In late 2015, Netflix started a phenomenon when its true crime docuseries, “Making a Murderer,” sparked debate all over the country.

The true-crime series follows the trials of Steven Avery and Brendan Dassey, a pair of Manitowoc County, Wisconsin residents who were accused of murdering and mutilating the body of 25-year-old photographer Teresa Halbach in 2005. The series focused on the prosecution's lack of incriminating evidence, a confession that many believe was coerced, and a police department that possibly had something against the accused.

The series was a huge hit, and people immediately became engrossed in the case which began to make national headlines. 

Since the release of "Making a Murderer" in 2015, Netflix has released other addictive docuseries including "The Keepers,""The Staircase," and "Wild Wild Country."

If you don't have time to watch the entire first season of "Making a Murderer" before you dive into part two — or if you need a refresher (it's been a while!) — here's everything you need to know about the first season, and what's happened in between seasons one and two.

Here's 10 things you need to know about "Making a Murderer": 

The Avery family wasn't well-regarded in the community, and Steven Avery didn't exactly have a clean history.

The Avery family didn't mix well with their community in Wisconsin. They kept to themselves and lived close to each other or on their family property, where they ran an auto-salvage yard. 

Avery's record before the rape arrest wasn't clean. It included a few burglaries and cruelty to an animal — he doused a cat with gasoline and placed it in a fire. On "Making a Murderer," Avery, who's revealed to have an IQ of 70, says that it was all a result of hanging with the wrong people.

Steven Avery served 18 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit.

Steven Avery returned to his family in 2003 after being exonerated for the 1985 rape and assault of a woman, Penny Beerntsen, in his home county of Manitowoc County, Wisconsin. New DNA evidence proved that he was innocent. Avery served 18 years in prison for the crime. 

The series suggests that Avery was framed for the crime, because of the county's hatred toward the Avery family, because he was already a troublemaker, and because the county just wanted to wrap up the case. 

Avery sued Manitowoc County for wrongful conviction.

After Avery was freed in 2003, an investigation found no wrongdoing on the part of Manitowoc County's police in his conviction.

So Avery filed a $36 million lawsuit against the county and officers who took part in his wrongful conviction, and went through a civil case. 

The Emmy-winning HBO series "Big Little Lies" is set to premiere its second season in early 2019. The drama stars Shailene Woodley, Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon, Laura Dern, and Zoë Kravitz.

While you wait for the second season, here are some surprising facts from the set of the electrifying show.

Warning: spoilers ahead for the first season of "Big Little Lies."

In the original novel, the story took place in Australia.

In the novel version of "Big Little Lies," the plot is set in a beach side town on the coast of Australia while the HBO adaptation is set in Monterey Bay, California. In an interview with Elle author Liane Moriarty revealed that she welcomed the change in setting for the show.

"Over the years, readers have often written to me commenting on how playground politics are the same the world over," Moriarty said. "I thought the Californian setting was beautiful and very similar to the Australian setting I'd imagined. In a way, I think changing the setting helped me 'let go,' which I think every author has to do when their work is adapted. If it had been set in Australia, I might have resisted changes to the book, which I've always known and understood were necessary in an adaptation."

Reese Witherspoon and Laura Dern are best friends in real life.

Although their respective characters may hate each other on the show, Witherspoon and Dern couldn't be closer in real life. They became best friends after playing mother and daughter in the biopic "Wild."

Vanity Fair interviewed Dern in 2017 while she was on a joint vacation with Witherspoon's family and the actress elaborated on their powerful connection. "We told the New York Times how our mothers got so mad because we had fallen so in love and had such a beautiful experience making 'Wild,'" joked Dern. "And when they saw 'Big Little Lies', they were so mad at us at first for being so rude to each other."

Dern also revealed that the entire cast has become fast friends outside of the show. "Yesterday, [Reese and I] were texting with the other girls," said Dern. "We FaceTimed with Shailene yesterday. We all remain close, and I can't believe our very good fortune in finding each other and forming this friendship. Between filming and all of the press afterward, it feels like these actresses and I have spent two and a half years together."

Some of the show's best lines are taken directly from the book.

Although much of the material for the television show featured original writing, certain scenes from Moriarty's novel were so powerful and witty that the show adapted them word for word.

"One [scene] in particular was Celeste's therapy session—even the therapist's office was exactly as I had described it in the book, and there were a number of lines straight from the page,"Moriarty disclosed to Elle. "I also especially enjoyed seeing Reese deliver the line about 'tending to her grudges like little pets.' I keep replaying that over and over. She delivers it with exquisite comic timing, as she does all her lines."

• Sprint sent a presentation to the FCC highlighting its dismal business results.
• It's making the claim that without the proposed merger with T-Mobile it will continue to fail.
• Analysts on Wall Street think it's an accurate claim.
• In a survey conducted by Cowen Equity Research, analysts found Sprint respondents were the least happy of  the "Big Four" wireless carriers and the most at risk of switching carriers. 

In a wireless business that obsessively monitors customer churn and brand image, coming in last place by a long shot normally hurts. But Sprint is actually touting its dismal results.

"Sprint has not been able to turn the corner with respect to its core business challenges," the company wrote in a presentation to the FCC in September. "Sprint tried a more localized approach in an attempt to drive growth, but continues to face declining subscribers and revenue."

The presentation was part of Sprint's argument for the endorsement of its merger with T-Mobile, by using a "failing firm" defence to say that it won't be able to survive without the merger. And it's not just talk according to a new survey from Cowen Equity Research.

The Cowen survey found that among the "Big Four" carriers, Sprint's image fell to last place, the largest gap since Cowen started conducting the survey in 2013. The survey also found that Sprint respondents were the least happy of all and the most at risk of switching carriers. 

Broadcasting the precarious state of a company's business isn't common. "By all accounts, it's an aggressive move and further suggests that Sprint will be in worse shape than it was previously if the deal does not go through," the Cowen report said. "It also in our view is accurate."

While the status of the merger is uncertain, Cowen moved the needle closer to affirming a T-Mobile-Sprint deal will close, assigning a 60% probability compared to the 50-50 chance the analysts predicted before. It appears the market is positively responding to the current status of the merger.

"Since last reporting ... [Sprint] is up 15.7%, [T-Mobile US] is up 15.2%, and [Verizon] is up 5.6% vs. the S&P which is down 1.1% the past three months," according to the survey. Those indicators reflect market belief of an improved probability the merger will close. It also indicates investors think a merger will benefit the broader industry.

But concern also exists over what a four-to-three would do to competition. The wireless market has rapidly contracted over the past roughly 15 years, from seven wireless carriers in 2002, to four, on the precipice of three, today. Pro-antitrust enforcement organizations say further contraction will cause harm.

 "A Sprint-T-Mobile deal would further reduce the number of rivals from four to three, stoking even higher concentration in the national US wireless market and contributing to growing concerns over a broader systemic decline in competition, market entry, and equality in the U.S. economy,"The American Antitrust Institute wrote in August.

A lack of competition in a marketplace generally benefits an individual company while harming consumers. Fewer choices enable a company to price fix, increasing the cost for goods and services while realizing a consumer has no other option but to pay. Mergers also often result in a loss of jobs that become unnecessary.

The Communications Workers of America, the largest communications union in the US, dispute claims that a joint T-Mobile-Sprint will create jobs, instead projecting that 28,000 jobs will be lost as a result of the merger.

But if you believe Sprint, and Wall Street analysts, the market could dwindle to three carriers anyway if Sprint's business continues to erode.

SEE ALSO: A new survey says cable will win the battle for broadband customers — and it's bad news for telecom giants

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NOW WATCH: Ray Dalio says the economy looks like 1937 and a downturn is coming in about two years

• Maisie Williams was only 12 when she auditioned for the role of Arya Stark on HBO's "Game of Thrones." 
• She said her later teen years were the most difficult.
• She also said that people were so mean when she tried to go back to school that she had to leave. 

Maisie Williams says her mid-teen years on "Game of Thrones" were more difficult than when she first started. 

The 21-year-old actress spoke with The Guardian about finding success at such a young age.

"Well, 12, not so much, but 15, 16, that's when the hormones are really flying," she said of facing difficulties. "Going through that and trying to juggle other people's opinions on who you are and how you should act, that's difficult, just because you're desperately trying to find your own identity. Whether you're famous at 15 or not, you're still confused as to who you are."

Williams was 12 when she first auditioned for the role of Arya Stark on the smash HBO show and was 13 for most of the first season. 

She tried to go back to school during filming, but it was such a tough experience that she eventually turned to homeschooling.

"Leaving school, and then going back and having this awful experience, made me really bitter about life and people," she said. "People let you down and they hurt you. I went through a really dark phase of just thinking everything was awful."

She added that she understands some people might have felt threatened, but it doesn't excuse anyone's bad behavior. 

"Being 15 and feeling threatened by someone who's successful, that seems like quite a human thing," she said. "When I look back, I just think it could have literally been anyone. It just so happened that I was the one who got the success."

"Game of Thrones" returns for its eighth and final season in 2019. 

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• Tesla is introducing a lower-priced version of its Model 3 sedan.
• The base price will be $45,000; it will cost about $35,000 in California after federal and state tax rebates.
• The company has long promised the Model 3 would be its vehicle for the masses, but it originally focused on building premium versions of the car while it struggled to ramp up factory production.

Tesla is finally offering a less expensive version of its Model 3 electric car.

The company has relased and is taking orders for a "lower cost, mid-range" version of its mass-production vehicle, Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced Thursday on Twitter. The base price will be $45,000. But in California, it will cost $35,000 after federal and state tax rebates, Musk said.

Tesla expects to begin deliveries in about four months, a company representative said.

The new midrange version of the Model 3 has a single motor and rear-wheel drive, and a battery pack that will go around 260 miles on a charge. The performance and long-range versions each have all-wheel-drive and dual motors and battery packs that will go some 310 miles on a full charge.

Musk said Tesla has set up a new web page to take orders for the lower priced Model 3. On that page, customers can choose one of three versions of the Model 3 — the top-of-the-line performance version, the long-range battery one, and the new midrange battery variant.

To date, the company had only been offering more expensive versions of the car. The Model 3 Performance, for example, has a base price of $64,000 before any options are added — and that's before the tax incentives, but it also doesn't include features like the company's "Autopilot" driver-assist system, which many customers choose to add on.

Tesla still isn't making the Model 3 for the masses

Tesla originally touted the Model 3 as the car it would mass-produce and price for mainstream consumers after first producing luxury vehicles in the Model S and Model X. That promise helped it lure in more than 400,000 pre-orders for the vehicle. But Tesla has struggled to ramp up production on the Model 3 and initially focused on making the higher-end versions.

Even the new version, though, doesn't fulfill the company's promises. Musk has said that the company plans to offer a version of the car that will have a base price of just $35,000 before any tax incentives. Although he's promised that Model 3 will be out by the end of this year, some car industry experts are dubious he'll deliver.

Hitting that price target is important, because the federal tax incentives — worth up to $7,500 per car — are due to start dwindling in January. When they do, the amount that customers will effectively pay for a Model 3 will much be closer to the list price of the vehicle.

Now read:

• Elon Musk can help pick his replacement as chairman of Tesla — despite complaints he already has too much sway over its board
• Tesla's board is so bad at its job that it failed at the one thing it says is paramount: protecting CEO Elon Musk
• Tesla's board is terrible at its job — it's shown it has no interest in controlling Elon Musk or sticking up for investors
• Elon Musk reportedly calls the Tesla whistleblower who claimed the company spied on employees a nut

SEE ALSO: A Tesla whistleblower says the electric car maker's security team is staffed with former members of a notorious group from Uber that allegedly spied on rivals

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NOW WATCH: Apple's entire iPhone XS event in 8 minutes

• Video game sales should be robust this holiday season, UBS analyst Eric Sheridan predicts in a new report.
• More consumers say they plan to buy this year's versions of top game franchises than previous iterations, according to the report.
• Significant portions of consumers plan to spend on extras, such as premium version of the games, UBS said.

These holiday season is shaping up to be a merry one for video game makers, particularly for industry giants Activision Blizzard and Electronic Arts.

Sales of this year's versions of top games look set to exceed last year's, UBS financial analyst Eric Sheridan, who covers the game industry, said in a new report. And significant numbers of gamers polled by the financial firm say they're intent on spending extra money for premium editions of particularly titles or on downloadable content, Sheridan said.

The "data points to a strong holiday season for video games," he said.

Part of what's driving Sheridan's bullishness is the large portions of consumers who say they've either purchased or plan to buy some of the top titles this holiday season. A whopping 40% of gamers surveyed said they're at least "somewhat likely to buy""Call of Duty: Black Ops 4," the latest title in Activision's long-running franchise. Some 37% plan to buy Ubisoft's "Assassins Creed: Odyssey," and 36% "Red Dead Redemption 2" from Take-Two Interactive's Rockstar Studios.

Sheridan's report was based on UBS's surveys of more than 5,000 consumers in five key markets — the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, and China. Those surveyed all ranged in age from 18 to 44; play games on consoles, dedicated handheld gaming devices, or PCs; and have played at least one game in the last six months.

In many cases, more gamers are saying they plan to buy this year's installment of particular game franchises than previous ones. Just 23% of gamers said last year they planned to buy "Call of Duty: WWII"— 17 percentage points less than this year's version. Some 34% of gamers said they plan to buy EA's "FIFA 19;" last year, just 22% said last year that they planned to buy "FIFA 18." And 23% say they'll pick up a copy of the company's "Madden 19," while just 13% said a year ago they planned to buy "Madden 18."

Gamers say they'll spend more for downloadable content

What's also spurring Sheridan's optimism is consumer's willingness to spend extra on games.

On average, more than half of the gamers who said they've already bought or planned to buy at least one of 15 top games this year planned to purchase downloadable content for the game. Downloadable content can range from inexpensive virtual items like new clothes for a character to more expensive things such as expansion packs.

With some games, the vast majority of their players intend to buy such extras. Some 76% who said they play or plan to play "PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds" said they've already purchased or plan to buy downloadable content for it.

Meanwhile, on average more than a third of consumers who said they planned to buy one of those 15 games said they expected to pay extra for a premium version of that title. For example, some 39% of gamers who plan to get "NHL 19," say they'll spend up for one of the more expensive versions of the title. 

It could be a big year for "Call of Duty"

Taking into account such data, Sheridan forecast that several of this year's top games will see stronger sales than previous installments. 

Activision should sell about 24 million copies of "Call of Duty: Black Ops 4," compared to about 20 to 21 million copies it sold of last year's "Call of Duty: WWII," he said. Sales of the company's "World of Warcraft: The Battle for Azeroth" should hit 10 million copies; Activision sold about 8 million copies of 2016's "World of Warcraft: Legion," he said.

EA should similar similar gains with its biggest titles, Sheridan said. Sales of its "FIFA 19" are likely to hit 22 million copies, up from around 20 million for "FIFA 18," he said.

As part of his report, Sheridan reiterated his "buy" rating and price targets on Activision and EA. His price target for Activision is $88 a share; for EA, it's $166 a share.

Activision closed regular trading Thursday down $6.49, or 8.3%, to $71.81. EA was off $2.99, or 2.8%, to $105.80.

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• "Supergirl" actor Mehcad Brooks opened up to INSIDER about how playing James Olsen on The CW show has made him "a more complete, inclusive, and better person."
• The 37-year-old elaborated and said that specifically during season one, he realized "that I was sexist and that every man in America likely is sexist because we have a foundation of gender inequality and we come from that world."
• "'Supergirl' has really made me take a step back and say, 'Wow, even as an African American, there are certain things that I do enjoy from the perspective of male privilege,'" Brooks told us.
• Brooks believes that "we're on the precipice of overturning something really big here" and hopes that the series "can get into people's homes and subvert some of the bad ideas that we hold so close."   

Mehcad Brooks says that starring as James Olsen on The CW's "Supergirl" helped him realize that he was sexist, and hopes that the show can encourage other people to reevaluate their beliefs.

"Playing James Olsen has made me a more complete, inclusive, and better person," Brooks, who stars as the acting CEO of CatCo Worldwide Media and vigilante The Guardian, told INSIDER.

The 37-year-old explained that previous roles he's taken on "were beneath my character, and started to affect me, so I had to take a step back and figure out who I am and do better work." With his CW character, the experience has "been the opposite."

"He's such a good guy and he's so socially conscious," Brooks continued. "I think his mission statement is: 'Justice is your birthright.'"

Brooks explained that during season one, which premiered in 2015, he came to the conclusion that he had sexist views. 

"We were doing all these episodes that were focusing on women empowerment and I was reading the scripts and I was going through the whole thing and I was just talking to Melissa [Benoist, who stars as Kara Danvers/Supergirl] about this and talking to Chyler [Leigh, who plays Alex Danvers] and reading the storylines, and then I realized something that I never realized in my life, that I was sexist and that every man in America likely is sexist because we have a foundation of gender inequality and we come from that world," he said. 

Brooks went on to say that he was on "the low side of the spectrum," but "there were a few things here and there, even if I wasn't manifesting them, that I didn't think about."

"'Supergirl' has really made me take a step back and say, 'Wow, even as an African American, there are certain things that I do enjoy from the perspective of male privilege,'" Brooks told us. "And I hadn't even thought about that."

Now, Brooks is confident that "we're on the precipice of overturning something really big here" and making progress toward equality among people. 

"There's this disgusting, incongruent ideology of male privilege and we're on the precipice of overturning it and I'm here for it, and being on 'Supergirl' is making me a feminist," the actor said. "I can say that sometimes, you take jobs and they make you another person."

"I really do hope that we can get into people's homes and subvert some of the bad ideas that we hold so close."   

Season four of "Supergirl" airs on The CW on Sunday nights at 8 p.m. ET.

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Several individuals and entities have begun distancing themselves from Saudi Arabia following the disappearance of journalist and prominent Saudi critic Jamal Khashoggi.

Khashoggi was last seen on October 2, when he entered into the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul to secure official documents for his upcoming wedding to his Turkish fiance Hatice Cengiz.

The 59-year-old, who formerly served as an adviser to senior officials in the Saudi government and who had been living in self-imposed exile in the US, has not been seen since.

Some have speculated that he could have been kidnapped or killed inside the consulate, reportedly at the order of the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman using a team of hit men flown in specially to undertake the task.

Official response to Khashoggi's disappearance have been mixed.

Saudi officials claim that The Washington Post contributor left the consulate, but haven't provided any definitive proof. Turkish officials previously alleged that Khashoggi was killed and claim there's no evidence he ever left the consulate, while Canada, the UN, and President Trump have expressed "concern" over the journalist's whereabouts.

In a story published Thursday, The Washington Post said the Turkish government told US officials it has audio and video showing that Khashoggi was killed inside the consulate.

Global business leaders, policymakers, media moguls and tech executives have also taken notice and are beginning to move away from dealings with Saudi Arabia and its crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman.

SEE ALSO: A prominent Saudi critic's disappearance sends a stark reminder of the Kingdom’s brutal crackdown on dissent

Sir Richard Branson and Virgin Group

Sir Richard Branson and Virgin Group are severing ties with Saudi Arabia because of the Khashoggi case. 

In a blog post on Virgin Group’s website, Branson announced that Virgin Galatic and Virgin Orbit will suspend its discussions with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia.

“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,” Branson wrote. “We have asked for more information from the authorities in Saudi and to clarify their position in relation to Mr. Khashoggi.”

US lawmakers

Nearly two dozen senators, led by the Foreign Relations Committee chairman Bob Corker of Tennessee and the Democratic ranking member Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey, have sent a letter to US President Donald Trump, recommending an investigation and possible sanctions against those found to be involved in Khashoggi's disappearance.  

Republican and Democratic lawmakers are also pushing to block Saudi arms sales.

Former US secretary of energy Ernest Moniz

Former US energy secretary Ernest Moniz suspended his membership on an advisory board for a $500 billion Saudi megacity project called Neom.

"Given current events, I am suspending my participation on the Neom board. Going forward, my engagement with the advisory board will depend on learning all the facts about Jamal Khashoggi's disappearance over the coming days and weeks," Moniz said in a statement provided to Business Insider.

• Helios and Matheson, the parent company of MoviePass has hired a second firm to help it solicit and collect votes on a plan to reverse split its stock.
• The company, which has been losing hundreds of millions of dollars, now expects to spend $109,000 on proxy solicitors, which is more than 10 times what it planned to spend initially.
• The announcement is the latest sign that it's struggling to convince shareholders to back the proposal.

The parent company of MoviePass gave another indication Thursday that it's struggling to convince shareholders to back its plan to reverse-split its stock for the second time in four months.

Helios and Matheson, which bought a controlling stake in the subscription movie ticket service last year, has hired a second firm to help it collect investor votes, it announced in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company hired Alliance Advisors and will pay the firm $60,000 plus expenses.

Helios and Matheson, which burned through $210 million in cash in just the first six months of this year, is now spending around $109,000 on two different firms to solicit shareholder votes. That's an unusually large amount of money. When the company prepared for a shareholder vote in July on its first reverse split, it only hired one proxy solicitation firm and expected to pay just $9,000 plus expenses. Apple, meanwhile, expected to spend only $15,000 on soliciting votes for its shareholder meeting earlier this year.

The movie ticket subscription company originally planned to spend just $9,000 soliciting votes for this vote too. But it announced earlier this week that the amount it would spend with its first proxy solicitor had risen to $49,000.

Company representatives did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.

Helios and Matheson has massively diluted shareholders

MoviePass' parent, which is in danger of having its stock delisted from the Nasdaq national market because it's been consistently trading at less than $1 a share, is asking investors to approve the reverse-split scheme to boost its share price. The company plans to trade investors one new share of its stock for anywhere from two to 500 current shares, with the expectation that its stock price will go up in reverse proportion to the reverse-split ratio.

But because the move will only affect the number of shares it has outstanding and not the total number it can issue, the split would have the effect of giving Helios and Matheson room to issue billions of new shares. The company's track record indicates it would be sure to take advantage of that.

Just in the last year, its share count has gone up nearly 3,900,000%, adjusting for its first reverse split. Indeed, after its first reverse split in July gave it more room to issue shares, it massively flooded the market with them, sending its stock spiraling downward. It now trades at 1.7 cents.

In interviews with Business Insider and postings on Twitter and message boards, company shareholders have expressed anger at the company and opposition to the reverse-stock plan. Earlier this week, the company announced it would delay the vote, which was set for Thursday, by two weeks, another indication that it was struggling to get support for the plan.

Now read:

• Investors seem to be balking at MoviePass' parents' plans to reverse split its stock again — and for good reason
• MoviePass' parent company just freed up some room to sell more stock — after already increasing its share count by 80,000% since July
• MoviePass' parent company says the $65 million in new funding it just raised isn't exactly 'new'
• MoviePass' parent company has boosted its share count by an unbelievable 80,000% since July — but it's run out of room to issue new stock

SEE ALSO: Even after massively diluting its stock, MoviePass' parent company could issue billions of more shares, and there's little investors can do about it

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NOW WATCH: Apple took another subtle jab at Facebook during its iPhone XS event

• Paul Manafort has reportedly visited the special counsel Robert Mueller's office at least nine times over the last month.
• Once there, he and his lawyers are said to have spent at least six hours at a time with prosecutors.
• Manafort is Mueller's most significant cooperating witness to date, and his frequent trips to Mueller's office indicate the Russia investigation is not slowing down any time soon.

Paul Manafort has visited the special counsel Robert Mueller’s office at least nine times over the past month, for hours at a time, CNN reported.

A black SUV carrying Manafort has reportedly been seen arriving at Mueller's office around 10 a.m. ET several times since September. Manafort's lawyers are said to arrive at the same time, and they all spend around six hours inside the special counsel's office at a time.

Manafort pleaded guilty in September to two counts of conspiracy and obstruction as part of the ongoing Russia investigation.

He is arguably Mueller’s most significant cooperating witness to date, given his role leading President Donald Trump’s campaign during the most pivotal period in the 2016 election.

Manafort was the chairman of the Trump campaign when he offered a Russian oligarch "private briefings" on Trump's bid. He was one of three top Trump campaign officials to attend a meeting with two Russian lobbyists offering dirt on Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton at the height of the campaign.

And he was leading the campaign when the radical pro-transparency group WikiLeaks began dumping thousands of emails from the Democratic National Committee that had been stolen by Russian operatives.

His cooperation with the special counsel comes amid heightened calls from the president’s allies for Mueller to wrap up the Russia investigation.

Mueller has not given any public indication that he will do so. But two US officials told Bloomberg this week that the special counsel is close to getting answers to the two core questions in the investigation: whether members of the Trump campaign colluded with Moscow to sway the 2016 race in his favor, and whether Trump sought to obstruct justice after the existence of the Russia probe became public knowledge.

News out of Mueller’s office has been slow over the last few weeks as the November 6 midterm election approaches, a sign that prosecutors are adhering to DOJ guidelines that warn against taking any overt actions that can be seen as influencing the outcome of an election.

But Manafort’s frequent trips to Mueller’s office indicate the investigation is doing anything but slowing down.

On Wednesday, ABC News reported that Mueller’s prosecutors have been grilling Manafort for information on the longtime GOP strategist Roger Stone. Stone told Business Insider he didn’t do anything wrong but expects to be charged soon because he believes he is being "framed."

Legal experts say they expect to see a string of new revelations from Mueller’s office once the election is over, but that they don’t anticipate the special counsel releasing a final report of his findings any time soon.

What he may do, they added, is release a report of his findings in the obstruction inquiry, which he is reportedly close to wrapping up.

Meanwhile, Trump's team is currently in the middle of providing written answers to the special counsel on questions focusing on potential collusion with Russia. Mueller has reportedly made clear that he wants to ask follow-ups as well, and prosecutors have not ruled out a one-on-one sit-down with the president.

Jed Shugerman, a professor at Fordham Law School, said he believes it is significant that Mueller agreed to narrow the scope of his initial questions for Trump to focus on collusion rather than obstruction.

"It suggests Mueller thinks that's more significant and worthwhile at this stage," he said.

Shugerman added that Mueller's questions about collusion indicate that "he probably has sufficient evidence for obstruction. If forced to allocate his time to obstruction or Russia, he is choosing Russia. And probably [because] he has big leads."

SEE ALSO: Mueller is said to be asking Paul Manafort for information on Roger Stone

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• Researchers have uncovered a link between severe weather conditions, such as extreme drought or heat, and the global consumption of beer.
• Rising global temperatures could hinder the production of barley — the main ingredient in beer.
• Without enough supply to meet demand, the world could face a 16% decline in global beer consumption, with beer prices skyrocketing across nations.

Rising global temperatures affect not only our safety but what we eat and drink as well.

In recent years, scientists have uncovered a link between climate change and our consumption of popular items like wine and coffee. Now, a coming study from the University of East Anglia has found a link between extreme weather and how much beer we drink.

Instead of attempting to predict future events, the researchers asked themselves a question: What would happen to the beer industry tomorrow if it experienced the most severe form of drought or heat anticipated by scientists in the coming years?

According to the researchers, whose findings will appear in Nature Plants, these extreme weather conditions could spur a 16% decline in global beer consumption. That's equivalent to 29 billion liters, or the amount of beer consumed annually in the US.

The issue is one of supply, not demand. In the event of a modern climate-related disaster, farmers could have trouble producing barley — the main ingredient in beer.

That's bad news for the global beer market, which is predicted to reach $750 billion by 2022. It's also bad news for consumers, who could see beer prices double worldwide.

The effects would be particularly acute in China, the world's biggest beer consumer. If extreme heat or drought were to strike tomorrow, the nation could see its consumption decline by about 10%, or more than 12 billion cans of beer. By contrast, the US could see its consumption decline by up to 20%, or nearly 10 billion cans of beer.

The study predicts the largest price increases in affluent, beer-loving countries like Ireland, whose six-packs could cost an extra $21 each.

In addition to these economic effects, a global beer shortage may have social and political consequences. According to one of the study's authors, Dabo Guan, climate change could trigger a new kind of prohibition in which beer becomes a luxury good that's no longer available to the working class.

"We're not writing this piece to encourage people to drink more today than they would tomorrow," Guan said. "What we're saying is that ... if people still want to have a pint of beer while they watch football, we have to do something about climate change."

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• Democratic Rep. Beto O'Rourke recently called Republican Sen. Ted Cruz "Lyin' Ted," the same nickname Donald Trump used against Cruz during the 2016 Republican primaries
• O'Rourke said the disparaging remarks may have been made "in the heat of the moment."
• "It's not something that I feel totally comfortable with," O'Rourke admitted.

Democratic Rep. Beto O'Rourke of Texas said that some of the disparaging remarks he made during a lively debate this week against his Republican rival, Sen. Ted Cruz, may have been made "in the heat of the moment."

Speaking at a televised CNN event in McAllen, Texas, on Thursday, O'Rourke recounted the debate with the incumbent senator earlier this week, in which he labeled Cruz as "Lyin' Ted."

"Senator Cruz won't be honest with you," O'Rourke said on Monday. "He's dishonest. It's why the president called him 'Lyin' Ted' and it's why the nickname stuck. Because it's true."

Cruz brushed off O'Rourke's remarks and said the fact that O'Rourke was reviving the nickname was "clear" evidence that "pollsters have told him to come out on the attack."

Donald Trump first gave Cruz that moniker during the contentious 2016 Republican primaries. That, among other things became one of the many sources of friction between the two during the general election that year.

Asked on Thursday how he felt about using the nickname, O'Rourke expressed some regret, but suggested it was an efficient way to dispel some of the falsehoods leveled against his campaign.

"There have been untold dollars spent on TV ads that are lies, that are dishonest, trying to scare you about me," O'Rourke said. "I decided that I can either spend the debate responding to every single dishonest thing that [Cruz] said, or I could make sure that everyone understood exactly what he's doing."

"It's not something that I feel totally comfortable with," O'Rourke admitted. "And perhaps in the heat of the moment, I took a step too far."

O'Rourke also denied Cruz's assertion that his use of the nickname was planned ahead of time, as suggested by pollsters.

"I don't know that that's the way I want to be talking in this campaign," O'Rourke said.

The race for the senate seat is hitting a fever pitch as early voting begins on Monday, the same day Trump is scheduled to headline a campaign rally for Cruz.

Despite lagging in polls, O'Rourke's campaign raked in over $38 million last quarter — more than the $18 million Trump made, and more than triple the $12 million Cruz took in.

A Quinnipiac University poll conducted earlier this month found Cruz leading by nine percentage points, while a New York Times Upshot/Siena College poll put Cruz ahead by 8 points.

SEE ALSO: 'Come on, Ted': Brutal political ad pokes fun at Ted Cruz's campaign slogan and reversal with Trump

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• Rihanna is said to have turned down an offer to headline the Super Bowl halftime show in 2019, out of support for Colin Kaepernick, the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback who took a knee during the national anthem to call attention to police violence against people of color and racial injustice.
• The pop-R&B singer was among several artists in the running for the headline slot at the 2019 Super Bowl.
• The alternative-pop band Maroon 5 is set to take the halftime stage at the Super Bowl on February 3, 2019 in Atlanta.

Pop-R&B artist Rihanna is said to have turned down an offer to headline the Super Bowl halftime show in 2019, out of support for Colin Kaepernick, the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback, Us Weekly reported& on Thursday citing an unnamed source.

Kaepernick began taking a knee during the national anthem at NFL games in 2016 to call attention to racial injustice and police brutality.

Rihanna was among several artists in the running for headline slot. Representatives for the music star, the NFL, and CBS did not immediately respond to INSIDER's request for comment.

According to the Us Weekly report, Rihanna takes issue with the NFL's official stance on players who take a knee during the national anthem. NFL owners voted unanimously last May to require players on the field to stand for the anthem or face a fine, but recently, that policy appears to have been quietly swept under the rug.

Kaepernick filed a lawsuit against NFL owners in October 2017, alleging they colluded with each other to keep him out of the league because of his political views.

The alternative-pop band Maroon 5 will be the main halftime show performers at the Super Bowl in Atlanta on February 3.

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• While visiting Australia on a royal tour, Meghan Markle opened up about her pregnancy.
• She told a local resident that her pregnancy feels like jet lag and that she was up at 4:30 a.m. doing yoga because she couldn't sleep.
• It turns out, prenatal yoga might be beneficial to both baby and mother. 

Pregnancy can take a lot out of you — especially in the first trimester. Just ask royal new-mom-to-be Meghan Markle.

While visiting Australia for a royal tour, Markle and Prince Harry talked to members of OneWave, an awareness group for mental health and wellbeing at South Bondi Beach in Sydney.

Charlotte Waverley, a group participant, told Sky News that she spoke with Markle about her pregnancy.

"Meghan told me that pregnancy was like having jet lag. She said she was up at 4:30 a.m. this morning doing yoga in her room as she couldn't sleep."

It's common for pregnant people to have difficulty sleeping

Long story short, growing a baby is not easy and comes with a lot of side effects, one being difficulty sleeping.

According to Healthline, insomnia at night during early pregnancy is entirely normal, even if you're exhausted all day. 

Plus, given the time difference between the UK and Australia, it makes sense she might be going through some jet lag symptoms. 

It turns out that prenatal yoga is a great way to get a good night's sleep

According to the Mayo Clinic, the benefits of prenatal yoga, in particular, are plentiful for both mother and baby. They include improved sleep, reduced stress, decreased lower back pain and nausea — basically, many of the things people dread about pregnancy.

Meghan Markle has spoken in the past about her love of yoga — which apparently runs in the family.

She told Best Health magazine, "Yoga is my thing. My mom is a yoga instructor, and I started doing mommy-and-me yoga with her when I was seven. I was very resistant as a kid, but she said, 'Flower, you will find your practice – just give it time.' In college, I started doing it more regularly."

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While the internet isn't always the nicest place, there is a corner that is filled with genuinely beautiful content: dogs.

We've rounded up 10 dog adoption stories so wholesome and pure that they went viral. They're all about dog adoption, whether it's a soldier that served in Afghanistan who was finally able to adopt his former canine partner after years of separation, or a dog that did the adopting itself, by taking care of a group of abandoned ducklings.

Keep scrolling, and keep the tissues on hand.

In June 2018, a soldier that served in Afghanistan was finally able to adopt his former canine partner after seven years of separation.

After seven years apart, Nick Montez was finally able to adopt Mally, a bomb-sniffing dog that he had worked together with in Afghanistan in 2011.

Montez was honorably discharged in 2013, but continued to check in on Mally to see if he could adopt her. However, she was still needed in the armed forces. Finally, he received a letter from Idaho Senator Mike Crapo, informing him that Mally was finished with her service and ready to be brought home.

The pair shares such a special bond that Montez got Mally's paw print tattooed on his calf, along with her identification number.

A cyclist found an injured puppy in the woods and biked seven miles into town with the dog on his back. The dog, Columbo, was rescued by Andrea Shaw in Georgia and has since made the cross-country move to Maine.

Columbo was only five months old when he was found abandoned on the side of a bike path with a couple of broken bones. A group of bikers came across him outside of Columbus, Georgia, and one of them picked Columbo up and biked him seven miles into town.

The bikers bumped into Shaw, who formed an immediate bond with Columbo. She quickly brought him to the vet, alerted her husband, and brought Columbo back up to Maine to live with her.

Fred, a 10-year-old labrador, adopted an entire family of ducklings after their mom vanished.

Fred, resident dog of Mountfitchet Castle in England, took in the ducklings after they were found wandering the grounds by themselves. Their mom, sadly, had disappeared.

But you don't need to feel bad for them — Fred is doing a great job parenting. He lets them ride around on his back, takes them swimming in the castle moat, and even allows them to share his dog basket.

• Stephen Hawking, who died earlier this year, wrote a collection of essays that were released on Tuesday. 
• The book, Brief Answers to the Big Questions, includes a chapter on the potential dangers of artificial intelligence. 
• Hawking wrote that superhuman intelligence could manipulate financial markets, human leaders, and more without our control.
• People should invest more in researching the potential effects of artificial intelligence in order to prevent losing control of machines, Hawking said.

Machines with superhuman intelligence have the potential to subdue humans with weapons that "we cannot even understand," Stephen Hawking wrote in a posthumous collection of essays released Tuesday.

The book, Brief Answers to the Big Questions, comes seven months after the world-famous scientist's death. It features commentary on a variety of topics, including black holes and time travel, though some of the most dire predictions relate to artificial intelligence.

If computers keep doubling in both speed and memory capacity every 1.5 years, Hawking wrote, they will likely become more intelligent than people in the next 100 years. Such an intelligence "explosion" would require us to make sure that computers do not begin harming people, he said.

"It's tempting to dismiss the notion of highly intelligence machines as mere science fiction, but this would be a mistake, and potentially our worst mistake ever," Hawking wrote. 

Hawking noted that integrating artificial intelligence with neuroscience, statistics, and other fields has yielded many successful inventions — including speech recognition, autonomous vehicles, and machine translation. One day, even diseases and poverty could be eradicated with the help of artificial intelligence, he said.

While technology could benefit humans a great deal, Hawking wrote, researchers need to focus on making sure we avoid the risks that come with it. In the near future, artificial intelligence could increase economic equality and prosperity through job automation. But one day, the same systems could take over our financial markets, manipulate our leaders, and control our weapons, Hawking said.

"Success in creating AI would be the biggest event in human history," he wrote. "Unfortunately, it might also be our last, unless we learn how to avoid the risks."

Researchers have not focused enough on artificial intelligence-related issues, Hawking said, though some technology leaders are stepping in to change that. Hawking cited Bill Gates, Elon Musk, and Steve Wozniak as examples of people who share his concerns, adding that awareness of potential risks is growing in the tech community. 

People should not turn away from exploring artificial intelligence, Hawking wrote. Human intelligence, after all, is the product of natural selection in which generations of people adapted to new circumstances, he said.

"We must not fear change," Hawking wrote. "We need to make it work to our advantage."

When humans invented fire, people struggled with controlling it until they created the fire extinguisher, Hawking wrote. This time around, we cannot afford to make mistakes and respond to them later, he said.

"With more powerful technologies such as nuclear weapons, synthetic biology and strong artificial intelligence, we should instead plan ahead and aim to get things right the first," Hawking wrote. "It may be the only chance we will get."

SEE ALSO: Stephen Hawking warned of future 'superhumans' threatening the end of humanity

SEE ALSO: Stephen Hawking's warning that genetically altered superhumans could wipe out the rest of us doesn't mention a likely characteristic of the future elite

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Kensington Palace announced on Monday that Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are expecting their first child in the spring of 2019. The news comes five months after their grand royal wedding in May.

Markle's sister-in-law, Kate Middleton, has served up some iconic looks during her pregnancies with her three children, and now it's Markle's turn to serve as the ultimate maternity style inspiration.

According to People, the duchess was 12 weeks along when the palace made the announcement, which means that, without knowing it, we've likely been seeing Markle experiment with her maternity style since July.

Here are the best outfits she's worn during her pregnancy so far.

In July, Markle wore a $2,190 denim dress by Carolina Herrera to a charity polo match.

The duchess paired her dress with Aquazurra pumps and a woven clutch by J. Crew for a casual-chic look.

In August, Markle wore a tuxedo-style suit-dress while attending a charity gala performance of "Hamilton."

The tuxedo-style minidress is a $595 design by Canadian brand Judith & Charles that created a look similar to the popular "no pants" trend.

In early September, the duchess rocked an all-black pantsuit while attending the WellChild Awards.

She paired the Altuzarra blazer and pants with a matching black blouse by Deitas.

Common language aside, there are numerous differences between the US and the UK. When it comes to Halloween, Americans and Brits each have their own way of doing things.

Keep scrolling to learn 10 ways in which people celebrate Halloween in the US and the UK, from the costumes they wear to the kinds of candy they eat.

In Scotland and the Isle of Man, Halloween's Celtic roots are honored through Samhain celebrations.

While Americans don't usually emphasize Halloween's Celtic roots, the holiday's ancient, Pagan forebear ― Samhain ― is still celebrated in Scotland and on the Isle of Man, one of the British Channel Islands, as well as Northern Ireland and Ireland. 

Meaning "summer's end," Samhain (which takes place from October 31 to November 1) marks the end of the harvest season and symbolizes the divide between the world of the living and the world of the dead.

Samhain celebrations feature rituals such as bonfires and dancing.

Another fall holiday is actually a bigger deal than Halloween in the UK.

Guy Fawkes Day (also known as Guy Fawkes Night and Bonfire Night) has historically been more significant than Halloween in the UK.

Celebrated with parades, bonfires, and fireworks on November 5 ― you might be familiar with the rhyme "Remember, remember the fifth of November"― Guy Fawkes Day commemorates the failed Gunpowder Plot. The scheme, orchestrated by Roman Catholics in 1605, was an attempt to blow up Parliament in response to King James I's refusal to expand the religious freedom of Catholics.

The commercialized, American version of Halloween, however, is also taking off.

"I have a distinct sense that Halloween is overtaking or has overtaken Guy Fawkes Night," James Sharpe of the University of York told Smithsonian Magazine in 2014.

In the US, costumes aren't always "scary."

Brits tend to wear more traditional Halloween costumes, dressing up as ghosts, zombies, and other fearsome creatures.

"In the US, when kids go trick-or-treating, it seems any costume goes, even costumes that aren't necessarily 'Halloween-y' (including princesses, Spider-Man and so on),"wrote a Quora user with dual US/UK citizenship. "In the UK, we stick to the more traditional horror-inspired ghost/vampire/zombie/Frankenstein/ghoul costumes."

According to a 2017 survey from the Halloween Industry Association, witch costumes were the most popular choice for adults in the US, while action/superhero costumes topped the kids' category. In fact, Americans spent a total of $3.4 billion on costumes last year.

You don't have to be vegan to eat vegan food. In fact, some of your favorite store-bought snacks are accidentally vegan, and you probably didn't even know it.

Aside from pre-made salads, vegan-identified foods, and pre-chopped fruit, below are just a few of the many foods you have probably eaten that are accidentally vegan.

Lay's Barbecue Potato Chips are vegan.

Smothered in salt and a host of other seasonings, Lay's BBQ chips are 100% vegan approved. It's a little ironic when you consider the fact that BBQ sauce is typically meant to top a host of red meats and chicken, but this is an accidentally vegan snack.

Apple Cinnamon Cheerios are a delicious vegan breakfast.

Non-strict vegans and non-vegans alike can enjoy Apple Cinnamon Cheerios throughout the day. These Cheerios do include white sugar but are technically vegan as they contain no animal products whatsoever.

Vegan candy is real.

AirHeads, Dots, Dum Dums, and Sour Patch Kids are just a few of the many vegan candies you have definitely consumed at some point in your life.