• Meghan Markle reportedly had a secret meeting with Michelle Obama while the former first lady was in London Monday night.
• A friend of the Duchess of Sussex told the Evening Standard that the two discussed shared causes, such as supporting and empowering women.
• Obama has canceled the rest of her European tour dates to attend former President George H.W. Bush's funeral in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday.

The Obamas have long been friends of the British Royal family, especially when it comes to Prince William and Prince Harry.

So it's perhaps no surprise that Harry's new wife, Meghan Markle, met with former first lady Michelle Obama while she was in London for her book tour on Monday.

A friend of the Duchess of Sussex told the Evening Standard that Meghan "had a long private audience with Michelle" after Obama gave a sold-out speech at the Royal Festival Hall.

Read more: The Queen thinks royal protocol is 'rubbish,' according to Michelle Obama

The friend said the two discussed shared causes such as girls' education, as well as pregnant Markle's impending motherhood.

The palace confirmed that Markle attended Obama's talk in a private capacity, but released no other details to the newspaper.

Obama was scheduled to make two more stops in Europe to publicize her new memoir, "Becoming," but she canceled those events after former President George H.W. Bush died on Friday.

She will be attending the 41st president's funeral in Washington, D.C. along with her husband.

• Read more about Michelle Obama and Meghan Markle:
• Michelle Obama says Meghan Markle should not 'be in a hurry to do anything' when it comes to her new royal life
• Michelle Obama says even she still sometimes feels like a fraud: 'It doesn't go away, that feeling that you shouldn't take me that seriously'
• 25 things we learned from Michelle Obama's new memoir 'Becoming'

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: 4 lottery winners who lost it all

Former President George H.W. Bush died last Friday at the age of 94. 

Bush was widely respected for his lifelong dedication to public service and calm, quiet demeanor. 

Over the course of his long, distinguished life, Bush served his country in an array of capacities. He was a war hero, US congressman, diplomat, CIA director, and vice president in the years before he ascended to the highest office in the land. 

Here are some of the more striking images as the nation remembers its 41st president. 

Former President George H.W. Bush died on November 30 at the age of 94.

The nation is remembering him as a lifelong public servant and dedicated family man.

Bush's service dog, Sully, was among the first to mourn her owner's passing in the days leading up to his funeral.

• Kohl's is being hailed as a winner of the retail apocalypse as other department stores like Sears struggle.
• Comparable sales were up 2.5% at Kohl's in the third quarter.
• Part of why it's doing so well is thanks to the changes it's making to stores, like adding pickup lockers and selling Amazon devices. 
• We visited Kohl's and saw why it has been so successful lately.

Kohl's is thriving as other department stores struggle. 

In November, Kohl's reported that comparable sales were up 2.5% in the third quarter of 2018. Meanwhile, other department stores like Sears and JCPenney have been struggling through crippling sales declines.

One major advantage that Kohl's has over other department stores is that nine out of 10 Kohl's stores are in suburban strip malls rather than enclosed shopping malls, so it isn't as strongly effected by declining foot traffic to malls. Kohl's has about 1,100 stores.

The low-price department store has also been benefiting from a disappearing middle class and a higher demand for budget options — two factors that have been hurting more high-end department stores.

Kohl's has been making some major changes to its stores. In March, the company announced a plan to bring the discount grocery chain Aldi to 10 of its stores in a pilot test. 

"This quarter, we launched two pilot stores where we are testing a new customer service center concept, that includes a centralized checkout, a new impulse merchandising approach, self-checkout, new self-service kiosks and buy online, pick up in-store lockers," CEO Michelle Gass said in the company's third-quarter earnings call.

The department-store chain has also expanded its partnership with Amazon and is now accepting returns from the e-commerce giant in about 100 stores. Kohl's has tripled the amount of Amazon pop-up shops inside Kohl's from 10 to 30 stores, and it will continue selling Amazon-branded products in all stores to help drive traffic.

We visited a Kohl's store in Jersey City, New Jersey, and saw for ourselves why the retailer's changes are helping it thrive:

SEE ALSO: We shopped at Kohl's and Burlington to see which was a better store, and there was a clear winner

Unlike most Kohl's stores, the location we visited in Jersey City, New Jersey, was in a shopping mall.

Menswear was at the front of the store. Kohl's carries name brands like Under Armour, Adidas, and Nike in its stores.

Kohl's prices are generally inexpensive to begin with, and many products in store were on sale.

• On paper, and in technical comparisons, the iPhone XS ranks among the world's best smartphones when it comes to photography.
• But in a blind test conducted by popular YouTube tech vlogger Marques Brownlee, the iPhone XS flunked out in the first round.
• Crazier still, it lost against a BlackBerry smartphone. Google's Pixels, renowned for their camera quality, fared just as poorly.

One of the main reasons that people buy the iPhone is for its ability to take high-quality, detailed photos. And it certainly does that!

But based on the results of a new video from YouTube vlogger Marques "MKBHD" Brownlee, it seems like another factor may be far more important: Brightness.

In a massive blind photo test that Brownlee conducted over social media, he pit 16 different smartphones against each other. Both the iPhone X and the iPhone XS flunked out in the first round to less capable smartphones — Xiaomi's Pocophone F1 and TCL's BlackBerry Key2, respectively.

That's right: Apple's flagship iPhone from this year and last failed out in the first round, against phones that are barely considered competition normally.

Google's flagship Pixel line did just as poorly, albeit against more technically competitive devices.

His test was simple: Put two photos of the same subject next to each other and have his millions of social media followers vote on which looked better to them. 

It's hardly a scientific poll, but that's not the point — what you see is what matters.

Most people are looking at photos on smartphone screens, through social media apps that compress images. They're using apps on their smartphone to edit images before sharing. They're trying to see faces clearly. Does the image "pop?" Is it bright? 

That kind of interaction with photos leads to a different type of preference.

"The most important thing to people, when viewing these photos straight out of camera, was just exposure — brightness, basically," Brownlee says in the video. "Nine times out of ten, the brighter, more saturated, more punchy-contrasty photo, won. Every single round — it's pretty consistent." 

It says a lot about what actually matters in smartphone cameras, and what may matter to you.

Are you taking a lot of extremely detailed photos with your smartphone? If the answer is no, then maybe you can wait a little longer next time before upgrading your smartphone — or maybe it's finally time to start considering those mid-range, less expensive smartphones.

If nothing else, the video is a fascinating look into modern smartphone camera options — see it for yourself right here:

SEE ALSO: The iPhone XS has a few new camera tricks hiding under the hood — here's what they do

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: A running coach explains how to get through the NYC marathon this weekend

• Barbara Corcoran spoke at Business Insider's IGNITION Conference Tuesday morning in New York City and discussed how Trump used his salesman tactics to his advantage in the 2016 election. 
• She recounted a real-estate story about Trump selling land to a wealthy international family in addition to New York City's The Plaza. They were originally only interested in the hotel, according to Corcoran.
• Corcoran said it was that acumen and ability to pick out someone's weakness that he used in the election to sell himself.
• "He put his finger on what the weakness was, the vulnerability of people and he knows how to touch it just so," said Corcoran. "People go along for the ride."

Before Donald Trump was president, Barbara Corcoran knew Trump very well. The two started their real estate careers in the 1970s. 

"I've done a lot of work with Donald and I can tell you he is the best salesman I've ever met in my life," the "Shark Tank" star said Tuesday morning at Business Insider's IGNITION Conference in New York City.

Corcoran recounted a story of how she watched Trump successfully pitch and sell not only the Plaza Hotel in New York City, but a giant plot of land as well that wasn't originally part of the deal.

"Donald was near bankruptcy and really needed the money to bail out," Corcoran told the crowd. "I thought he was so off. He wasn't. They bought the land and built all those towers on the west river as we know it today and all those Trump towers along the river."

In 1995, the New York Times reported Trump sold the Plaza Hotel to a Saudi Arabian Prince and one of Singapore's leading entrepreneurs for $325 million. Corcoran said she believes it was that same tenacity and awareness as a salesman, which resulted in him being able to win over American people and ultimately win the 2016 presidential election. 

"I'll tell you what his masterful mind does. He is a genius at picking out the vulnerability of someone's personality," said Corcoran of witnessing Trump in action over the years. "He can smell it, sense it, and trust it. So, for example, if you were to walk into a business meeting with Donald and you were saying whatever you're saying, I've seen it time and time again, he could see what your weakness is and, not physically reach out and put his finger on it, but he just could see what your weakness is and play into it."

"Not the nicest thing in the world, but it's a certain gift I've never seen in anyone else," added Corcoran. "That's exactly what he did in the election — he put his finger on what the weakness was, the vulnerability of people and he knows how to touch it just so. And people go along for the ride. He is a phenomenal salesman, I have to say. He can sell anything, and he did."

You can follow along with our IGNITION coverage here. 

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: The science of why human breasts are so big

• Stocks plummeted Tuesday after optimism for a US-China trade deal faded and as Treasury yields fell.
• Global markets had rallied a day earlier. 
• Watch the major US indexes trade in real time here.

Stocks fell sharply Tuesday after optimism for easing trade tensions between Washington and Beijing waned and as Treasury yields turned lower, stirring worries about the prospect of slowing economic growth around the world.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 3%, or nearly 800 points. The Nasdaq Composite plunged 3.8%, meanwhile, and the S&P 500 shed 3.2% to below its 200-day moving average. The three US indices had all jumped more than 1% on Monday as President Donald Trump touted his weekend meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

But trade expectations unwound after key details on the framework of negotiations appeared unsettled. Trump called himself "a Tariff Man" in a tweet about China early Tuesday, a reminder that further escalations are on deck if a deal isn't reached within 90 days. Trade-sensitive stocks were among the Dow's biggest losers, with Caterpillar down nearly 7% and Boeing 4.8% lower.

Not helping the mood, Trump named US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to lead negotiations going forward. Lighthizer is seen as a hardliner on China, so the pick cast doubt on expectations for a quick agreement.

"While this outcome is preferable to many alternatives, investors should be clear that agreeing to negotiate is no guarantee of resolution,” said Ron Temple, managing director and head of US Equities at Lazard Asset Management. "Details are scant and the two sides have offered different statements of what was agreed."

Treasury yields continued to slide, with the 10-year down 7.6 basis points to 2.915%. Spreads between long- and short-term bonds inverted, an occurrence seen as a potential recession signal, for the first time since the financial crisis.

"The inversion of parts of the yield curve is further evidence that investors are coming round to our downbeat view of the prospects for the US economy, and points to further weakness in the S&P 500," said John Higgins, an analyst at Capital Economics.

Adding to concerns, Brexit debates in the UK’s House of Commons got off to a rocky start. Prime Minister Theresa May suffered a series of setbacks Tuesday, and the British government was found in contempt of Parliament after not publishing the full legal advice on plans to leave the European Union.

The dollar stumbled 0.7% against the Japanese yen, a closely-watched exchange rate during times of financial stress. The VIX, meanwhile, jumped by nearly a quarter to 20.48.

Oil prices climbed from recent lows ahead of a meeting Thursday and Friday among OPEC and other major producers led by Russia, who are expected to make a deal to cut coordinated output levels. West Texas Intermediate fell to trade just below $53 per barrel, and Brent was down 0.5% to $61.58.

SEE ALSO: Trump's newest pick to lead the trade fight against China reportedly took the Chinese by surprise and could be bad news for a deal

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: 7 things you shouldn't buy on Black Friday

• Instacart, a grocery delivery company that relies on contract workers called "shoppers" to pick out and transport items to customers, announced at the beginning of November that it would be rolling out a new payment structure for those shoppers. 
• Hundreds of shoppers are complaining online that the changes have resulted in cuts to their earnings. Many are also calling for a boycott of the company.
• Shoppers say the new payment system is causing some delays for customers as workers reject more jobs and encourage others to boycott the company. An executive at Instacart denied that this was the case. 

Instacart rolled out a new payment system last month, and many of its shoppers weren't too happy about it.

Instacart is a grocery delivery company that relies on contract workers — whom it calls "shoppers"— to pick out and transport items to customers. 

Hundreds of shoppers took to social media and Reddit forums to complain about the changes, saying that they had caused substantial cuts to their earnings. Some are now rejecting jobs while others are threatening to boycott the company.

Read more:Instacart workers are threatening to boycott the company over a payment policy change that they say has cut their wages

And it seems that this could be having a domino effect on the customer experience. 

Several Instacart customers have recently taken to Twitter to complain about delays in the service. 

"Order was supposed to be delivered between 9 & 10pm. It's 11:11 & still no order... oh don’t worry it's not like I have to be up at 6 and or anything," one customer wrote on Twitter on November 27. 

"My order is 40 minutes late, no one has started shopping, and I'm sitting here on hold. Fuming. WTF?" another said a few days later. 

Several Instacart shoppers responded to these tweets by saying that the delays were likely due to some shoppers declining orders because they thought they weren't worth their while financially. 

A spokesperson for Instacart denied that any recent delays were related to the payment changes.

"We value our 70,000 dedicated shoppers and appreciate all of their feedback. As our business has grown over the last year to 15,000 stores in 4,000 cities, we've also been investing in our shopper experience with new tools and features to make our shopper's jobs easier. As we've scaled our new earnings features to more shoppers over the last month, we've seen no meaningful impact on delayed customer orders as a result of those changes," a spokesperson for Instacart told Business Insider on Tuesday. 

In a call with Business Insider on Monday, Instacart's chief product officer, David Hahn, said that average earnings for shoppers had stayed the same under the new payment structure. He added that the response from shoppers so far has been "overwhelmingly positive."

The new payment structure, which is currently running in certain parts of the United States and will be rolled out nationwide by the end of the year, has been causing problems for some shoppers, who say they have seen their wages cut as a result. 

In the new system, shoppers are no longer paid a set fee for delivery but rather a variable fee determined by the order's number of units, the type of items, the overall weight of the order, the trip length, and the location.

Instacart said it made the changes to ensure that shoppers are adequately reimbursed for more complex or heavier orders, but shoppers say that under the new system, Instacart's payment is typically low and seemingly random.

"While a bonus for heavy deliveries is meant to be factored into the new incentive fee, it is not always consistent," Mark Johnson, who has been an Instacart shopper in the Seattle area for 14 months, told Business Insider. "I've seen crazy jobs of 30 to 50 items for $10 or $15. Before, we were making twice as much."

Before these changes, Johnson said he would be averaging around $25 to $30 an hour for his work. In the new system, he barely makes $20 an hour. "It's a significant cut," he said.

Hahn said the fee may seem more random because more factors are being taken into consideration to determine it.

"Now that we are taking all these inputs into the batch, there are more variants in the batch price than there was in the old system," he said, adding that the changes are going to be a "continuous process." 

Shoppers are rejecting more orders

But as a result of these changes, many shoppers say they are now declining more orders that they believe to be too low-paying to be worth their while. 

Andrew P., who has been a shopper since February, said that up until these changes were put in place, he hadn't rejected a single job. He said that since the changes were made in his market on November 19, he has turned down six jobs in two weeks.

This trend may now be causing delays on the customer's side as the app works to find replacement shoppers: 

SEE ALSO: It's now cheaper to order Whole Foods delivery on Instacart than on Amazon

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: How ketchup started as a fish sauce from Asia

Technology is increasingly disrupting every part of our daily lives.

Smart speakers and voice assistants let us interact with our homes and with retailers in new and seamless ways.

Smartphones are taking over as the dominant shopping device.

Viewers continue to move away from traditional TV toward digital platforms.

And the list is growing.

Nearly every industry has been disrupted by digital technologies over the past 10 years. And in 2018, we expect to see more transformative developments affect our businesses, careers, and lives.

Business Insider Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, has put together a list of 35 Big Tech Predictions for 2018 across Apps and Platforms, Digital Media, Payments, Internet of Things, E-Commerce, Fintech, and Transportation & Logistics. Some of these major predictions include:

• Cryptocurrencies will become more widely accepted
• Google and Apple will challenge Amazon in the smart speaker space
• The resurgence of the VR market
• The real self-driving car race will begin
• Drone regulations will relax
• Alibaba’s international expansion
• Gen Z will become a major focal point for media companies and advertisers
• Payment security will become paramount
• Smart home devices will take off

This comprehensive list of 35 predictions can be yours for free today. As an added bonus, you will gain immediate access to our exclusive free newsletter, Business Insider Intelligence Daily.

To get your copy of this FREE report, simply click here.

Join the conversation about this story »

• The 2018 Progressive International New York motorcycle show pulled into the Big Apple this past weekend.
• I dropped by before the show opened to the public and took in the sights.
• Once again, heritage styling was a big story, but the growth of Royal Enfield, a motorcycle company big in India, was also notable.

The New York motorcycle show is one of my favorite events of the year.

The 2018 installment didn't disappoint. The floor at the Javits Center on Manhattan's West Side was crammed with all manner of two-wheeled delights (as well as some three- and four-wheeled attractions).

All the major players were represented. We had big ole hogs from Harley-Davidson, cool flat-track racers from Indian, style machines from Triumph, Ducati, and Aprilia, and some flash new bikes from Royal Enfield, the freshest brand to hit the US market.

Suzuki, Yamaha, Honda, and Kawasaki also showcased their wide range of bikes, ATVs, and of course, JetSkis. 

I also sampled helmets, riding gear, and even tires!

Let's have a look. 

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

Progressive, the big insurer, is the longtime sponsor of the New York motorcycle show, which pulls in to the Javits Center every year.

It is a sea of two-wheelers, from all the major manufacturers.

Let's have a look around!

• Hulu will add more subscribers in the second half of the year than it did in the first half, CEO Randy Freer said at Business Insider's IGNITION.
• That suggests that Hulu will have more than 23 million subscribers by end of year.
• "We think the live TV market is robust," Freer said. "DirecTV Now announced their numbers in 3Q. We grew 10x of where DirecTV was."

Hulu will add more subscribers in the second half of the year than it did in the first half, CEO Randy Freer said Business Insider's IGNITION Conference in New York on Tuesday.

"We think the live TV market is robust," Freer said. "DirecTV Now announced their numbers in 3Q. We grew 10x of where DirecTV was. We'll have our best October, our best November."

DirecTV, which is owned by AT&T, reported that it added 49,000 new subscribers in the third quarter. Hulu's live TV offering launched in 2017 and added 3 million this year through May, to top 20 million subscribers. At that rate, his comment suggests that Hulu will have more than 23 million subscribers by the end of the year.

Freer said he's optimistic about the opportunity to grow the business, while the industry should focus on profitability.

"I think we all have to ultimately run a business that can turn profit," he said. "We closed the gap on margin from where we started by 50%, and we see that continuing. Our ad revenue has grown north of 50% over the last year."

Looking ahead, Freer said live sports will be on Hulu's radar. 

"We're a subscription driven business, and we know over history that sports has a tendency to drive subscriptions," Freer said. "We will certainly be evaluating sports as an opportunity and hopefully be at the table when the time comes."

You can watch the whole interview here >>

SEE ALSO: 'We outperform all of them': Roku is readying itself for competition from the likes of Amazon and Comcast as the streaming war heats up

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: A Harvard psychologist reveals the secret to curbing your appetite

• Eczema is a skin condition that is a result of a damaged skin barrier — making it much more prone to irritation or infections.
• There are several ways to treat eczema, but they're all focused on restoring the skin's barrier through proper skin care.
• If you've tried these treatments and you're still struggling, it may be time to schedule an appointment with a board-certified dermatologist.

Known as "the itch that rashes," eczema can be a huge pain. Eczema, also referred to as atopic dermatitis, is a skin condition that is most commonly associated with a red, itchy rash. Flares are often caused by several different things, said Ellen Dabela, a dermatologist in New Jersey.

"Humidity, temperature, exposure to various irritants or allergens, the presence of bacteria or yeast, and even one's own immune system will affect the severity and duration of an eczema flare," she told INSIDER. "There is also a genetic interplay between atopic dermatitis, asthma, and seasonal allergies."

But what actually causes it? A damaged skin barrier, Carley Fowler, a dermatologist in Tennessee, told INSIDER. "Think about your skin as a brick wall: You have bricks and you have mortar," she said. "The bricks are skin cells, and the mortar is your skin's natural oil. Your skin is a barrier to the outside world, protecting your body. Patients with eczema are missing their mortar, so their barrier is broken down."

This means that anything can creep through your skin's barrier, including fragrance, smoke, soaps, and other irritants, Fowler said.

The good news is that there are several different ways to treat eczema. But ultimately, controlling eczema is all about restoring the skin's barrier so that your skin doesn't get so irritated. From at-home remedies to in-office treatments, here are 13 ways to treat eczema.

Moisturize, moisturize, moisturize.

The best thing you can do if you have eczema? Make moisturizing your skin a non-negotiable step in your daily routine.

"The best way to treat eczema is changing behavioral habits,"Dhaval Bhanusali, a dermatologist in New York, told INSIDER.  "I recommend moisturizing right out of the shower after pat drying yourself down since this is when pores are open the most and absorb the best."

Reach for heavy-duty moisturizers.

If you're struggling with eczema, typical lotions won't help you out very much, said Sara Moghaddam, a dermatologist in Maryland. "Do not use lotions, as their alcohol content is higher and they evaporate quicker providing less moisture to the skin," she told INSIDER.

Instead look for a thick cream or other emollient-based products, like Vaseline, said Monica Valentin, a dermatologist in Virginia.

"No matter what type of eczema you have, I always recommend Vaseline after baths or showers and a ceramide-containing moisturizer, like CeraVe, all other times of the day," she told INSIDER. "Vaseline works by locking in the water for skin absorbed during the bath. Ceramides, on the other hand, are normal building blocks of the skin, but they are usually low or missing in eczema skin. So using a ceramide containing cream help rebuild the fat layer of the skin that naturally keeps in moisture."

Avoid irritating products.

While a product may smell delicious, intense fragrances can end up exacerbating eczema, said Marisa Garshick, a dermatologist in New York. "Typically I recommend avoiding products that contain any fragrance as many people with eczema have sensitive skin," she told INSIDER.

That goes beyond just creams and body washes, Kelly Conner, a dermatologist in Texas, told INSIDER. She recommended that people with eczema steer clear of scented bubble bath, dryer sheets, fabric softeners, and harsh laundry detergents.

But there are also a bunch of other potentially irritating ingredients that you should be on the lookout for as well, she added. "Watch out for hidden ingredients like fragrance, parfum, lavender, geraniol, citrus, parabens, formaldehydes, plant/flower/fruit/nut oils, lanolin, cocamidopropyl, and betaine," she added.

All of these can irritate your skin and cause a reaction.

• Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer will retire at the end of the season.
• Meyer won three Big Ten titles and the 2014 National Championship in his seven years at Ohio State, but his final season in Columbus was marred by controversy.
• Many speculated that the domestic violence scandal from the start of the season, combined with his ongoing health problems, could drive Meyer out of the Buckeye State.
• Meyer has not indicated what he will do next, and his long and tumultuous career may not provide a clear answer.
• Let's take a look back at Meyer's roller-coaster past and what he may choose to do in the future.

Urban Meyer will coach his final game for the Ohio State Buckeyes when they take on the Washington Huskies in the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day.

Meyer won three Big Ten titles and the 2014 National Championship in his seven years at Ohio State, but his final season in Columbus was marred by controversy. He was widely criticized for mishandling domestic violence allegations against former assistant coach Zach Smith and was subsequently suspended for three games to start the 2018 season. 

Many speculated that Meyer's ongoing health problems, combined with the scandal, could drive Meyer out of the program.

According to Pete Thamel of CBS Sports, the decision was driven by "a myriad of factors," but that "foremost among them was his happiness with the state of the Ohio State program."

Meyer has yet to indicate what he will do next, and his nonlinear path to Ohio State doesn't provide a clear answer. Let's take a look back at his roller-coaster past and what he may choose to do in the next stage of his career.

Urban Meyer has earned a reputation as a giant of college football, but he hasn't always been a household name.

Meyer started his head coaching career at Bowling Green in 2001.

He spent 15 years prior in assistant coaching positions with various programs, including Ohio State, Illinois State, Colorado State, and Notre Dame.

Source: Cleveland.com

After coaching the Falcons to 17-6 overall record in his two years at the helm, Meyer left Bowling Green for Utah.

He coached the Utes to a 10-2 record in his first season at the helm to earn Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year honors.

Source: Cleveland.com

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• The annual fee for the Business Platinum® Card from American Express is going up from $450 to $595 per year.
• New benefits include credits at WeWork and Dell and increased benefits from hotel stays.
• With the higher fee, the card may be even more valuable to some cardholders, but others may want to look elsewhere for a rewards card with great benefits and a lower cost.

The Business Platinum® Card from American Express is a longtime leader in both the business and personal rewards card spaces, but a newly increased fee may be enough for you to cancel that Business Platinum card.

An update to the Business Platinum card goes into effect soon. Once it does, should it still earn a slot in your wallet?

Let's take a look at the new costs and benefits to help you decide.

Higher annual costs

Let's start with the big downside. The Business Platinum card annual fee is going up by $145 per year. That comes out to a new $595 annual fee compared to the old $450 fee.

The increase in fee is not a shock to anyone with the personal version of the card, which had a similar fee increase last year. The new annual fee for the personal Platinum Card® from American Express is $550 per year.

At $595 per year, the cost of the card averages out to just under $50 per month. With the new benefits (more on them below) and value from existing benefits, including a $200 annual airline fee credit, lounge access, and Membership Rewards points, you may still find the AmEx Business Platinum to be worth keeping.

New WeWork and Dell benefits

With new costs, you do get new benefits. That is not always the case in the finance industry, but the new benefits from the Business Platinum card may be very valuable for some independent workers and small businesses.

First, AmEx will give you a free year of access to WeWork coworking spaces around the world. The package you get from American Express is valued at $2,700 per year, when looking at comparable WeWork plans. If you have been considering coworking or moving your business to WeWork, this more than pays for the annual fee of the credit card.

If you use Dell for computers, printers, or anything else, the card also comes with a new $200 annual statement credit for qualifying Dell purchases. If you need to buy a new laptop or desktop computer every year for a staff member of your small business team, this benefit might come in very handy.

Increased Hotel Collection credit

This credit card has offered a $75 benefit for each stay at the Hotel Collection, which is now going up to $100. I don't put much value in The Hotel Collection myself, so I rarely focus on it in AmEx reviews. But with the new $100 benefit, it is worth taking a second look at how The Hotel Collection and this benefit works.

The Hotel Collection is a group of hotels you can book through American Express Travel. These are generally higher-end properties, and Business Platinum cardholders get a few perks when staying at The Hotel Collection hotels. Those include 5x points per dollar on prepaid bookings, free room upgrades when available, and a hotel/resort credit each stay.

The newly increased credit will give you $100 per stay for qualifying in-hotel purchases including dining, spas, and resort activities like tennis or golf. Depending on the hotel, $100 may get you a message, breakfasts during your stay, or a discount on a big day on the golf course.

Alternatives to the AmEx Business Platinum

If a $595 annual fee is more than you can or want to pay, you have other options available too. AmEx has a wide range of business cards. I'm personally looking to downgrade my Business Platinum to the Blue Business℠ Plus Credit Card from American Express.

While it has far fewer benefits, I get lounge access from my personal Chase Sapphire Reserve and the Blue Business Plus doesn't charge an annual fee. The Blue Business Plus offers 2x points per dollar on all purchases up to $50,000 per year (then 1x).

Other good options include the Ink Business Preferred Credit Card ($95 annual fee), Ink Business Unlimited Credit Card (no annual fee), or Ink Business Cash Credit Card (no annual fee) from Chase.

Choosing the right rewards card

The right rewards card requires finding the right balance between cost and benefits from your card. If you choose a card with a near $600 annual fee, you should get at least $600 in benefits per year from the card.

Between all of the travel, work, and purchase rewards and protections, you may very well get that from the AmEx Business Platinum. If not, it may be time to move on to something new for your small business credit card needs.

Click here to learn more about the AmEx Business Platinum from Insider Picks' partner: The Points Guy.

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• There are characteristics that differentiate a crush from a more serious romance, New York City-based therapist Dr. Bukky Kolawole told INSIDER.
• Crushes are rooted in fantasy and tend to happen when you don't know much about a person but idealize what they are like, Kolawole said.
• Crushes and love do, however, have biological similarities.
• Hormones like dopamine and oxytocin release during both experiences, Stephanie Cacioppo, an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral neuroscience at The University of Chicago, told INSIDER.
• If you get closer to your crush and develop real-life experiences and a sense of reciprocity, the crush can develop into something more.

If you've ever experienced a sudden and intense attraction to someone you don't know very well, you've probably gushed to your friends about your secret "crush."

Although there's no clinical definition for a crush, there are characteristics that differentiate a crush from a more serious romantic engagement, New York City-based therapist Dr. Bukky Kolawole told INSIDER. Mainly, crushes are rooted in fantasy and the person who is crushing tends to project their values onto the person they desire.

"You have little pieces of information and what you see, you are drawn to in that person," Kolawole explained. This differs from a romantic interest or relationship, where what you know more about the person and your suppositions are based on real-life experiences you've had together.

Read more:5 sneaky signs someone has a crush on you

For instance, when crushing, you might subconsciously think the person you always sit next to on the train is kind and caring, but you have no way to back up your supposition or fully trust them, since trust is built through time and an established connection, Kolawole explained.

"Longing and yearning has distance, whereas with love, you're engaging with the person and feel a connection," she said.

Crushes and love interests have biological similarities

Although there is a distinct difference between a crush and something more, there are certain similarities, like the way both make you feel. That's because feelings of a crush and feelings of love release the mood-boosting hormones dopamine and oxytocin to the brain, Stephanie Cacioppo, an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral neuroscience at The University of Chicago, told INSIDER.

When you see a potential mate, whether it's a total stranger, an acquaintance, or a partner, your brain also activates its cognitive network, the region that holds our past experiences, preferences, and self-image, Cacioppo explained. When this area activates, it's "instructing our eyes on who to love."

This process happens so quickly, you won't be mentally aware of it, although your body may react with an increased heart rate, butterflies-in-the-stomach feeling, and obsessive thinking, Cacioppo said.

You can't control when you get a crush, but you can take measures to stop it once it happens

Although crushes and love interests create similar biological reactions, there are distinct differences. According to Cacioppo, "a crush and love act on different planes," so crushes feel like uncontrollable urges because they happen more quickly than falling in love, which is a slower experience. That's why crushing can feel like a spiral you can't seem to get a grip on.

Read more:10 subtle signs your crush just wants to be friends

Cacioppo noted that, while you can't control when you develop a crush on a person, you can stop the crush once you consciously notice it. "Maintenance of a crush can be stopped with strong willpower from the frontal lobe, meditation, discipline, and practice," she said.

When you start to rely on a person in real life, a crush can cross into romantic territory

Despite the differences, Cacioppo told INSIDER it is possible for a crush to develop into a relationship. 

“With crushing, you're OK with the distance because you're not fully in it yet," Kolawole added. But if you begin to have shared, in-person experiences with your crush, an attachment system is created. A relationship is then established and the body and brain can react differently, like feeling sad or alone when that person is physically absent. 

Visit INSIDER's homepage for more.

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• Barbara Corcoran was a real estate mogul before she became a judge on "Shark Tank."
• As the head of The Corcoran Group, which she sold in 2001 for $66 million, Corcoran ran a "mean and lean" business by not being scared to fire underperformers.
• She explained at IGNITION why she relished firing 25% of her sales staff every year. 

When Barbara Corcoran headed The Corcoran Group, her New York real estate firm, she secretly loved Fridays — but not for the reason you think.

That was the day Corcoran fired underperforming salespeople.

"I couldn't wait to say to someone in the sales area, 'Hey do you have a few minutes for me on Friday?'" Corcoran said at Business Insider's flagship conference IGNITION. 

It might sound cruel, but Corcoran explained that getting rid of weak employees was an important way to keep her business strong. In fact, she fired a quarter of her sales staff every year. 

"I just loved Fridays," Corcoran said at IGNITION. "It was like — do you ever call in sick from work one day and stay home and clean your whole apartment really well, and how good that feels? That was every Friday of my life, that was the way it was. I started Monday fresh as a button."

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Along with the fact that she simply couldn't keep subpar workers on the payroll, Corcoran said keeping underperformers on staff can cause personnel issues. Top salespeople aren't likely to respect a company where underperforming salespeople are able to stick around.

To ensure that standards were high at The Corcoran Group, she told new hires that, in order to stay on the team, everyone was required to make one sale in their first three months.

"What actually happened is that people got ready to fire themselves because they knew what the requirement was," Corcoran said at IGNITION. "We ran mean and lean because of our clarify of hiring and our clarify of firing."

The Corcoran Group otherwise had high retention rates. Corcoran previously told Business Insider's Alyson Shontell that she kept company morale up by fostering a workplace culture in which employees cared for each other. 

"I did what my mother did," Corcoran said previously. "I adored my children ... I pushed them forward, got them to believing they could do a lot more than they were doing. And they did! Because people don't really know what they're capable of."

And one key way she cared for her employees was by ensuring that underperformers and "complainers" didn't stay for too long in the company.

"One negative person will take the energy out of 15 great people quietly," she said.

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• Brad Katsuyama, the CEO of upstart stock exchange IEX, didn't realize how hard disrupting Wall Street would be.
• Katsuyama, who came to prominence as the star of Michael Lewis' 2014 best-selling " Flash Boys," said without the book, "I’m not sure if I’m sitting here for a stock exchange right now." 
• Katsuyama spoke on Tuesday at Business Insider's IGNITION 2018 conference. 

Disrupting Wall Street is hard.

Brad Katsuyama, the CEO of upstart stock exchange IEX, just didn't realize how hard.

"There was a naivety about me in thinking there was going to be a fight, but not fully appreciating how big of a fight it would be," he said on Tuesday at Business Insider's IGNITION 2018 conference in New York.

Katsuyama, who came to prominence as the star of Michael Lewis' 2014 best-selling " Flash Boys," said without the book, "I’m not sure if I’m sitting here for a stock exchange right now." 

Katsuyama founded IEX in 2012 as a new trading venue that aims to thwart the advantages that he says predatory high frequency traders enjoy on incumbent exchanges like the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq. 

But by setting out to change how traditional US stock markets function, Katsuyama found himself fighting against big Wall Street players. 

Read more:Upstart exchange IEX snags its first listing from Nasdaq

“Anytime you want to make something simpler, the people who benefit from the complexity do not want that to happen," he said. "Michael [Lewis] said, 'if you’re taking billions of dollars out of people’s pockets, they’re going to be really angry.'"

Up next for IEX is a building out a new listings business. In September, the exchange snagged its first listing, Interactive Brokers, from rival Nasdaq. A boost in the number of companies listed on IEX would likely mean an increase in the amount of trading that takes place on it, as stocks are more likely to trade on the exchange on which they are listed. 

Katsuyama said his pitch to companies to switch their listing venue over to IEX is simple.

"We're the only stock exchange that aligns the interests of investors and companies," he said. "When we talk to companies, we say you and the investor are the two most important parts of the market and we have tremendous support from investors and we want to build a relationship with you. Most of them haven't been talked to that way ... we're different, we stand for something, we're a value-based decision and a lot of CFOs are trying to make value-based decisions."

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• INSIDER conducted a survey to find out what new TV shows viewers think will get canceled. 
• Using the data, we collected a list of 21 shows that people believe will be canceled. 
• A lot of people agreed that "The Conners,""The Alec Baldwin Show," and "Dancing With the Stars: Juniors" will get the axe.

We're nearing the end of the fall TV season, and we can’t help but wonder what shows are going to get canceled.

And while we may not know those will be until 2019, viewers are feeling the tension. INSIDER was interested in the new shows that viewers are worried about, and conducted a survey to find out what new network TV shows people think are in danger of getting the axe.

We collected a list of the shows people think will get canceled and included the percentage of participants who listed that show, along with the show's IMDB description. 

Some shows people can agree are at risk of cancellation include "The Alec Baldwin Show,""The Conners," and "Dancing With the Stars: Juniors."

SurveyMonkey Audience polls from a national sample balanced by census data of age and gender. Respondents are incentivized to complete surveys through charitable contributions. Generally speaking, digital polling tends to skew toward people with access to the internet. SurveyMonkey Audience doesn't try to weight its sample based on race or income. Total 1,217 respondents, margin of error 3% with 95% confidence level, poll ran Nov. 16 to 17.

Here are the shows that people think are most in danger of being canceled:

"The Alec Baldwin Show"— ABC

Of those surveyed, 29.87% believe this talk show will be canceled. In November, ABC moved the show from the Sunday night line-up to Saturdays, which isn't good news for its longevity.  

IMDB description: Weekly talk show hosted by actor Alec Baldwin.

"The Conners"— ABC

Of the people surveyed, 28.1% think that the "Roseanne" spin-off is doomed. While "The Conners" has steady ratings, it's only drawing in half the audience that the revival, which aired earlier this year, did. This could mean that it won't get picked up for another season, but the ratings are steady enough that it could stick around. Our guess? It was always intended as a one-season show, and will end with its first season in 2019. 

IMDB description: Follow-up to the comedy series Roseanne (1988), centering on the family members of the matriarch after her sudden death.

"Dancing With the Stars: Juniors"— ABC

Of those who were surveyed, 25.44% believe this show will get canceled. And that's fair: It doesn't capture the magic of the popular reality competition series. And historically, kid spin-offs of popular reality shows do not perform well. Remember "American Juniors?" You probably don't, because it didn't last long. 

IMDB description: A spin-off of "Dancing With the Stars" pairing celebrity kids with professional junior ballroom dancers to perform choreographed routines, which are judged by a panel that includes renowned ballroom experts.

• The electric vehicle startup Faraday Future has put at least 250 employees on furlough, The Verge reports.
• The automaker has reportedly decreased its US workforce from around 1,000 employees as of October to under 350.
• Faraday confirmed that it has put additional employees on furlough in a statement to Business Insider, but the automaker did not disclose the number of employees that were affected. 
• The automaker has struggled to build its planned FF91 electric SUV amid financial concerns.

The electric vehicle startup Faraday Future has put at least 250 employees on furlough, The Verge reports. The automaker has reportedly decreased its US workforce from around 1,000 employees as of October to under 350.

Faraday confirmed in a statement to the press that it had put additional employees on furlough, but the automaker did not disclose the number of employees who had been affected. The statement said the automaker had received interest from investors and hopes to solve its funding problems within three months.

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Faraday has attributed its financial difficulties to one of its investors, Evergrande Health, which the automaker claims has failed to make scheduled payments while preventing Faraday from seeking outside funding. Evergrande said in an October filing on the Hong Kong stock exchange that Faraday had not met the terms necessary to receive the disputed funding.

Evergrande did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.

According to The Verge, Evergrande had wanted Faraday CEO Jia Yueting to resign from director positions at other companies affiliated with Faraday and to give up his controlling stake in the automaker. Faraday and Evergrande reportedly failed to reach a resolution over whether the automaker had fulfilled those two requirements, and Faraday is attempting to cancel its $2 billion deal with Evergrande.

The automaker says it is awaiting the results of an arbitration case against Evergrande, though it was allowed in October to seek a maximum of $500 million in outside funding, according to an Evergrande filing.

This latest round of furloughs follows a round of layoffs and wage cuts first reported by The Verge in October. Nick Sampson, one of the automaker's founders, reportedly resigned in October, saying Faraday Future is "effectively insolvent" in an email to employees.

Faraday Future was founded in 2014 and has struggled to build its planned FF91 electric SUV amid financial concerns. The automaker has faced lawsuits and liens from suppliers who claim they have not been paid, and the first pre-production version of the FF91 caught fire hours after it was shown to employees and their families, according to The Verge.

Yueting, who is also the founder and chairman of the Chinese tech company LeEco, last year had $182 million in assets frozen by the Chinese government because of unfulfilled loan payments.

You can read Faraday Future's full statement below:

FF’s recent financial crisis was brought about by investor Evergrande Health refusing to make its scheduled payments. The investor has further breached its contractual obligations to FF and refused to release its liens over FF’s assets as it was required to do. This has resulted in making it more difficult for FF to achieve short-term financing through asset-backed loans resulting in the current temporary cash flow difficulties. This action has unequivocally harmed FF employees worldwide, our suppliers, our partners and all of our reservation holders.

We are filing the new emergency relief application on the main arbitral tribunal soon. Since the ruling may be delayed by two to three months, FF will continue to experience a negative impact on our already very tight cash flow, therefore we unfortunately must take further cost-reduction measures to deal with the current financial situation which includes putting additional employees on furlough beginning this week. We are grateful to all of the one thousand global employees, especially hundreds of employees in the US who are willing to stay and continue to work on the FF 91 production and delivery as well as those who will be on a temporary furlough.

This was an extremely tough decision to make, and we recognize the emotional stress and financial strain this puts on people’s personal lives. In addition, we take our relationships with our suppliers seriously, and we hope to receive support and understanding from our global partners as FF overcomes our difficulties.

The FF executive team is receiving interest from investors from around the world who see strong value in FF’s seasoned tech and automotive management. We will continue to push forward on the delivery of the hyper-performance FF 91 luxury vehicle and secure our medium- and long-term strategies. We hope to solve the funding issue in 2-3 months.

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• Windi Thomas pleaded guilty to third-degree murder in the death of her boyfriend, Keeno Butler, in Erie, Pennsylvania. 
• The pair had been arguing before his March death, and Thomas told police she used her own 300-pound body weight to crush Butler, who weight around 120 pounds. 
• Thomas faces up to 36 years in prison after pleading guilty. 

A 300-pound Pennsylvania woman has pleaded guilty to murdering her 120-pound boyfriend by crushing him with her own weight.

Windi Thomas, a 44-year-old from Erie, faces up to 36 years in prison after pleading guilty to third-degree murder in the March death of 41-year-old Keeno Butler, according to GoErie.com.

Prosecutors said that Thomas killed Butler in March 2018 in the couple's apartment.

She told investigators that she smothered Butler with the weight of her body, and that she cut him on the hand with a knife and hit him with a table leg.

The reason the two were fighting remains unclear, but Thomas was reportedly drunk and wanted to smoke crack when the pair got into an argument, Fox 5 NY reported.

Read more:A woman was sexually assaulted as she lay dying, and her abuser was sentenced to less than three years

An autopsy ruled Butler's death a homicide "caused by respiratory insufficiency secondary to blunt force trauma to the neck and thoracic compression, exacerbated by blunt force trauma to the head," according to an affidavit.

Thomas called 911 after the altercation and told police she had killed Butler. His body was found on the living room floor of the couple's apartment.

Thomas is scheduled to be sentenced on December 21.

A third-degree murder conviction's maximum sentence is 20 to 40 years in prison.

As part of Thomas’s plea deal, the recommended sentence is 18 to 36 years, and Assistant Erie County District Attorney Jeremy Lightner dropped charges of aggravated assault, reckless endangerment, and possession of the instrument of crime.

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