• Global IT spending is forecast to hit $3.8 trillion in 2019, according to analyst firm Gartner.
• The number reflects continued growth, though at a slower rare than past years. Gartner forecasts that spending will from 3.2% in 2019, down from its forecast of 4.5% growth in 2018.
• More than a third of that spending will go toward communications services, though enterprise software is the fastest growing spending area.

Global IT spending is forecast to hit $3.8 trillion in 2019, up 3.2% from the $3.69 trillion companies are expected to spend this year, according to newly-released Gartner data.

While corporate budgets continue to boom, Gartner's projection for 2019 IT spending actually represents a slowdown in growth. Gartner forecasts that spending in 2018 will ultimately grow 4.5% from 2017, while actual growth in 2017 was up 3.9% from 2016. And so, a year-over-year gain of 3.2% is a notable dropping-off.

Communications services — which includes everything from landline and mobile telephone services, to cloud communication tools like Zoom — is projected to take in $1.4 trillion in 2019, more than a third of overall spending for the year. But spending in that area is expected to grow just 1.2% from 2018.

The fastest-growing segment is enterprise software, which is projected to rake in $439 billion next year. This bucket includes customer relationship management software like Salesforce, as well as financial management and HR software like Workday.

Companies are expected to increase spending in enterprise software by 8.3% in 2019, following 9.9% projected growth in 2018, and 10.4% growth in 2017.

Even spending on data center systems, which have lost their edge thanks to growing corporate reliance on public clouds, is expected to grow by 1.6%. This is down from 6% growth projected in 2018, and the 6.4% growth realized in 2017.

This year's expected IT growth is "buoyed by a strong server market," according to Gartner. However, the steep decline in 2019 reflects the fact that the server market is expected to slow down once again, according to the report.

Here's the full forecast: 

SEE ALSO: Oracle is acquiring a tiny cloud startup backed by Qualcomm to build out its health science product suite

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• Police say a man they've identified as Zachary Miller jumped the counter of a Subway restaurant in Georgia and stole $100.
• Security footage shows Miller fleeing on foot but leaving his sandwich.
• Miller is shown turning back for his sandwich.
• Miller, who had warrants out for his arrest in Tennessee and Georgia, was later arrested.

Police have captured a man who they say robbed a Subway sandwich restaurant in Norcross, Georgia.

Surveillance footage from incident shows a man climbing over the restaurant's counter and going through the cash register at around 10:15 a.m. on October 9.

The suspect, who Gwinnett County Police identified as Zachary Miller, is seen walking out of the restaurant when he realizes he forgot his sandwich. Miller is seen turning back for the sandwich before leaving the restaurant again.

Miller was arrested in Tennessee on October 11, according to the Knox County Sheriff's Department. There were active warrants for his arrest from Tennessee and multiple jurisdictions in Georgia, the Gwinnett County police department said.

In Tennessee, he was charged with aggravated assault on an officer, evading arrest in a vehicle and on foot, possession of stolen property, and fugitive from justice, two counts of counts of aggravated burglary, felony forgery, misdemeanor theft, and violation of probation.

He is currently being held on $51,500 bond. He is expected to be extradited to Cobb County in Georgia on multiple charges of armed robbery.

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Mark Cuban is a businessman, investor, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, and a regular on ABC's "Shark Tank."

This December, Cuban and the cofounders of the legal workflow platform provider Paladin, which Cuban has invested in, will appear together at IGNITION.

Paladin is a New York-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) business designed to empower the pro-bono ecosystem. Felicity Conrad and Kristen Sonday are cofounders.

Cuban also appeared at Business Insider's flagship 2014 IGNITION conference, where he talked about his sleep schedule and slammed other billionaires who complain about being rich.

Cuban, Conrad, and Sonday are joining an all-star roster of business leaders and entrepreneurs at IGNITION 2018.

Register now.

To keep up with IGNITION news, join our mailing list and you'll be the first to get updates on our speakers and agenda.

SEE ALSO: Announcing IGNITION 2018 speakers: Don't miss Scott Galloway, Janice Min, Steve Case, and more!

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• President Trump likes to boast that his uncle, John Trump, was a brilliant scientist at MIT.
• Trump referenced his uncle in an interview with the Associated Press on Tuesday, in which Trump denied established climate science.
• Here's what to know about John Trump. 

President Donald Trump isn't known to be a big fan of scientists.

For two years in a row, Trump has proposed slashing science research budgets at federal agencies including NASA, the Department of Energy (DOE), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Congress rejected those cuts, with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle instead supporting rigorous scientific research. 

The Trump administration has also removed the words climate change from annual memos, breaking precedent with Democrats and Republicans.  And Trump is also the only world leader to back out of the Paris agreement, which aims keep the rising global temperature in check. 

This week, Trump again made anti-science remarks during interviews with CBS and the Associated Press. On CBS, Trump suggested that scientists who study the Earth's changing temperature have "a very big political agenda," and denied the overwhelming consensus that climate change is happening and will get worse unless immediate action is taken to reduce our emissions.

In a similar vein, he told the AP that "you have scientists on both sides." To support that claim, Trump referenced his late uncle, John Trump.

"My uncle was a great professor at MIT for many years. Dr. John Trump," Trump told the Associated Press. "And I didn’t talk to him about this particular subject [of climate change], but I have a natural instinct for science."

Despite Trump's frequent disregard for science, he references his uncle's scientific mind pretty regularly and has been proudly singing John Trump's praises for years.

In 2016, Trump told the Washington Post that "my uncle was one of the brilliant people. He was at MIT for 35 years. As a great scientist and engineer, actually more than anything else. Dr. John Trump, a great guy." 

John Trump, the younger brother of real estate mogul Fred Trump (Donald Trump's father) did not study climate or environmental science. Instead, MIT describes John Trump as a "pioneer" of high-voltage energy.

He received his doctorate from that institution in 1933, and is credited with developing new kinds of high-voltage X-ray generators. That technology helped usher in new kinds of radiation treatments, which helped cancer patients live longer. John Trump also helped develop new radar technology that was used in World War II. 

According to his obituary in The New York Times, which was published February 26, 1985, John Trump authored "nearly 80 scientific publications" and was a decorated scientist, earning a National Medal of Science in 1983.  

Trump has said that he used to "talk about nuclear" with his uncle, and notably, problems with the spread of nuclear weapons around the world.

He once told Anderson Cooper during a town hall that "I hate nuclear, more than any." But as a 2016 New Yorker column points out, that view doesn't seem to have stopped Trump from displaying a "casual indifference" towards nuclear proliferation in his own politics.

SEE ALSO: Elizabeth Warren says a DNA test proves she has a Native American ancestor, but it's not that simple. Here's what the results really show.

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NOW WATCH: Inside the Trump 'MAGA' hat factory

• Deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein told The Wall Street Journal the Russia investigation has already revealed a multi-faceted Russian effort to meddle in the 2016 US election.
• Rosenstein added that he has a "solemn" responsibility to oversee and prosecute such cases, and that he is "pleased the president has been supportive of that."
• President Donald Trump has repeatedly derided the ongoing Russia probe, calling it a politically motivated "witch hunt" and a "hoax."
• "I believe that our department and our office have been appropriately managing that investigation," Rosenstein told The Journal, referring to the Russia probe.
• Rosenstein's comments came after it was reported that he has been pressuring the special counsel Robert Mueller to wrap up the Russia investigation.

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said on Wednesday that the special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation has already revealed an elaborate and widespread effort by the Russians to meddle in the 2016 US election.

Speaking to The Wall Street Journal, Rosenstein said, “I have a solemn responsibility to make sure that cases like that are pursued and prosecuted, and I’m pleased the president has been supportive of that.”

President Donald Trump, whose campaign is at the center of the Russia probe, frequently derides the investigation as a politically motivated "hoax" and a "witch hunt." To date, he and his Republican allies in Congress have spearheaded several efforts — many of which have been successful — to force the Justice Department to disclose sensitive information about the investigation and who it's targeting.

In addition to investigating whether members of the Trump campaign colluded with Moscow to tilt the race in his favor, Mueller is also examining whether Trump sought to obstruct justice at various points throughout the inquiry.

Trump has made numerous public and private attempts to exert more influence over the investigation, at one point reportedly wondering why "my guys" at the "Trump Justice Department" weren't protecting him from scrutiny.

Trump also often gripes about Attorney General Jeff Sessions' decision to recuse himself from overseeing the investigation last year, after it emerged that he had not been forthcoming during his confirmation hearing about his contacts with Russians during the campaign.

Sessions is widely rumored to be leaving after the November midterm elections, and Trump is expected to clean house at the DOJ then as well.

Meanwhile, Rosenstein's own job hangs in the balance following a New York Times report that said the deputy attorney general suggested secretly recording Trump and invoking the 25th Amendment to remove him from office shortly after Trump fired then FBI director James Comey last year.

Rosenstein vehemently denied the claim, and subsequent media reports also cast some doubt on the veracity of The Times' reporting. Still, Rosenstein reportedly offered to resign multiple times after the report came out because he wanted to avoid being fired and wanted to leave on amicable terms.

Things between Trump and Rosenstein seemed to simmer down a bit after they met aboard Air Force One last week.

Though Rosenstein declined to discuss the allegations or his conversations with Trump, he told The Journal, “The president knows that I am prepared to do this job as long as he wants me to do this job. You serve at the pleasure of the president, and there’s never been any ambiguity about that in my mind.”

Rosenstein has long been a key target of Trump's ire as the president complains that he is not doing enough to rein in Mueller. Trump was also infuriated when it emerged in April that Rosenstein greenlit an FBI raid of his former longtime lawyer Michael Cohen's property.

“I believe that our department and our office have been appropriately managing that investigation,” Rosenstein told The Journal, referring to the Russia probe.

His interview with the outlet came after Bloomberg reported earlier Wednesday that Rosenstein has been pressuring Mueller to wrap up the Russia investigation.

Two US officials told Bloomberg that Mueller is expected to deliver his key findings shortly after the midterms. But legal experts say that while Mueller appears close to tying up the obstruction thread, he likely won't be finished with the collusion thread by November.

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• Saudi Arabia has walked away from its $1 billion Virgin Hyperloop investment, the Financial Times reports.
• The move comes after Virgin Group chairman Richard Branson said he would suspend working with the Kingdom in the wake of Jamal Khashoggi's disappearance.
• Swaths of US executives have declined to attend the Future Investment Initiative conference next week.

Saudi Arabia has pulled its $1 billion investment in Virgin Hyperloop One in response to the company joining droves of others who pulled out of the Kingdom’s Future Investment Initiative— colloquially known as "Davos in the Desert"— following the disappearance and possible murder of a naturalized US citizen and Washington Post columnist, the Financial Times reported Tuesday.

Virgin Hyperloop One, one iteration of Elon Musk’s visionary Hyperloop transportation project, unveiled its first pod prototype earlier this year. Saudi Arabia is one one of its most important backers, and heralded the project as one that could “enable all 4th-generation technologies to flourish in the Kingdom.”

A spokesperson for Hyperloop One said the company "did not have a contract signed nor have we been notified that the contract is cancelled," adding that they have asked the paper to publish a correction. There has been no such correction.

On Thursday of last week, as evidence was mounting that Saudi officials were believed to have killed the Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggiat the Kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul, Branson joined the likes of JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi and others in pulling out of the conference.

"I had high hopes for the current government in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its leader Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and it is why I was delighted to accept two directorships in the tourism projects around the Red Sea,” Branson said in a blog post published October 11.

"What has reportedly happened in Turkey around the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, if proved true, would clearly change the ability of any of us in the West to do business with the Saudi Government."

You can read everything we know about the troubling disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi here.

SEE ALSO: Richard Branson just unveiled his vision for Virgin Hyperloop One — and it looks straight out of a sci-fi film

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• The New York Attorney General has launched an investigation into the parent company of MoviePass for allegedly misleading investors, according to CNBC.
• Helios and Matheson has faced criticism from investors in recent months as several assurances from management have unraveled and the company has diluted their stakes by selling millions of new shares to the public.
• Many Helios and Matheson shareholders have seen the value of their stakes dwindle by over 99%, with some losing over $100,000.

New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood has launched an investigation into the parent company of popular movie-ticket subscription service MoviePass for allegedly misleading investors, according to CNBC.

The attorney general's office is probing whether Helios and Matheson (HMNY) "misled the investment community regarding the company’s financials," CNBC reported, citing a "source familiar with the matter." The investigation is in its "early stages," according to the report.

Helios and Matheson confirmed the existence of an investigation in a statement to Business Insider.

"We are aware of the New York Attorney General’s inquiry and are fully cooperating," the company said. "We believe our public disclosures have been complete, timely and truthful and we have not misled investors. We look forward to the opportunity to demonstrate that to the New York Attorney General."

The attorney general's office did not immediately return a request for comment. 

Business Insider reported in August that Helios and Matheson had covered hundreds of millions in losses by selling millions of new shares of stock to shareholders, and that company CEO Ted Farnsworth had made several promises to investors at a July shareholders meeting that began to unravel soon after.

Business Insider also interviewed Helios and Matheson shareholders in July who expressed frustration with management. Many had seen their stakes dwindle over 99% in value and some had lost more than $100,000. Several felt misled by Wall Street analysts who kept "buy" ratings on the stock while their banks made millions in fees selling Helios and Matheson stock as it collapsed.

Helios and Matheson has a history of angry creditors and investors 

Helios and Matheson has a long and complicated history that Business Insider outlined in a piece in July. The company was once the US subsidary of an Indian company (Helios and Matheson Information Technology) which stands accused of defrauding at least 5,000 creditors in India, including banks and senior citizens.

HMIT began to extricate itself from the US business in 2016 when HMNY merged with Farnsworth's money-losing startup, Zone Technologies. Since then, HMIT's ownership stake has dwindled, though executives from the Indian company remain involved with the MoviePass owner.

Helios and Matheson in New York bought MoviePass in August of last year, and drastically dropped the monthly price to $9.95, a move which meant that the company could lose money on some customers who went to just one movie per month. That move has meant a skyrocketing user base and losses to match.

In recent months, MoviePass has tried to get its cash burn under control by introducing features unpopular with users like limiting showtimes and capping usage at three movies per month. But it has continued to cover losses by selling new shares and diluting previous shareholders. This strategy has angered many investors.

On Tuesday, Helios and Matheson announced that it had postponed a crucial shareholders meeting until November 1. At the meeting, Helios and Matheson will ask for approval on an amendment for a one-time reverse stock split of up to 1-for-500 shares. The 1-for-500 reverse split is the latest attempt by Helios and Matheson to revive the stock, which if it continues trading below $1 could be delisted from the Nasdaq by mid-December.

However, the last reverse split Helios and Matheson enacted in July did not prove successful in stabilizing the stock price, as it began to crash immediately following the 1-for-250 reverse split.

Helios and Matheson stock was trading at around $0.02 on Wednesday.

SEE ALSO: The strange story of how MoviePass' owner was created by an Indian company accused of massive fraud

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In the cutting-edge world of Silicon Valley, not only do developers have to learn the most popular programming languages, they also have to keep up with new ones.

GitHub, which hosts open-source software projects to which users can browse and contribute, has been tracking programming trends on their site each year. In their annual Octoverse report, GitHub reveals what the fastest growing languages are, as well as the most popular languages overall.

The company is seeing trends toward languages focused on thread safety and interoperability — in terms, languages that can safely execute multiple sequences at once, and that are capable of interacting with another language in the same system.

Microsoft will acquire GitHub for $7.5 billion, which has been seen as a smart move for the tech titan. GitHub itself is also rapidly growing. This past year, 8 million new users joined GitHub — more users than GitHub’s first six years combined. And on Tuesday at the GitHub Universe conference, the company announced the launch of GitHub Actions, which now allow users to build and execute code on the site.

Here are the fastest-growing programming languages around, according to GitHub:

#10: SQLPL. SQLPL stands for Structured Query Language Procedural Language, and it was developed by IBM. This language is used for database systems, similarly to the industry standard, SQL.

#9: Groovy. Groovy is a dynamic programming language for the Java platform. It’s known for its concise and simple syntax. It also feels familiar to many programmers, as it has features similar to Python, Ruby and Perl.

#8: Python. Python is a high-level language that’s popular in machine learning projects. It’s popular with programmers of all skill levels because it’s easy to read. In fact, not only is it fast-growing, it's already one of the top-3 most popular languages overall.

“Python is a legit phenomenon of it’s own,” Stephen O’Grady, industry analyst with RedMonk, said at the GitHub Universe conference this week. “A lot of it comes down to the fact that it’s an incredibly versatile language. It’s escaped the track of being just front end or back end."

• White House counsel Don McGahn left the Trump administration on Wednesday, a source with knowledge of the situation said to Business Insider.
• President Donald Trump floated the idea of replacing McGahn with attorney Pat Cipollone, a Justice Department veteran, earlier this week.
• McGahn's departure adds to a long list of exits from the Trump administration. The turnover has already broken records fewer than two years into Trump's first term.

White House counsel Don McGahn left the Trump administration on Wednesday after a tumultuous 21-month tenure, a source with knowledge of the situation said to Business Insider.

McGahn was said to be on his way out of the White House, which was likely to happen after the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

McGahn reportedly had a 20-minute farewell meeting with Trump on Wednesday, where both parties expressed interest in terminating their ties, according to a source in a CNN report.

"Typically you would have the incumbent stay until the successor was ready to take his place," the source said to CNN. "But in this case McGahn was tired of the President and the President was tired of McGahn."

Another source disputed the claim and alleged McGahn wanted to stay with the administration until the midterm elections in November, according to CNN.

President Donald Trump floated the idea of replacing McGahn with attorney Pat Cipollone, a Justice Department veteran, earlier this week.

Cipollone, who currently practices in a Washington, DC-based law firm, was reportedly working with Trump's legal team in recent months and has extensive experience with crisis management, consumer fraud, and constitutional issues.

Trump described Cipollone as "a very fine man, highly respected by a lot of people."

McGahn's departure adds to a long list of exits from the Trump administration. The turnover had already broken records fewer than two years into President Donald Trump's first term.

Despite playing a critical role in Justice Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation process, McGahn's relationship with the president appeared to fray in recent months, according to multiple news reports.

McGahn, who was reportedly frustrated with Trump's "volcanic anger" and abrupt eruptions, described the president as "King Kong" behind his back, according to The Times. McGahn was also viewed as a check on Trump's impulsive actions, and as a result, found himself attracting the president's ire.

Trump was also reportedly incensed after special counsel Robert Mueller was appointed to head the Russia investigation in 2017. Trump is believed to have blamed McGahn, in addition to attorney general Jeff Sessions, for the ongoing investigation.  

The White House counsel's office, which typically consists of a 50 attorneys, currently has around 25, according to a Washington Post report published Saturday.

SEE ALSO: Don McGahn is out — here are all the casualties of the Trump administration so far

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White House counsel Don McGahn left the Trump administration on Wednesday after a tumultuous 21-month tenure, a source close to the administration told Business Insider on October 17.

The administration has been rocked by high-profile departures — including Reince Priebus as chief of staff and James Comey as FBI director — since Trump took office in January 2017.

Here are all the top-level people who've either been fired or resigned from the administration, and why they left:

SEE ALSO: Trump's staff turnover is higher than any administration in modern history

DON'T MISS: MEET THE CABINET: Here's who Trump has appointed to senior leadership positions

Don McGahn

White House counsel Don McGahn left the Trump administration on Wednesday after a tumultuous 21-month tenure, a source close to the administration told Business Insider on October 17.

McGahn was said to be on his way out of the White House, which was likely to happen after the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

Nikki Haley

Nikki Haley, the US Ambassador to the United Nations and former governor of South Carolina, announced her resignation on Oct. 9th.

After Axios first reported the news, President Donald Trump announced to reporters in the Oval Office that Haley would resign at the end of 2018.

While the reason for her resignation was unclear, Trump said she previously told him she wanted to "take a break" after serving in the post for two years.

Haley was considered a moderating, stable force in the Trump cabinet who supported a strong US presence in the UN, sometimes at odds with National Security John Bolton, who takes a more hawkish stance on foreign affairs.

Appearing beside Trump in the Oval Office, Haley touted making progress on issues including trade and nuclear disarmament in Iran and North Korea. Trump praised Haley's work, saying she could "have her pick" of roles if she wanted to return to the White House. 

Haley also put to rest speculation that her resignation meant a presidential run for her in 2020. 

"No, I am not running in 2020," she said. 

Scott Pruitt

Trump announced in a tweet on July 5 that he had accepted embattled Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt's resignation.

"Within the Agency Scott has done an outstanding job, and I will always be thankful to him for this," Trump wrote.

At the time of his resignation, Pruitt was the subject of several federal ethics investigations for his lavish spending habits, his suspected conflicts of interests with lobbyists, and for reportedly enlisting his official government staff to carry out his personal errands.

Democratic lawmakers accused Pruitt of using staff to get him a Trump tower mattress, to try to get his wife a position managing a Chick-fil-A franchise, and to find his family a new apartment in a posh DC neighborhood.

• An op-ed Jamal Khashoggi filed right before he went missing earlier this month was published online by The Washington Post on Wednesday evening. 
• In the column, the Saudi journalist discussed the need for a free press in the Middle East.
• "Arab governments have been given free rein to continue silencing the media at an increasing rate," Khashoggi wrote.
• His Washington Post editor said his final article is a testament to his commitment to a "freedom he apparently gave his life for."
• Khashoggi disappeared after entering the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on October 2, and is feared dead. 
• Turkish officials have accused Saudi Arabia of killing Khashoggi, who was often critical of the Saudi government in his reporting, in the consulate. 

An op-ed Jamal Khashoggi filed right before he went missing earlier this month was published online by The Washington Post on Wednesday evening. 

In the column, the Saudi journalist discussed the need for a free press in the Middle East. 

"Arab governments have been given free rein to continue silencing the media at an increasing rate. There was a time when journalists believed the Internet would liberate information from the censorship and control associated with print media," Khashoggi wrote. "But these governments, whose very existence relies on the control of information, have aggressively blocked the Internet."

Khashoggi called for the creation of an "independent international forum" to allow ordinary people in the Arab world to address "the structural problems" their societies face. 

"The Arab world is facing its own version of an Iron Curtain, imposed not by external actors but through domestic forces vying for power," Khashoggi added. "The Arab world needs a modern version of the old transnational media so citizens can be informed about global events. More important, we need to provide a platform for Arab voices."

Karen Attiah, Global Opinions editor at The Post, wrote a note at the top of Khashoggi's newest article:

"I received this column from Jamal Khashoggi’s translator and assistant the day after Jamal was reported missing in Istanbul," Attiah said. "The Post held off publishing it because we hoped Jamal would come back to us so that he and I could edit it together. Now I have to accept: That is not going to happen."

Attiah added, "This is the last piece of his I will edit for The Post."

Khashoggi's editor said his final article "perfectly captures his commitment and passion for freedom in the Arab world. A freedom he apparently gave his life for."

Attiah said she's "forever grateful" she had the chance to work with Khashoggi and he chose The Post as his "final journalistic home." 

Khashoggi disappeared after entering the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on October 2. There's no footage of him leaving the building. 

Turkish officials have accused Saudi Arabia of brutally killing Khashoggi, a Saudi national who often criticized the Saudi government in his reporting.

The Saudi government has vehemently denied these allegations, but after more than two weeks, still hasn't provided any definitive proof Khashoggi is alive and safe. 

Khashoggi had a rich, complicated career before he went missing.

As a young reporter, he traveled to Afghanistan to interview Osama bin Laden, who at the time was among CIA-backed militants fighting the Soviet Union. Khashoggi also covered the Gulf War, and his time as a foreign correspondent quickly propelled him into a successful career as a journalist and editor in Saudi Arabia. 

The media industry in Saudi Arabia is strictly controlled by the government, which meant Khashoggi developed close ties to the country's leadership over the years. He eventually served as an adviser to the royal family. 

But he began to fear for his safety last year as Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman moved to consolidate power, arresting fellow princes and businessmen — including friends of Khashoggi. 

After he was critical of President Donald Trump and the Saudi government's apparent trust in the US leader, the royal family barred Khashoggi from writing. Six months later, in June 2017, Khashoggi left for the US. 

Prior to his disappearance, Khashoggi split his time between the US state of Virginia, Istanbul, and London, and was a US resident with a green card. He wrote a number of articles for The Washington Post after leaving Saudi Arabia. 

The Saudi journalist was weeks away from getting married to his Turkish fiancée, Hatice Cengiz, when he went missing. Khashoggi went to the consulate on October 2 to obtain documents that would allow his marriage to move forward. Cengiz waited outside for Khashoggi for roughly 11 hours, but he never returned. 

Khashoggi in the past said he always considered himself a patriot, viewing his criticism of the Saudi government as a sign of his love for Saudi Arabia and a desire for conditions there to improve. 

In a recent op-ed for The New York Times, Cengiz wrote, "Jamal was a patriot. When people referred to him as a dissident, he would reject that definition. 'I am an independent journalist using his pen for the good of his country,' he would say."

Cengiz added, "His voice and his ideas will reverberate, from Turkey to Saudi Arabia, and across the world."

"Oppression never lasts forever. Tyrants eventually pay for their sins."

READ MORE:

• Here's everything we know about the troubling disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi
• Trump is placing his trust in someone who is either lying, or can't stop his henchmen from brutally killing journalists
• Top Senate Democrat slams Trump's response to Khashoggi killing, says president is making US look 'weaker' than ever by kowtowing to Saudis
• Jamal Khashoggi's disappearance is an 'embarrassing' 'crisis' for Trump and 'one of the roughest foreign-policy challenges' he's faced yet, experts say
• Missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi had a complicated past involving interviews with Osama bin Laden and close ties to the Saudi royal family
• Lindsey Graham says 'toxic' Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had Khashoggi 'murdered' and can 'never be a world leader'
• Trump touts Saudi king's 'very strong' denial and says 'rogue killers' could be responsible for Khashoggi disappearance
• Trump officials dodge questions on US support for Saudi Arabia amid Khashoggi crisis

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NOW WATCH: Inside the Trump 'MAGA' hat factory

Facebook believes that spammers, and not a nation-state, are responsible for the recent hack that stole the personal information of 29 million Facebook users, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday.

The report, which cites anonymous sources, says that Facebook has "tentatively" concluded the hackers were spammers who were posing as a digital marketing company. 

The hack, which Facebook first disclosed last month, is the largest breach suffered by the social network. The hackers were able to exploit vulnerabilities in Facebook's code to get their hands on "access tokens"— essentially digital keys that give them full access to compromised users' accounts — and then scraped users' data.

Among the user data stolen by hackers were birthdates, phone numbers, search history and even recent locations the users had "checked in" at. 

Interestingly, Facebook noted in an update last week that the FBI had asked it not to publicly discuss "who may be behind this attack."

Facebook did not immediately return a request for comment.

Developing...

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• Basketball legend Kobe Bryant has been asked to step down from a judges' panel for an animated film festival set to begin in Los Angeles this weekend.
• An online petition that called for Bryant's ouster from the panel cited a sexual-assault allegation he faced in 2003. The charges in that case were dropped after Bryant's accuser decided not to testify.
• Bryant was the target of similar criticism after he won an Academy Award earlier this year for the animated short film "Dear Basketball," which was adapted from a poem Bryant wrote as part of his farewell message to the NBA.

Basketball legend Kobe Bryant has been asked to step down from a judges' panel for an animated film festival set to begin in Los Angeles this weekend, the Los Angeles Times reported on Wednesday.

An online petition that called for Bryant's ouster from the panel cited a sexual assault allegation he faced in 2003. The charges in that case were dropped after Bryant's accuser decided not to testify.

Bryant won an Academy Award earlier this year for the animated short film "Dear Basketball," which was adapted from a poem Bryant wrote as part of his farewell message to the NBA. In a statement to Variety on Wednesday, Bryant said he was "disappointed" by the decision.

"This decision further motivates me and my commitment to building a studio that focuses on diversity and inclusion in storytelling for the animation industry," Bryant said.

Festival creator Eric Beckman said Bryant's exclusion was meant to keep the attention around the event focused on the accomplishments of its participants.

“We are a young organization and it is important to keep our collective energies focused on the films, the participating filmmakers, and our festival attendees,” Beckman said.

Bryant said he was disappointed to be cut from serving on the jury, but that he would remain dedicated to "changing the world in positive ways."

Bryant wrapped up his NBA career in 2016 with five championship wins under his belt with the Lakers.

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• Arizona cancelled an education program about vaccines that was created in response to a rising number of children not getting school-required vaccinations. 
• School-mandatory immunizations prevent against diseases including measles, mumps and whooping cough.
• Parents complained about the program, saying they feared it might become mandatory.

The State of Arizona cancelled an education program about vaccines after parents who don't immunize their children complained.

The online program was created in response to a rising number of children not getting school-required vaccinations because of their parents' beliefs, according to AZ Central.

School-mandatory immunizations prevent against diseases including measles, mumps and whooping cough.

Parents complained about the program, which was modeled off of similar courses in Oregon and Michigan, to the Governor's Regulatory Review Council, citing fears that the course could become mandatory.

Complaints came from about 120 individuals, including 20 parents who are against vaccinating their children.

Members of the council, appointed by Gov. Doug Ducey, raised questions about the course to the state health department, which ultimately canceled the program.

"We're so sorry we couldn't make a go of this — strong forces against us,"  Brenda Jones, immunization services manager at the Arizona Department of Health Services, wrote in an August 6 email about cancellation.

Jones later wrote to Health Department staff members that there had been "a lot of political and anti-vaxx" feedback.

"I'm not sure why providing 'information' is seen as a negative thing," state Rep. Heather Carter, R-Cave Creek, told AZ Central. "Providing information doesn't take away a parent's choice to seek an exemption. ... This is a major concern. Vaccines have saved lives for generations. We all want to live in safe and healthy communities."

According to the CDC, the percentage of children in the US who have not received recommended vaccines has been growing, and so has the vaccine exemption rate.

The percentage of two-year-olds who had received no vaccinations rose to 1.3% among children born in 2015, up from 0.9% in 2011.

The median rate of kindergarten children with vaccine exemptions has risen for the third year in a row, to 2.2%.

Reasons people don't vaccinate their children include religious beliefs and safety concerns, according to the US National Library of Medicine.

Some believe that vaccines could lead to autism. Not vaccinating children could put them at risk of contractracting other diseases. 

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• Minnesota Vikings reigning Pro Bowler Adam Thielen has posted one of the most prolific starts to an NFL season in recent memory and has become one of the best wide receivers in the league.
• After barely securing a $500 scholarship to play football in college, Thielen paid $250 to attend an NFL regional combine following his senior season and caught the attention of the San Francisco 49ers and Carolina Panthers.
• The 28-year-old's hometown Vikings got involved a bit later, and he hustled to slowly but surely earn his spot on the roster.
• In 2014 and 2015, Thielen had a combined 281 receiving yards and one touchdown. Six games into this season, he has already caught 58 passes for 712 yards and four touchdowns.

Minnesota Vikings wide receiver and reigning Pro Bowler Adam Thielen currently leads the NFL with 58 catches on the season and is on pace to break the league's single-season receptions record. But just a few years back, Thielen was begging for a chance to break into the pros.

In an article published October 18, The Washington Post's Adam Kilgore details Thielen's journey from a lanky six-foot, 160-pound high schooler who dreamed of a football career in Canada or Germany to the 28-year-old sensation who has posted one of the most prolific starts to an NFL season in recent memory.

Thielen played football, basketball, and baseball throughout his high school years in Northern Minnesota, and although his athletic talent was on full display every time he played, his gawky stature and slowness on the field prevented him from receiving many offers to play in college. After impressing at a Minnesota high-school All-Star game, Thielen was offered a $500 scholarship to play for Minnesota State — a Division II school.

Thielen shined in his four years playing for the Mavericks, but he failed to secure a pro day spot after his senior season. Instead, he trained for weeks leading up to the NFL regional combine in Chicago — essentially a glorified open-call for anyone with $250 to spare — and ran a 4.45 40-yard dash. It was enough to get him through to a bigger combine in Texas, where he caught the attention of the San Francisco 49ers and Carolina Panthers.

"If he goes to that combine and runs a 4.5, you never hear about Adam Thielen," Thielen's high school assistant coach Rob Nielsen told Kilgore. "That's really the only thing that got him his shot."

Thielen's hometown Vikings got involved a bit later, and he hustled to slowly but surely earn his spot on the roster. In 2014 and 2015, he had a combined 20 catches, for 281 receiving yards and one touchdown. Through the first six games of this season alone, Thielen is on pace for 154 catches, 1,900 yards receiving, and 11 TDs.

"I know he doesn’t think there’s a ball he can't catch, for sure," Minnesota head coach Mike Zimmer told reporters this week. "That's how he is in practice every day. He laid out in practice the other day and goes, 'Why did I do that?' He comes over and talks to me during games about stuff that's going on and it's always about, 'These guys can't guard me.'"

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• Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Corker said Thursday that the Trump administration must end its "clampdown" on intelligence about the alleged torture and murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi by the Saudis. 
• Corker said a White House official this week prevented him from viewing recent intelligence related to Khashoggi's disappearance. 
• A bipartisan group of senators has called on the president to impose economic sanctions and suspend some arms sales to the oil-rich Middle Eastern nation.

Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Corker said Thursday that the Trump administration must end its "clampdown" on intelligence about the alleged torture and murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi by the Saudis. 

Corker, a Tennessee Republican who is retiring from office this year, told Politico on Thursday that he was prevented by a White House official this week from viewing recent intelligence related to Khashoggi's disappearance from the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on October 2. He said that he and other lawmakers have only been provided with week-old information. 

And Corker argued that the president will need to take a public stand on whether Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman — who Trump has worked closely with — is to blame for Khashoggi's apparent murder. 

"This is going to come to a head in a very short amount of time. This isn't getting better over time. It seems to me over the next week or so people are going to know more about what happened," Corker said. 

He went on, "I don't think the administration can allow this to squirrel around too much longer without taking a definitive position."

Trump on Thursday said it "looks" like Khashoggi is dead, but has refused to lay blame on any party, and has instead spent the last several days defending the Saudis. 

"I think we'll be making a statement, a very strong statement," Trump said. "We're waiting for the results of about three different investigations and we should be able to get to the bottom fairly soon."

Senate lawmakers, including some Republicans, are pushing back on Trump's posture, urging the president to impose economic sanctions and suspend some arms sales to the oil-rich Middle Eastern nation. 

Sen. Marco Rubio, the Florida Republican, said this week that the president should consider canceling some arms deals, while Sen. Lindsey Graham during a Fox News interview on Tuesday called bin Salman a "wrecking ball" and urged Trump to "sanction the hell out of" the Saudi government.

Graham added that he believes Saudi leaders ordered Khashoggi's murder and said he felt "used and abused" by the country's government, which he has actively supported in the Senate. 

Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy on Wednesday told Business Insider that President Donald Trump's overall response to Khashhoggi's alleged murder and subservient behavior toward Saudi Arabia has made the US look "weaker" than ever.

"It seems like the Saudis are the dominant partner in this relationship, which is absolutely ridiculous," said Murphy, a key Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "I don't know that our country has looked weaker than in the last week."

This comes amid growing evidence — including audio recordings released by the Turkish media— that a delegation of Saudi officials tortured, killed, and dismembered Khashoggi with a bone saw.

Trump has resisted intensifying calls to condemn the regime and instead defended Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman from the charges and emphasized that Khashoggi — a Virginia resident — isn't a US citizen.

The president has stressed the importance of the US's financial ties with Saudi Arabia, calling the Middle Eastern nation an "important ally," while citing tens of billions of dollars in US-Saudi arms deals. (Other US presidents, including Barack Obama, have also continued arms sales to governments with poor records on human rights).

SEE ALSO: Heather Nauert, the State Department's spokeswoman, slammed for posting touristy photo in Saudi Arabia

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• MoviePass parent company Helios and Matheson is being investigated by the New York Attorney General, who is probing whether the firm misled investors.
• Helios and Matheson denied any wrongdoing to Business Insider.
• A half dozen Helios and Matheson investors expressed positive sentiments about the investigation to Business Insider, with several saying they felt misled about the company's financial situation.

On Wednesday, news broke that the New York Attorney General had launched an investigation into whether Helios and Matheson Analytics, the owner of movie-ticket subscription service MoviePass, had misled investors.

Many investors weren’t surprised, they told Business Insider. In fact, some wondered why it had taken so long.

One retail investor, who asked not to be identified discussing his personal financial information, said he’d been "sending information to every agency trying to get them to look."

Helios and Matheson denied misleading investors in a statement to Business Insider.

"We are aware of the New York Attorney General's inquiry and are fully cooperating," the company said. "We believe our public disclosures have been complete, timely and truthful and we have not misled investors."

Unlike most startups, which are backed by venture-capital money, Helios and Matheson has covered the hundreds of millions of dollars in MoviePass losses by selling new shares of its Nasdaq-listed stock to the public. This has caused massive dilution for an army of passionate shareholders, many of whom have seen their stakes fall over 99% in value, with multiple telling Business Insider they had lost more than $100,000. According to Nasdaq, 99.96% of shares are held by non-institutional investors.

In August, numerous investors told Business Insider they had felt misled about the financial situation of MoviePass both by Helios and Matheson management and by the "buy" analyst ratings of two Wall Street firms whose banks made fees selling the stock (both have since suspended coverage).

"I think the New York Attorney General launching an investigation into the matter is a very good thing," one investor said Thursday. "Thousands of people lost a great deal of money in this financial gimmickry, and it should be investigated."

This sentiment was echoed by all the half-dozen investors contacted by Business Insider after the news broke.

"Seeking justice is a good thing," another said. "The collapse of HMNY deserves to be investigated. If convicted of fraud or other crimes, responsible parties deserve to be punished accordingly. That's all we can hope for at this point." He said he’d lost hundreds of thousands of dollars on the stock.

Several investors expressed hope that the company could move forward if current management was removed, though some acknowledged that was still a slim possibility.

"Maybe it can get [Helios and Matheson CEO Ted Farnsworth] and his toxic friends out of there but I doubt it," one investor said. Most believed their investment was lost for good.

"To be honest, I do not blame HMNY management anymore," one said. "To expect good things from bad people is insanity. I blame myself for investing in HMNY even after knowing Ted's past."

SEE ALSO: The strange story of how MoviePass' owner was created by an Indian company accused of massive fraud

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Netflix did some major house cleaning in 2017, cutting expensive shows like "Sense8" and "The Get Down."

It also killed flops like "Girlboss" and "Gypsy" after only one season, and old favorites like "House of Cards," which will end after its sixth season.

And Netflix isn't holding back in 2018 either.

Netflix's most recent cancellations include "Orange is the New Black," which will end after season seven, and "Marvel's Iron Fist," which is done for good after two seasons. 

Other shows that Netflix has dropped in 2018 include "Lady Dynamite,""Disjointed,""Seven Seconds," and "Everything Sucks."

Here are the 23 shows Netflix has killed in total, along with their critic and audience ratings from Metacritic.

"Orange Is the New Black": Ending after seven seasons

*Season seven of "Orange Is the New Black will likely air in 2019*

Netflix description: "A privileged New Yorker ends up in a women's prison when a past crime catches up with her in this Emmy-winning series from the creator of 'Weeds.'"

Critic rating: 79/100

Audience rating: 8.5/10

"Marvel's Iron Fist": Canceled after two seasons

Netflix description:"Danny Rand resurfaces 15 years after being presumed dead. Now, with the power of the 'Iron Fist,' he seeks to reclaim his past and fulfill his destiny." 

Critic rating: 37/100

Audience rating: 6.0/10

"The Joel McHale Show With Joel McHale": Canceled after one season

Netflix description: "Joel McHale is back with six new binge-worthy episodes full of more outrageous TV clips, original sketches, celebrity guests and comedic mayhem."

Critic rating: N/A

Audience rating: 7.2/10

• China's JD.com will soon have a flagship online store on Google.
• It will be the first time the Chinese e-commerce giant can sell directly to US customers.
• The partnership was announced in June, when Google invested $550 million in JD.com.
• The partnership comes as rising trade tensions threaten to derail partnerships with Chinese companies selling in the US.

China's JD.com is about to get more access to the American customer. 

The retailer, which claims to be the largest in China to sell directly to customers, is opening a US online store with the help of Google soon, according to Bloomberg. The partnership, which was announced in June, will enable it to sell directly to US customers for the first time. Google will handle payments and behind-the-scenes order processing, but JD.com will have its own centers for shipping orders.

"We are shipping from US fulfillment centers to US end-customers," Bao Yan, JD.com's head of logistics, told Bloomberg. 

A representative for JD.com confirmed the plans to Business Insider but said a launch date has not yet been set. 

JD.com does not currently sell directly into America, but it does have a partnership to sell products in the US through Walmart. The Google partnership would be more direct.

It's the first fruit of a partnership since Google revealed a $550 million investment in JD.com earlier this year.

JD.com claims to be the largest retailer in China, but it doesn't have much of an international presence yet. It operates more like a traditional retailer, akin to Amazon, and not as a marketplace like Alibaba.

JD.com's arrival on US shores comes as Amazon is solidifying its hold on US e-commerce. Google could be looking to get in on ad-based product searches, a growing field for advertising that is currently one of Amazon's fastest-growing businesses.

But it also comes at a uncertain time, as it seems trade tensions between the US and China will not let up anytime soon. It's unclear how that will affect JD.com's plans.

SEE ALSO: Prime members spend way more on Amazon than other customers — and the difference is growing

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• YouTube struck a deal on Thursday with Eventbrite, the event and ticketing service.
• This comes nearly a year after YouTube signed a similar deal with Ticketmaster and after the European Union made serious changes that could greatly affect YouTube's copyright protections there. 
• The deal also helps YouTube stay abreast with Spotify and Facebook who also provide users the ability to connect to ticketing services.  

YouTube is flexing its muscle in the music business, but it's learning how to use its power as an enticement — and not a threat — to the artists and labels in the industry. 

The video site's new partnership with Eventbrite, the event and ticketing service, is a good example of this new strategy. 

The partnership, announced on Thursday, will let YouTube users rocking out to their favorite music click straight from the video clip to Eventbrite's site, and buy tickets to hear the artist live. YouTube signed a similar deal with Ticketmaster nearly a year ago.

Financial terms of the Eventbrite deal were not released, so we have no idea whether the partnership is directly contributing to YouTube's top line. Nonetheless, we can conclude that if YouTube assists in prompting some of its nearly 2 billion monthly logged-in users to buy concert tickets, that's likely to make music artists happy.  

YouTube, which is owned by Google, generates billions of dollars in ad revenue every year, analysts estimate. A big chunk of YouTube's success is due to the music users listen to on the site. Though the music industry has long seen YouTube as a frenemy, it's clear YouTube wants to improve the relationship. 

Record labels don't see a cent from live performances. But by steering its users to live concerts, YouTube could give a nice shot in the arm to artists, who have emerged as an important constituency YouTube needs to court. 

A peace mission that could pay dividends

In years past, artists were reluctant to speak out on copyright issues for fear of alienating fans, many of whom were snatching pirated copies of songs from file-sharing services. They're not afraid anymore. 

In 2016, a legion of them, including Lady Gaga, Ed Sheeran, Garth Brooks and Katy Perry, publicly lashed at Google and YouTube in a letter to European regulators. They claimed that the companies weren't paying enough for the right to host their songs.

This year, in a stunning defeat for YouTube, the European Union reformed copyright rules in an attempt to force YouTube and similar sites to share more of the revenue generated from songs, books, and movies with creators. This only affects copyright law within EU countries, but YouTube probably isn't very keen to find out if similar changes could happen in the US.

Thus, YouTube has embarked on a peace mission with the music industry.

The company has enlisted Lyor Cohen,a former top record-label executive, to serve as YouTube's global music chief and to lead the charm offensive. 

The big record labels are in love with streaming services that charge monthly subscription fees, a la Spotify and Apple Music — so YouTube launched its own for-pay music streaming service. One record label executive recently raved to Business Insider about how pleased he has been to see YouTube Music ads "everywhere" he goes in New York City.

The labels don't like seeing links to pirate sites or to services that rip copies of songs from YouTube videos, so YouTube is cracking down (although still not to the full extent the labels want).

And with the live concert tie-ins, YouTube is making sure that the artists appreciate its ability to make it rain.

Sure, YouTube needs to offer concert ticket tie-ins to match the competition, since rivals like Facebook and Spotify also have features that let users find live performances. And YouTube Music's subscription streaming service is still struggling to get the kind of traction that Apple and Spotify have. 

But after years of conflict with the music industry, YouTube now wants to play a new tune.  

SEE ALSO: Music industry honcho Lyor Cohen reinvented himself as a YouTube exec — here's his message to the haters

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