folds down with one hand in about two seconds, and it tucks away into a backpack.

Colugo is a newcomer to the baby gear marketplace, but mark my words: Some day, it'll be considered a legacy brand. I say that for three reasons. First, the Colugo Compact Stroller is genuinely one of the most compact folding strollers I've ever used. How compact is it? It folds down small enough to fit into a backpack that comes included with the stroller. Yet when deployed, it's even larger than the average umbrella stroller, approximating the feel and function of a full-sized option.

Second, given its amazingly small size when folded and its ease of control and solid when in use, the Colugo Compact is a great price at just $285. It costs less than half as much as many comparable strollers I've tested out over the years with no appreciable drawbacks or missing features. There's a basket for storage, the seat reclines, the wheels lock reliably, and so on.

And third, the company's commitment to customer service makes the overall Colugo shopping experience a pleasure. Colugo calls itself the "Warby Parker of strollers." The founder and CEO Ted Lobst wanted to make the stroller shopping experience "less overwhelming for parents." Thus Colugo offers an almost unheard of 100-day trial. You can use your Colugo Compact for more than three months and, if you don't like it, you can send it back for a full refund.

Owning one myself, however, I can tell you the chances you sending it back are pretty low. The chances of you popping your Colugo Compact in its backpack, strapping your kid in a car seat, and heading out for an adventure? Pretty high.

And if you want to take it from a few other parents, consider a review left by a mom named Elizabeth who called her family's Colugo "super sturdy and... very easy to use" or a dad named Daniel who said it's "the best compact stroller" he has ever used, loving how it's "compact when folded" and so easy to collapse.

Pros: Folds with one hand, fits into a backpack, excellent customer service

Cons: Not suitable for newborns

Buy the Colugo Compact Stroller for $285

The best multi-age travel stroller

Why you'll love it: The Joolz Hub Stroller folds down small enough for travel, yet it's capable enough to serve as the only stroller your kid ever needs.

Let's lead with the only two issues to be found with the Joolz Hub, and I say this as a satisfied owner of this exact stroller. One, it's pretty heavy at about 25 pounds. And two, it's pretty pricey at nearly $700.

That said, it folds down smaller than many strollers and you will certainly get your money's worth. That latter point is true as you can use the Joolz Hub from the very first days of your baby's life through the time when he or she weighs 45 pounds.

The Joolz Hub can be outfitted with a bassinet for newborns, a seat insert adding extra support for babies, and then as a standard stroller with a reclining backrest and adjustable footrest for kids well into their toddler years. It can accommodate multiple brands of car seat, too, when outfitted with connection hardware.

Say, that sounds like many standard-sized strollers out there, doesn't it? Well, when in use, the Hub is the same size as full-sized options. But when folded up, it is small enough to fit in any car's trunk, into an overhead bin on a plane or luggage rack on a train, or to sling over your shoulder using the included carrying strap.

While the Joolz Hub is indeed much heavier than most travel strollers, the fact that it packs down small enough for travel and that it offers the full range of capability of larger strollers you would never travel mitigates the weight to some extent. As noted, the years of potential service make that price easier to digest, too.

A writer from BabyVillage called the Joolz Hub ideal for people who "use a combination of public transport and [their] own car" as it fits in luggage racks or trunks so well, and went on to note the stroller's deft maneuverability.

Pros: Works from newborn through toddler, good storage basket, smooth and stable even on varied terrain

Cons: Heavy, expensive

Buy the Joolz Hub Stroller at Buy Buy Baby for $679

The best ultra lightweight travel stroller

Why you'll love it: Weighing in at just 14 pounds, the Maxi-Cosi Lara Stroller won't weigh you down as you log the miles during a vacation, holiday travel, or just an epic journey across town.

In case you're not 100% up to speed on stroller weight ratios, let's just get one thing clear: A stroller that weighs 14 pounds yet can safely support kids weighing up to 50 pounds is crazy impressive. The Maxi-Cosi Lara Ultra Compact Stroller is the lightest weight stroller on our list, yet it also has the highest maximum weight limit rating among the hardware reviewed here. 

Now, the Lara isn't the most versatile stroller out there. This is much more of a traditional umbrella stroller than, say, the highly versatile Joolz Hub. It has smaller wheels that won't do well on anything but hard surfaces (though a suspension system will absorb some of the jolts and jostles that come with cracks in the sidewalk or the errant twig or pebble) and it's not suitable for use with newborns, but for the family with a child aged six months through the toddler years, it's an overall capable option that's yours for a fair price.

But again, what's the real selling point here? It's that 14-pound weight. The fact that the stroller collapses small enough to be slung over the shoulder doesn't hurt, either. The included parent cup holder and dual storage baskets? Now we're just adding icing to the cake.

A mom named Renee left a review on Bed, Bath & Beyond's website calling the Maxi-Cosi Lara a "traveling family's dream stroller" thanks to how easily it "can fold and unfold," the shoulder carry strap, and "canopy that extends far enough down" to provide full shade.

The product testers from PishPoshBaby noted how the Lara "takes just one hand" to fold down and highlighted the "two baskets for all your stuff."

Pros: Amazingly lightweight, folds down small, dual storage spots

Cons: Not great on varied terrain

Buy the Maxi-Cosi Lara Ultra Compact Stroller at Bed Bath & Beyond for $187

• Lowe's is opting to spread its Black Friday discounts throughout November.
• The home-improvement retailer will also close its doors on Thanksgiving this year.
• The strategy reflects the continued decline of Black Friday's importance to the retail sphere.

Forget Black Friday — Lowe's is in the midst of its first-ever Black November this month.

Black Friday-style deals will be offered at Lowe's online and in stores throughout the month of November. The stores will also close on Thanksgiving itself.

So why swap out Black Friday for Black November? According to the company, the idea is to reduce stress for shoppers and employees alike.

Read more: Walmart is bucking a major holiday hiring trend, and it could be a brilliant move

"We hope that by providing our customers with excellent opportunities to save from November 1 onward, they'll feel more prepared for holiday gatherings and special time with friends and family ahead," Chief Marketing Officer Jocelyn Wong said in a statement.

Deals have already begun on products like Roomba vacuums, Samsung refrigerators, and Craftsman cordless drills.

The home-improvement store's Black November push highlights the rapid decline of Black Friday itself. Lowe's will open its doors at 6 a.m. on Black Friday for an in-store event, but the day is overshadowed by the company's month-long sales bonanza. At many retailers, discounts are no longer constrained to the day after Thanksgiving.

And Lowe's isn't the only retailer to switch up its approach to the holiday season. Target is offering free two-day shipping throughout the holiday season — not just around Black Friday. And Amazon and Walmart.com have also been offering early deals since November 1.

More on Black Friday 2018:

• What you need to know about Black Friday this year
• Black Friday is dead — and constant discounts could be to blame
• Stores already have their Christmas decorations out, and it reveals a strategy that is killing Black Friday as we know it
• Black Friday sales are starting soon — here's when stores will open
• Here's when Costco is kicking off Black Friday

SEE ALSO: From entire lawn sets to used toilets, these are the most ridiculous returns employees from Costco, Walmart, and Target say they've ever gotten

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• Prior to starting his "Today" show interview on NBC on Monday morning, Michael Bublé explained to viewers that he had to take a moment to compose himself as they showed emotional footage about his son's battle with liver cancer.
• "We've gone through so many hard times and we've dealt with this and I've had to now answer the questions that it's so much fun for me to sort of not look back at the past and to look forward to the future and be excited about life for our family and our boy and everything," he told hosts Hoda Kotb and Savannah Guthrie. "I just wanted to get away and get focused on the good stuff."
• The singer added that the experience has helped him learn "what's important and what matters."

Michael Bublé stepped away from his "Today" show interview because they played a video about his 5-year-old son Noah's cancer battle.

"I walked away when you guys showed the whole thing about my son because it sucks, it hurts," the singer told the NBC morning show's hosts Hoda Kotb and Savannah Guthrie before starting his interview on Monday.

"We've gone through so many hard times and we've dealt with this and I've had to now answer the questions that it's so much fun for me to sort of not look back at the past and to look forward to the future and be excited about life for our family and our boy and everything," he said. "I just wanted to get away and get focused on the good stuff."

The singer revealed Noah's liver cancer diagnosis in November 2016, and has opened up about his family's experience in multiple interviews since then. 

Read more: Michael Bublé struggles to talk about his son's cancer diagnosis: 'My whole life ended'

While on "Today," Bublé explained that despite the hardships, he and wife Luisana Lopilato, son Elias (born in January 2016), and daughter Vida (born in July 2018) are trying not to dwell on the past.  

"When you go through things like this that are so painful, there are two kinds of pain as Frank Underwood [a character from "House of Cards"] says. There's pain that's useless and there's pain that you learn from," Bublé said. "You learn a lot about life and what's important and what matters and you stop sweating the small stuff because you realize that most of the stuff is the small stuff.'

The 43-year-old's personal experiences inspired him to create his latest album, "Love." But not too long ago, he made headlines after saying that he was quitting music. 

Read more: Michael Bublé says he is quitting music following his son's cancer battle: 'I don't have the stomach for it anymore'

In October, he told the Daily Mail that he "doesn't have the stomach" for the celebrity lifestyle anymore and was going to retire.

A representative for Bublé later told INSIDER that the Grammy-winning singer "has absolutely no plans to retire" from music.

Watch the "Today" video below.

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