• Seattle mayor Jenny Durkan said she would be pleased if Amazon split its much-awaited HQ2 between two cities.
• "I'd call those branch offices," the mayor told KIRO-TV Seattle.
• The New York Times reported on Monday evening that Amazon is planning to open HQ2 facilities in New York and Virginia.

Seattle mayor Jenny Durkan said she was heartened by reports that Amazon plans to split its HQ2 facilities between two locations.

"I'd call those branch offices," she told KIRO-TV Seattle on Monday night. "That would be good news."

Her wish seemingly came true later Monday night, when The New York Times reported that Amazon had decided to go with two cities: Long Island City in Queens, New York, and Crystal City in Arlington, Virginia.

It makes sense that the mayor of Seattle would be excited about the fact that her city seems poised to remain the true center of Amazon's operations. But Durkan's quip about HQ2 echoes a lot of the criticism swirling around Amazon's reported picks — not to mention the manner in which the online retail giant teased its decision-making.

Read more:Amazon is reportedly splitting HQ2 into 2 cities, which would prove the whole contest was a massive sham

Amazon previously said that it planned to hire 50,000 employees to work in its new corporate headquarters. The company also drew out the selection process, even releasing a short list of potential candidates. In the meantime, different localities across North America fell over themselves to offer Amazon flashy perks and lucrative tax breaks.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo even joked that he'd change his name to "Amazon Cuomo" in exchange for HQ2.

For a while, though, it appeared that Northern Virginia was a front-runner in the race for HQ2.

But by dividing up its new headquarters between two locations, critics have argued that the the online retailer is minimizing the impact of HQ2. In other words, the argument is that instead of opening a second headquarters, it's just opening two large offices.

Then again, given the potential downsides of Amazon HQ2 — namely skyrocketing rent, increased traffic, and overall gentrification — perhaps a reduced rollout isn't such a bad thing.

Read more about Amazon's HQ2 project:

• Amazon made an important investment in Seattle, and it highlights a key issue for HQ2
• Amazon HQ2 candidates are going to great lengths to keep their plans secret
• HQ2 is making cities consider projects they've been ignoring for years — and it shows the power of Amazon
• 7 horrible things that could happen to cities if they win Amazon's HQ2 bid
• The cities where homeowners will benefit the most if Amazon's 2nd headquarters lands there

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: How Amazon gets away with not paying taxes

Editor's Note: Astrology is just for fun and is not supported by scientific evidence.

When it comes to which entertainers make the most money, there's a pretty clear distinction among the signs.

Forbes released its 2018 list of the highest paid entertainers back in July. And money-saving app Vouchercloud crunched the numbers and figured out which signs appeared most in the Forbes list.

And if you're a follower of astrology, the answers might not surprise you too much.

Those born under Sagittarius might struggle compared to their megarich peers.

Sagittarians are open-minded, experimental, and strive to understand the world around them — but this apparently doesn't always extend to business dealings.

Although everyone on this list is making tons of cash, highly paid Sagittarius entertainers only accounted for 2.7% of the list and brought in a total of $170,083,333.33 this year.

Jay Z and Scarlett Johansson are two of the most highly paid Sagittarians in Hollywood, according to the list.

Geminis barely fare better than Sagittarius.

Geminis made up 2.95% of the list, totaling only $185,667,857.14.

Born from May 21 to June 20, Geminis are witty and quick. But like their symbol, the twins, they tend to flit back and forth between identities.

Kendrick Lamar and Paul McCartney are highly paid Geminis.

When it comes to hitting the jackpot in entertainment, Pisces' artistic abilities might not outweigh their passive nature.

Pisceans tend to be deeply artistic and empathetic. They can also be passive, however, which isn't a great trait for money-making.

This sign made up 7.88% of the 100 highest paid entertainers, totaling an income of $496,376,190.48 this year.

Floyd Mayweather, Stephen Curry, and Rihanna are all Pisces who made the Forbes list.

Read more:The celebrities you should date based on your zodiac sign 

• Bella Hadid posted photos of her recent fitting for the upcoming Victoria's Secret Fashion Show.
• The Instagram post prompted some negative comments from people who thought the model's figure looked "unhealthy" and "too skinny."
• People reports that Hadid edited the caption of the post to address the comments about her body.

Bella Hadid is currently preparing for the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, which is being filmed on November 8. In the days leading up to the event, she's been posting some sneak peeks of what to expect on Instagram.

On Sunday she posted a series of photos from the recent fittings in New York City, and the pictures prompted some negative comments about her body.

While some people called the photos "beautiful" and "stunning," others chimed in with comments pointing to the model's figure.

"She looks really unhealthy," one person commented, as another added: "I can see your ribs, this is too skinny."

Some suggested that she was a bad role model for others, with one person commenting: "You models are scary looking and bad influences on the health of young girls."

Though Hadid has not responded directly to any of the comments, People reports that she later edited the caption of her post to include the following line: "all body types are different and react differently to a great workout routine and a healthy diet."

The full caption of her post reads: "@victoriassecret fittings today💛i can’t wait for you to see all of the beautiful outfits ...i’m so grateful to be a part of the show again, feeling happier and healthier than ever🖤 (all body types are different and react differently to a great workout routine and a healthy diet❤️💪🏼🌟)."

The criticism comes as several people are calling on Victoria's Secret to become more size inclusive with its casting.

One of the most vocal critics of the brand is model Robyn Lawley, who recently launched a petition to urge Victoria's Secret to "be more diverse and inclusive of body shapes and sizes on their runways." So far, over 8,000 people have signed the petition.

Read more:Everything you need to know about the 2018 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show

Representatives for Bella Hadid and Victoria's Secret did not immediately respond to INSIDER's request for comment.

The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show airs Sunday, December 2, at 10 p.m. ET on ABC. Find out more about how to watch the show here.

Visit INSIDER's homepage for more.

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NOW WATCH: Gigi and Bella Hadid's 16-year-old brother is the next 'it' model

In October, the US Geological Survey released a new report detailing the relative threats posed by volcanoes in the United States. It was the first updated threat assessment since 2005, and officials will use the data to prioritize volcanoes for research and monitoring. 

This year's report includes new entries on potentially active volcanoes and updated scores for previously listed volcanoes. The 161 volcanoes are separated into five categories: very high, high, moderate, low, and very low. Threat scores were determined based on 24 factors, including how often a volcano erupts, how powerful eruptions are, how many people live nearby, and how many people have been killed or evacuated due to a past volcanic eruption.

The rankings are not meant to serve as predictions for which volcano is most likely to erupt next. However, the volcanoes with the highest threat level would likely be the most destructive if they did erupt.

According to the report, the US is one of the most volcanically active nations in the world, with more than 10% of all active and potentially active volcanoes in the country. Of the 18 volcanoes posing a very high threat, three are located in California. The state also has four volcanoes on the high threat list and another four on the moderate threat list. 

Take a look at California's most dangerous volcanoes. 

SEE ALSO: The 20 most dangerous volcanoes in the US, ranked

99 — Ubehebe Crater, located in the northern half of Death Valley, is listed as a moderate threat.

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The crater is 140 miles northwest of Las Vegas, Nevada. Its last eruption was about 2,100 years ago. 

90 — Mammoth Mountain is a cluster of lava domes posing a moderate threat.

The most recent eruption at Mammoth Mountain occurred about 700 years ago. The mountain has experienced heightened unrest in the past few decades, including earthquakes and volcanic gas emissions. 

72 — Coso volcanic field, located in the northern part of the Mojave Desert, also poses a moderate threat.

About 40 eruptions in the past 250,000 years have produced lava domes and hills of volcanic cinder in this field. The most recent eruption occurred about 40,000 year ago.

Small and moderate earthquakes in this area are common, according to the US Geological Survey, and the US Navy monitors geothermal activity in the volcanic field.

• The Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, allows states to expand the Medicaid healthcare program to people making up to 138% of the federal poverty limit.
• Three states have questions on the ballot in Tuesday's midterm elections that would expand Medicaid: Idaho, Nebraska, and Utah.
• Six other states — Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Maine, South Dakota, and Wisconsin — have Democratic candidates for governor on the ballot that would expand Medicaid access.
• According to healthcare consulting firm Avalere, up to 2.7 million people could gain access to coverage on Tuesday.

Tuesday's midterm elections not only will determine the control of Congress and dozens of governors' mansions across the US. It could decide access to healthcare for millions of low-income Americans.

The Affordable Care Act's Medicaid expansion, which allows low income Americans making up to 138% of the federal poverty limit to get access to the program, will be on the ballot in three states. And six other states that have not expanded the program have pro-expansion governor candidates on the ballot, as well.

According to Avalere Health, a healthcare consulting firm, up to 2.7 million Americans could gain access to healthcare if the results break a certain way. In three states — Idaho, Nebraska, and Utah — Medicaid expansion is directly on the ballot, while six other states that have not expanded Medicaid have Democratic, pro-expansion governor candidates in competitive races.

"In states with competitive gubernatorial races, many candidates are making Medicaid expansion a key differentiator," Elizabeth Carpenter, senior vice president at Avalere, said of the possible expansions. "Depending on the election results, we could see Medicaid expansion on the agenda again in states across the country."

Here's a breakdown of how many people could gain access to healthcare in each state if the pro-expansion result comes through:

• Florida (governor race): 1,343,612
• Georgia (governor race): 690,162
• Kansas (governor race): 136,423
• Maine (governor race): 48,382
• South Dakota (governor race): 45,293
• Wisconsin (governor race): 140,774
• Idaho (ballot question): 92,439
• Nebraska (ballot question: 97,937
• Utah (ballot question): 134,756

Medicaid expansion has become more popular over the years, even in deep red states, making it a strong issue for many Democratic candidates. A February poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health policy think tank, found that 56% of people in non-expansion states wanted to expand Medicaid, while just 37% were against it.

Another poll in October from Kaiser found that 49% of people said they were more likely to vote for a candidate if they supported expansion, while just 28% said it made them less likely to vote for a candidate.

Andrew Gillum in Florida, Stacey Abrams in Georgia, and Billie Sutton in South Dakota have all used their support for Medicaid expansion as key planks in their campaigns.

Read more: The 2018 midterms will have a big impact on healthcare, from Medicaid to nurses to abortion»

This isn't to say that the program would be expanded immediately if results go a certain way: State legislatures could stymie the expansion, as Virginia's legislature did for years despite the state's Democratic governor's wishes. Maine also voted to expand the program in 2017, but departing Gov. Paul LePage refused to expand the program.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: This top economist has a radical plan to change the way Americans vote

China's largest airshow opened Tuesday with a dazzling display by Chinese stealth fighters, a demonstration intended to highlight China's improving air combat capabilities.

The twin-engine Chengdu J-20 made its debut at the 2016 China International Aviation & Aerospace Exhibition in Zhuhai, Guangdong, China during a one-minute demonstration flight. The fighters, rocking a new paint job, returned for this year's Airshow China in Zhuhai.

These impressive photos show the next-generation fighters, as well as a few other Chinese military aircraft, on display at the exhibition.

The Chinese People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) kicked off the show with a half-hour demonstration including a six-minute flight featuring three J-20 stealth fighters.

Source: South China Morning Post

The J-20, a Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group product that made its maiden flight in 2011, was designed to close the gap between American and Chinese air power.

"The J -20 aircraft is China’s own new generation stealth fighter, developed to meet the needs of the future battleground," PLAAF spokesman Shen Jinke said prior to the aircraft's unveiling in 2016. While China claims the aircraft are Chinese designs, the resemblance to certain American aircraft has led to speculation that espionage may have played a role in the fighter's development.

Source: CNN

• On Sunday, Kaitlyn Curran, a nurse at St. Barnabas Hospital, ran the New York City Marathon.
• Around mile 16, her boyfriend Dennis Galvin, a firefighter, proposed to her.
• She said yes. 
• Curran finished the race in 4 hours and 24 minutes and the couple is happy.
• But people have a lot of thoughts about the proposal.

Over the weekend, Kaitlyn Curran, a nurse at St. Barnabas Hospital, ran the New York City Marathon. And when she hit the 16-mile mark, Curran was met with quite the surprise.

Mid-race, beside the Queensboro Bridge, her boyfriend Dennis Galvin, a firefighter, hopped the barricade, got down on one knee, and proposed. 

Good news for the couple, who lives in Jersey City, New Jersey — she said yes! Galvin's cousin Kathleen Figueroa captured the now-viral moment on camera, and it has since been reposted by CBS.

"My cousin was really nervous. He was really excited but really nervous," Figueroa told INSIDER. "But we all knew she would say yes, so we weren't too worried about it." 

Read more: A woman 'ring-shamed' herself after finding an engagement ring in her boyfriend's nightstand — and people are perplexed

Online, people had a lot of thoughts about the proposal.

People took to the comment section of CBS' post to sound off. 

Some thought it was adorable.

"She must have flown to the finish line! Congratulations," someone wrote. "Only in New York!" another person added. "So cute!" another Facebook user comment. 

Others thought Galvin stepped over the line when he literally jumped over the barricade, interrupting the race.

"Men, never do this. He just f----- up her pace, big time," one person said. "Finish line, dude," someone else commented. "You messed up her pace, do it after," a third person wrote.

The couple is happily engaged.

But Figueroa told INSIDER that Galvin was positive of his choice to propose mid-race — and Curran was thrilled, too. 

"He wanted to do it at the first Manhattan stop so he could easily find her,"Figueroa said. "At the end of the race it could be messy — like, a lot of people, and after 26 miles, it's a long race."

Curran went on to finish her race in 4 hours and 24 minutes, CBS reports. 

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: How a mother got special needs playgrounds built so her daughters could play together

• President Donald Trump is historically unpopular heading in the 2018 midterm elections, with an approval rating of 40%.
• Based on data from Gallup, no other president in modern US history had such a low approval rating heading into their first midterm election.
• Trump will not be on the ballot on Election Day, which comes on Tuesday, November 6, but midterms often serve as a referendum on the president and their party. 

President Donald Trump is historically unpopular heading in the 2018 midterm elections, according to data from Gallup. 

The most recent polling from Gallup shows that just 40% of Americans approve of the job Trump is doing as president. Based on historical data from Gallup, no other president in modern US history had such a low approval rating heading into their first midterm election. The next president to come close was Ronald Reagan, who had a 43% approval rating at this point in his presidency. 

Former President Barack Obama, whom Trump frequently criticizes and compares himself to, had a 46% approval rating heading into his first midterm elections. 

Trump will not be on the ballot on Election Day on Tuesday, November 6, but midterms often serve as a referendum on the president and their party.

The president alluded to this on Monday, telling reporters, "Even though I'm not on a ballot, in a certain way I am on the ballot."

Read more: Some states including California allow you to register to vote on Election Day — here they all are

Republicans currently control both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

If Democrats are able to flip either, it will have major implications for Trump's agenda over the next two years. With the country bitterly divided over an array of political issues, some have labeled this one of the most consequential elections of the era. 

While urging people to get out and vote at a rally on Sunday, Obama said, "Hope is still out there. We just have to stand up and speak for it. And in two days ... you get to vote in what might be the most important election of my lifetime, maybe more important than 2008."

SEE ALSO: See what time the polls open and close in every state for the Midterm Elections

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Megyn Kelly in 2017: 'I regret a lot' of the controversial stuff I've said on live television

• Jude Law appeared on CBS' "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert" on Monday and was careful to avoid spilling secrets about his parts in "Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald" and "Captain Marvel."
• The 45-year-old said that when working on both films, he noticed that there were different approaches on how to handle actors accidentally giving away spoilers. 
• With "Fantastic Beasts," he was told that if anything slipped, he'd be advised against repeating his mistake.
• On the set of "Captain Marvel," Law joked that his kids had to sign non-disclosure agreements and added that someone was specifically hired to make sure Law wasn't photographed in his top-secret costume. 

Jude Law is starring in the upcoming MCU film "Captain Marvel," but don't expect him to share any details about his role.

The actor appeared on CBS' "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert" on Monday and refrained from giving any spoilers about "Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald," or his role in "Captain Marvel." So far, his identity hasn't been confirmed and all fans know is that his character is the leader of Kree's military group called the Starforce. Many suspect that he's Mar-Vell, the original Captain Marvel. 

Law dodged Colbert's questioning, then explained that being on the set of "Captain Mavel" was a different experience from "Fantastic Beasts," perhaps because of the differences in British and Americans.

With Fantastic Beasts, Law said that he was told: "We assume you're not going to give any of these secrets away and if you do, we're going to tell you not to again and we may quietly kill you."

On the other hand, with the Marvel production, they told the 45-year-old: "Don't you ever f---ing dare tell anybody about this."

Law went on to say that a man was hired specifically to prevent set secrets from being revealed through paparazzi photos. Whenever the actor stepped out of his trailer, he would be immediately instructed to cover up and hide his outfit.

"Tight" and "scary" measures were also taken when his children visited him at work. Law jokingly said that when the kids were running around, they'd be chased with NDA (non-disclosure agreement) papers to sign. 

Watch the video below (Law talks about not giving away spoilers at 4:35).

Visit INSIDER's homepage for more.   

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NOW WATCH: Why you shouldn't be afraid to fly, according to a pilot with over 20 years of experience

• Thousands of students signed up to leave class and join voters at polls across the nation for the midterm elections.

• More than 500 high schools and colleges were slated to participate in the Walkout to Vote, which kicked off at 10 AM Tuesday morning to capitalize on this election's unprecedented youth engagement.
• The project comes amid reports record-breaking rates of early voting and enthusiasm from voters under 30 in the 2018 midterms. 

Thousands of students signed up to leave class and join voters at polls across the nation for the midterm elections.

More than 500 high schools and colleges were slated to participate in the Walkout to Vote, which kicked off at 10 AM Tuesday morning to capitalize on this election's unprecedented youth engagement.

Katie Eder, the founder Future Coalition, a national youth organization network and the organizer of #WalkoutToVote, told CNBC the group hoped to ensure greater participation from younger voters on Election Day. They're hoping to send a strong message that this year's midterms will upend the American political status quo. 

"In addition to ensuring young people show up to the polls in record numbers, the goal of Walkout to Vote is to send a message to politicians the country that young people are unified in our demand for change and united across issues, organizations, and communities," 19-year-old Eder said.

Read more: 6 apps to help you make last-minute voting decisions for the midterm elections

The project comes amid reports that over 2 million voters under 30 voted early, and a record number of young voters expressed increased enthusiasm ahead of the vote. A recent survey from the Institute of Politics at Harvard Kennedy School found 40% of 18- to 29-year-olds said they would "definitely vote" in the 2018 midterms, significantly more than responded in 2010 and 2014.

Read more: The evolution of American voting rights in 242 years shows how far we've come—and how far we still have to go

A map of the planned walkout sites on Future Coalition's website showed at least one in almost every state.

Twitter users shared students headed to the polls under the hashtag #WalkoutToVote. Shorewood High School students chanted "We are the future voters" while heading to polling sites, including a local library. 

Organizers with the student gun-control group March for Our Lives live-streamed their walk out of school in Naples, Florida, to a local polling place, where they showed off signs advocating for votes supporting issues including universal background checks while buying guns. 

The project got MSNBC anchor Rachel Maddow's blessing in an appearance on "The Tonight Show," where she said students turning out to support other young voters at the polls could make voting a "really culturally important thing" and spur sustainable youth engagement in politics. 

Tuesday's midterm elections include some of the most hotly contested congressional races in the country that could decide American policies across nearly every issue for the next two years. 

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: There's so much CO2 in the atmosphere that planting trees can no longer save us

• AMD held a "Next Horizon" event on Tuesday, unveiling its 7-nanometer graphics products and microprocessors.
• During the event, AMD said Amazon will use its new processors for Amazon Web Services.
• That will give some Amazon Web Service customers lower prices for their cloud services. 
• Watch AMD trade live.

AMD was rallying on Tuesday, up 7%, after Amazon said it would use AMD's new line of processors for its cloud business.

During AMD's "Next Horizon" event, the chipmaker unveiled its 7-nanometer graphics products and microprocessors, and said it was partnering with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to provide new general purpose (M5 and T3) and memory-optimized (R5) instance types with AMD EPYC processors that are 10% less expensive than the current M5, T3, and R5 instances.

Simply put, the agreement will give some customers lower prices for their Amazon cloud services.

The AMD-based instances provide additional options for customers who are looking to achieve cost savings on their Amazon EC2 compute environment for a variety of workloads, such as microservices and virtual desktops, Amazon said in a press release.

"One thing our customers agree on is that they all like lower prices," said Matt Garman, vice president of AWS in a statement.

“Apart from adding to what is already the broadest and most capable set of compute services available in the cloud, these new AMD-based instances give customers an even lower priced way to run many of the most common applications.”

While Amazon showed confidence in AMD's new 7nm data-center products, Morgan Stanley analyst Joseph Moore was bearish about the new lineup ahead of the event.

"Based partly on feedback from AMD, we wanted to be clear that EPYC 2 will not be shipping for revenue until next year (which has been our expectation), and calling this a product launch is probably an overstatement," Moore said. He has a sell rating and price target of $17 for AMD — 15% below where shares were trading.

AMD was up 94% this year.

Read more stories on AMD:

• AMD has tumbled into a bear market — here's why analysts say it's time to buy
• AMD is getting smoked after revenue misses, guidance falls short 
• AMD's stock price reflects a 'scenario we don't believe possible,' analyst says

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: There's so much CO2 in the atmosphere that planting trees can no longer save us

• If there are long wait times at the polls, you should stay put. You'll probably be allowed to vote.
• Do your research before you vote. Oftentimes poll workers aren't aware of rules and backup provisions.
• If all else fails, cast a provisional ballot.

Long wait times, provisional ballots, inactive voter status, machine problems, and even voter intimidation are all problems that people can face while attempting to vote.

In Georgia and Texas, paperless voting machines that reportedly deleted or flipped some people's votes have already led to formal complaints.

So, what should you do if you experience problems at the polls? Here's what you need to know.

SEE ALSO: All the times, deadlines, and rules you need to know before voting in the 2018 midterm elections

If the voting machines are down, request a paper ballot.

Electronic voting machines have been historically glitchy and can be a major pain point on Election Day.

In South Carolina, there have already been reports of downed voting machines. If an electronic voting machine is broken, you should ask for an emergency paper ballot, according to the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

While supply and rules vary by state, most polling places are equipped with paper ballots in case of emergency.

If there are long lines, stay put if you can.

Long lines and wait times to vote are some of the most common voting issues reported on Election Day.

Lines can be caused by many things, including downed voting machines, new voter ID policies, or the simple misallocation of resources and people, according to a report from Christopher Famighetti of the Brennan Center for Justice.

If you experience a long line or wait time, you're encouraged to stay put if you can. Many states have rules on the books that allow people to cast their votes as long as they're in the line to vote before the polling place officially closes. 

If your name isn't on the rolls, ask them to check their backups.

If a poll worker tells you that you're not on the voter rolls, first ask them to check any supplemental, inactive, or back-up lists they have. In numerous states, multiple voter lists are maintained as mandated by voting law.

In Florida, for instance, some voters are placed on an "inactive" list if they don't respond to a certain mailer, but people on the list can still vote as long as they show up.

If you still can't be located, double check your correct voting location and your voter registration. It's possible that you're at the wrong voting center. 

If all else fails, ask for a provisional ballot, which can be used to record a vote that will be counted once eligibility of the voter is verified.

The 2018 midterm elections are upon us, and the country is anxiously awaiting to hear the results of an array of consequential races nationwide.

There's a lot at stake on Tuesday, November 6. If Democrats are able to retake either the House or Senate, it has major implications for President Donald Trump's agenda over the next two years.

Most polling places open between 6 and 8 a.m. and close between 6 and 9 p.m. local time, but times vary based on location.

It can take hours, days, and sometimes even weeks for results to come in.

Follow our full coverage of the 2018 midterm elections here, and find live updates throughout the day and night below.

1:41 p.m. ET: Voters in multiple states face problems with malfunctioning machines and long lines.

Since polls opened on Tuesday morning, a number of reports surfaced of voters facing long lines and malfunctioning voting machines in multiple US states. 

In certain parts of Georgia, a state with one of the most closely watched gubernatorial races, some people reportedly had to wait to vote for several hours.

There were also long lines and issues with voting machines at polling places in New York City, according to multiple reports.

12:00 p.m. ET: Polls open in all 50 states.

Polls opened at 7 a.m. local time in Hawaii, marking the last state where US voters headed off to cast their ballots.

The only states where voters do not physically head to the polls are Oregon and Washington, where all ballots are sent in by mail. 

5:00 a.m. ET: First polls open in Vermont.

The first polls opened at 5 a.m. local time in Vermont, and were followed an hour later in parts of Connecticut, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, New York, New Jersey, Vermont, and Virginia.

Polls opened at 6:30 a.m. local time in North Carolina, Ohio, and West Virginia. 

Despite rough weather in many states, voters still lined up for the polls to do their civic duty. 

• Javier Soltero, one of Microsoft's rising stars, is leaving the company after four years, with the intention of "getting back to building new things." 
• He came to Microsoft after his startup, Acompli, was acquired in 2014 — a move that was seen as emblematic of then-new CEO Satya Nadella's revitalized corporate strategy.
• Soltero had a reputation for challenging Microsoft's assumptions, and famously warned employees that they were on the brink of irrelevance without swift action. 
• Soltero rose from leading Outlook on smartphones, to leading Outlook overall, to eventually leading the Cortana digital assistant business. 

Javier Soltero, currently the head of Microsoft's Cortana digital assistant, is departing the tech titan at the end of the year amid a round of reorganization to the Microsoft Office business. 

The news was first reported by ZDNet's Mary Jo Foley, and confirmed to Business Insider by the company. Soltero didn't immediately announce his next move, but tells Business Insider that he plans on "getting back to building new things." 

Soltero was something of a rising star. He first came to Microsoft in early 2014, following the acquisition of Acompli, a startup he had cofounded. In a matter of weeks, Acompli's email app had been rebranded to Outlook for iPhone and Android — a move that was seen as emblematic of then-new CEO Satya Nadella's embrace of rival operating systems. 

Outlook was, and is, a popular smartphone email client, particularly among corporate users. As the app gained traction, so too did Soltero's influence. He soon found himself leading Outlook across all platforms, and then, leading strategy for all of Microsoft Office.

Soltero has a reputation at Microsoft for speaking truth to corporate power. In 2015, he delivered a sobering presentation that warned employees that without swift action to modernize Microsoft Office and Outlook, the company could find itself as irrelevant as the competitors it had long since vanquished. He told the Wall Street Journal that this presentation actually earned him hate mail from employees, who accused him of being "disrespectful" the company's legacy. 

Read more: A rising star at Microsoft says employees sent him hate mail for suggesting the company might be falling behind

In March of this year, Soltero took command of Cortana, Microsoft's rival to Amazon's Alexa, Apple's Siri, and the Google Assistant. He was given a mandate to find a niche for Cortana, which comes built into Windows 10, but has struggled to gain traction on smartphones and elsewhere. 

Soltero's departure comes as Microsoft continues an ongoing streamlining of the Cortana business.

The general idea, as ZDNet's Foley notes, is that Microsoft is trying to reposition Cortana as a general helper within Office — sort of a smarter, more capable successor to its infamous Clippy. To that end, Microsoft is bringing Cortana closer to the Office business, putting it under the general umbrella of Microsoft Executive VP Rajesh Jha.

Join the conversation about this story »

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• After months of speculation about where Amazon would open its second headquarters, or HQ2, Crystal City, Virginia, now appears to be one of the chosen locations. 
• On Monday, the Wall Street Journal and The New York Times reported that Amazon would be splitting its HQ2 development into two locations, housing 25,000 employees in each, instead of the 50,000 originally planned. 
• Crystal City is in Arlington, very close to Washington, DC. It has plenty of ready-to-occupy offices and easily accessible transit. 
• Here's what else we know about the area. 

After months of speculation about where Amazon will open its second headquarters, HQ2, there appears to be a front-runner.

There are two front-runners, in fact: New York's Long Island City and Northern Virginia's Crystal City, The New York Times reported on Monday evening, saying that the decision is expected to be finalized shortly. Reports had emerged on Monday that Amazon would be splitting its HQ2 development into two locations, housing 25,000 employees in each instead of the 50,000 originally planned. 

Crystal City, part of Arlington, is just a 15-minute drive from Washington, DC.

The decision is said to be so close that the city's top real-estate developer, JBG Smith, has taken some of its buildings off the market, according to The Washington Post. Officials have already started discussing how to make the announcement public sometime very soon. 

While Amazon has considered other cities, including Atlanta, Georgia, and Austin, Texas, the discussions with Crystal City were more detailed, the report said.

Here's everything we know about Crystal City as it relates to HQ2: 

Crystal City is in Arlington County, Virginia, just 15 minutes from Washington, DC.

The heart of Amazon Web Services' physical network of data centers is nearby, in an area of Northern Virginia known as Data Center Alley.

Source: Business Insider

Amazon also plans on building a 600,000-square-foot data-center campus in Northern Virginia, in addition to its new Amazon Web Services office in Herndon, Virginia. These plans are separate from HQ2.

Source: Business Insider

• Bad sanitation kills 525,000 children under five every year and contributes to malnutrition and the spread of disease.
• Bill Gates thinks it's not practical for the entire world to adopt flush toilets, so he's spending $400 million to fund research into toilets that don't require a sewer system. 
• After seven years of investment, some of the first products are available.

Bill Gates isn't afraid of potty talk.

On Tuesday, he got onstage in front of business leaders, investors, and government officials from around the world and unveiled what he politely referred to as a "little exhibit." It was a glass jar filled with human feces.

"It’s good to be reminded, in there could be over 200 trillion rotavirus particles, 20 billion Shigella bacteria, and 100,000 parasitic worm eggs," Gates told the crowd, which had gathered in Beijing, China for an event called the Reinvented Toilet Expo.

The jar of poo was used to make a point: Around the world, in places without proper sanitation or sewage systems, there's much more than a jar's worth of unsanitary human waste sitting around. 

"That's what kids, when they're out playing, they are being exposed to all the time," Gates said, noting the link between bad sanitation and disease, death, and malnutrition.

To address that problem, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation started its Reinvent the Toilet Challenge in 2011. The initiative funded $200 million in grants for universities around the world to develop a next-generation toilet.  The goal: develop a waste-processing system that doesn't need to be hooked up a typical sanitation and sewer grid.

The new systems that have been created with those grants turn what we put into the toilet into fertilizer, energy, or recycled water, some of which is good enough to drink.

The Gates Foundation now intends to invest an additional $200 million into research that can yield additional ways to deal with human waste at the source. 

The problem with the toilets we have now

In 2015, the World Health Organization estimated that just 39% of the world's people were using a "safely-managed" lavatory, whether it be a toilet or a decently clean latrine. 

Living without a good toilet can be unsafe. People who come in contact with fecal matter face a risk of deadly infections and chronic health problems, since human feces carry pathogens like E. coli, Streptococcus, hepatitis A and E, and more. Those can cause pneumonia and diarrhea — the top two killers of kids around the world.

Plus, if people don't have a place to go at home, they have to travel alone into woods or a field to relieve themselves, which can be risky for women and children living in conflict zones.

"When you think about things that are basic, right up there with health and enough to eat, I think having a reasonable toilet certainly belongs on that list," Gates said.

Read More: Do you really have to wash your hands every time you use the bathroom? The definitive answer, according to science

He estimates that illness from poor sanitation costs the world over $223 billion per year in lost wages and extra healthcare.

With stratospheric rates of population growth in cities across Africa and Asia, the problem is only set to get worse. 

"Unless we do something, the cycle of disease will actually be accelerated," Gates said. 

Gates doesn't think it's practical to expect the entire world to connect their homes to yet-to-be-built sewer systems and wastewater treatment plants. That's why he has been on a quest to do for toilets what he argues Microsoft did for computing: get the business off a centralized, "mainframe" system.

Gates started by asking engineers at universities around the world a simple but yet-unanswered question: "could you leapfrog the long-accepted 'gold standard' of sanitation?" 

"A decade ago, I didn’t think I would be able to tell you so much about poop," Gates said.

The first generation of sewer-free toilets is here, but they aren't cheap yet

After seven years and $200 million of investment, the first batch of products from the "Reinvent the Toilet Challenge" is being tested in locations around India, Africa, and China. 

One of the first new toilets is the solar-powered Eco-san system, pictured below. Based on technology developed at Cal Tech, the Eco-san extracts clean water from human waste and reuses it for future flushing.

Other models are also in the works from companies and universities around the world. 

The University of South Florida's NewGenerator treatment system also runs on solar energy and can be hooked up to any existing toilet. It uses a nano-membrane filter (kind of like a coffee filter) with feces-digesting anaerobic bacteria inside to filter clean water out of the waste.

Another toilet from Cranfield University in the UK comes equipped with a little trap door odor barrier and scraper so that it requires no water for flushing. Clean water is filtered out of waste via a large, orange screw in the tank, and solid waste is burned inside the toilet's combustor, which converts the waste into ash and energy. (Thankfully, this all happens out of sight of the people who are using the toilet.)

"Heat from the burning is used to help dry the next batch of solids," as Gates explained in a video. He added, "it’s a very clever toilet." 

Yet another model, from Swiss engineering firm Helbling, is called the HTClean Toilet and it functions like a pressure cooker for poo. The immense pressure and heat helps the waste separate into water and solids that aren't toxic.

Duke University has also started testing its Gates-funded toilet this year at a textile mill in Coimbatore, India. The system, shown below, separates solid and liquid waste and makes it possible to safely re-use the water for flushing. 

None of these sewer-free toilets are yet at a price that's feasible for individual homes. For now, the new toilets are going to be used at schools, apartment complexes, and community bathroom areas, Gates said.

But his eventual goal is for off-grid toilets to be used in homes around the world. He told the crowd in Beijing that he's ready to spend an additional $200 million developing the technology for those next-generation toilets. But Gates hopes that someday, the private sector will start developing sewer-free home toilets, and compete to provide those toilets to the 4.5 billion people around the world who don't have them now. 

"We estimate that by 2030, the opportunity here is over $6 billion a year," he said. 

Gates is also investing in self-powered sewage systems 

Gates is also obsessed with something called an Omni Processor, which is essentially a much smaller version of a waste treatment plant. 

The small plants, one of which is already on the ground in Dakar, Senegal, can serve between 5,000 and 100,000 customers and are completely self-powered. They take in toilet waste, kill pathogens in the sewage, and convert it into "products with commercial value – like clean water, electricity, and fertilizer," Gates said. It's a lot like what astronauts do on the International Space Station — turning their pee into clean, drinkable H2O.

Gates is so enthused about the Omni Processor's clean, recycled water that he once drank it himself.

"It tasted great," he told the Beijing crowd. "I’d be glad to do it again any time." 

Gates never thought that he'd turn from a computer whiz into a toilet geek.

"I definitely didn’t think that my wife would have to tell me that in some cases I’m talking too much about toilets and how this science of combusting the feces works," he said.

But he's committed to the task, since better toilets could help save millions of lives and open up an entirely new market. 

"A whole new product category is being introduced here," Gates said. 

SEE ALSO: Bill and Melinda Gates are giving $4 million to help scientists engineer a malaria-killing mosquito — here’s how it could work

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NOW WATCH: Bill Gates is backing the waterless toilet of the future — here's how it works

The 2018 midterm elections on Tuesday will determine the direction of US politics for at least the next two years. 

Depending on which political party wins a majority in the House of Representatives and the Senate, it will set the tone for the healthcare debate for the remainder of the Trump administration's first term. 

Healthcare and pharmaceutical analysts said leading up to the election that they anticipate Democrats winning the House of Representatives and Republicans keeping hold of the Senate. That's in line with polling and forecasts. Should that happen, Washington deadlock should prevent any big policy changes.

"We expect that the anticipated mixed GOP-controlled Senate/Democratic House make-up of Congress will maintain the political stalemate status quo, making further implementation of Trump’s drug pricing blueprint more challenging, and this would be net positive for the sector," RBC Capital Markets biotech analyst Brian Abrahams wrote in a note Monday. 

Also likely off the table in that scenario: repeal of the Affordable Care Act or big cuts to Medicaid, which were narrowly defeated in the Senate last year.

Read more: The midterm elections could decide whether 2.7 million Americans have access to healthcare

Still, in some states, major changes to the way healthcare is paid for and administered are on the table. Here's what to keep your eye on for election day. 

Three states are considering expanding Medicaid.

Residents of Idaho, Nebraska and Utah will vote on whether to broaden access to their state Medicaid programs to more low-income people, in line with actions taken by 34 other states and Washington, DC under the Affordable Care Act.

If voters in all three states choose to expand eligibility for Medicaid, roughly 325,000 more people could gain access to the health program, according to Avalere. 

The measures' chance of success is unclear. There's been little polling in Nebraska (Initiative 427) or in Idaho, though Idaho's outgoing Republican governor has endorsed the state's Medicaid expansion measure, known as Proposition 2. In Utah, a poll showed Medicaid expansion (Proposition 3) had support from 59% of voters.

In Montana, voters will decided whether to raise taxes on tobacco products and make Medicaid expansion permanent (I-185). Otherwise, the state's Medicaid expansion would expire next year.

California's Proposition 8 would limit payments to dialysis providers.

One of the biggest fights in healthcare is going down in California, where there's a proposition on the ballot that would limit the amount of money dialysis providers make.

Dialysis helps patients whose kidneys aren't working properly filter impurities out of the blood (healthy kidneys would remove those impurities).

The process can be expensive — Medicare nationally spends $34 billion a year on the treatment. 

Should Proposition 8 pass, DaVita, one of the largest providers of dialysis, could lose $450 million a year, California Healthline reports. 

As such, the dialysis industry is keen to defeat it. So far, $111 million has been raised to defeat the bill, the Washington Examiner reports. Of that, DaVita contributed $66 million while rival Fresenius has contributed $33 million. 

A Massachusetts ballot measure would limit the number of patients assigned to nurses in hospitals.

Massachusetts voters on Tuesday will consider Question 1, which asks if the state should place limits on the number of patients nurses are assigned in the hospital. The idea is that by limiting the number of patients, it could keep nurses from getting overwhelmed and improve care. 

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders endorsed the measure. "Question 1 would set a safe maximum on the number of patients nurses can treat, so that patients can receive the quality care they deserve," Sanders said in a statement. 

Hospitals oppose the measure, arguing that the limit would lead to increased medical costs and less flexibility, in part because they'd need to hire more nurses. 

Controlling behavior can be incredibly detrimental to a relationship. And it's not always easy to know you're being too controlling until it's already damaged your relationship. 

That being said, there probably were a number of signs that showed that you're being too controlling, even if you missed them.

If you want to know whether or not you're being too controlling, here's what you may want to look out for.

You dictate what your partner does, who they're friends with, and more.

Regardless of how you feel about what your partner does, who your partner is friends with, or anything else, if you're telling them what they are and aren't allowed to do in terms of those things, you're likely being too controlling.

"Controlling behavior is often related to feelings of anxiety,"Carrie Askin, LCSW, the co-director at Menergy, told INSIDER. "If I feel anxious that my partner will leave me, I might try to control who they talk to or where they go or how they dress."

Working on managing your anxiety, working with a therapist, and being more mindful can help.

You're always quick to criticize.

If you regularly criticize those around you, that too could be a subtle sign that you're being too controlling, Dr. Sherrie Campbell, Ph.D., a licensed counselor, psychologist, marriage and family therapist, and the author of "Success Equations: A Path to Living an Emotionally Wealthy Life," told INSIDER.

"Work on your issues around insecurity," Campbell said. "Controlling people usually have issues with trust, and so they want to control whoever is in their lives as a way to protect themselves but they actually set themselves up for people to betray and/or leave them because the pressures of being with them are too demanding and/or demeaning. It's important for each person who is controlling to work to be whole. It is vital they turn to therapy and/or others methods of self-development. that can help them overcome this problem."

There's a reason why you're so critical all of the time and it might be that you're dealing with insecurities that have yet to be addressed.

You're isolating them from their friends and family.

Isolation can be incredibly dangerous when in a relationship. If you find you're controlling behavior is distancing your partner from their loved ones, it's important to take a step back and assess and address this behavior.

Further, isolating your partner could come in the form of you not wanting your partner to focus on their other relationships.

"These are signs that the partner is isolating their mate from loved ones," Kryss Shane, MS, MSW, LSW, LMSW, a dual-licensed social worker, told INSIDER.

The 2018 midterm election results are coming in, and all eyes are on the battle playing out in the House of Representatives, which Democrats are forecasted to re-take.

FiveThirtyEight's deluxe House forecast, which includes everything from polls, district fundamentals, fundraising, candidate quality, gave the Democrats a 6 in 7 chance of taking back the House, predicting they would gain an average of 36 seats.

Their House model cast 13 contests as tossup, meaning both candidates had less than a 60% chance of winning, 14 as lean Democratic, and 7 as lean Republican.

Here's which parties and candidates are winning these highly competitive districts:

Kentucky's 6th district: Republican Andy Barr wins re-election with 50.9% of the vote compared to Democrat Amy McGrath 47.9%.

The candidates: Marine veteran Amy McGrath, the first woman to fly an F-18 fighter jet in the Marine Corps, launched a high-profile bid to unseat long-time Rep. Andy Barr.

Her race gained national attention after one of her campaign ads detailing the barriers she overcame as a woman in the Marines went viral, and she raised $6.9 million in individual donations compared to Barr's $2.5 million.

The district: The 6th occupies a large portion of central Kentucky, including the city and suburbs of Lexington. It's Cook Partisan Lean is R+9, and Trump carried the district by 15 points in 2016.

Predictions and polls: The race was rated as a pure toss-up by FiveThirtyEight on the day of the election. A Nov. 1-4 Siena College/NYT poll showed McGrath and Barr in a dead heat.

Virginia's 5th congressional district: Republican Denver Riggleman beats Democrat Leslie Cockburn 53% to 47%.

The candidates: Republican Denver Riggleman, a businessman and Air Force veteran, defeated Democratic candidate and former investigative journalist Leslie Cockburn in the open race for the fifth district.

The district: Virginia's 5th district occupies a large swatch of central Virginia, including the city of Charlottesville. Its Cook Political Rating is R+6. 

Predictions and polls: FiveThirtyEight rated the race in the 5th district lean Republican, giving Riggleman a 7 in 10 chance of winning. An Oct. 22-26 Siena College/NYT poll showed Cockburn leading Riggleman by one point.

Florida's 15th district: Republican Ross Spano defeats Democratic opponent Kristen Carlson 53% to 47%.

The candidates: After the district's Republican congressman decided not to run for re-election, State Representative Ross Spanowon the primary to challenge former prosecutor and attorney Kristen Carlson. While Spano defeated Carlson, she outraised himby more than a 3-to-1 margin.

The district: Florida's 15th district, created after a 2015 redistricting, includes several Tampa suburbs including Brandon and Lakeland, and stretches inland towards the city of Orlando.

Predictions and polls: FiveThirtyEight rated the race as lean Republican the day of the election, giving Spano a 5 in 8 chance of winning. An Oct. 16-19 Siena College/NYT poll showed Spano and Carlson in a dead heat, with 43% of voters expressing support for each.

• Democrats on Tuesday flipped the House of Representatives in a major rebuke of Donald Trump's presidency.
• Now that they control the House, Democrats plan to launch an investigative blitz against the White House and Russian interests.
• They also plan to focus significant resources on examining the administration's healthcare and economic agenda.

Democrats regained control of the House of Representatives on Tuesday night in the 2018 midterm elections in a major rebuke of Donald Trump's presidency.

The win sparked renewed speculation about whether the party will move to impeach Trump.

But few Democrats want to actively talk about impeaching Trump, whether it's on Capitol Hill or on the campaign trail. For many, the issue is a nuisance and a distraction from more serious matters. Senior leadership has also repeatedly cautioned against impeachment, warning that it would only deepen partisan squabbling in Congress.

Instead of impeachment, Democrats plan to tighten the screws by mounting an investigative blitz against the White House and Russian interests.

"I am not looking for headlines," Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, the top Democrat on the powerful House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, told The New York Times earlier this year. "I am going to be defending the truth. We want to look at what is happening under this administration because all of us can agree this is not normal."

According to two sources close to the House Intelligence Committee, who requested anonymity to speak freely about post-election plans, Democrats plan to focus a significant amount of energy on reopening the panel's now-shuttered investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, and whether members of the Trump campaign colluded with Moscow to tilt the race in his favor.

"On a whole host of investigative threads, our work is fundamentally incomplete, some issues partially investigated, others, like that involving credible allegations of Russian money laundering, remain barely touched," Rep. Adam Schiff, the panel's ranking member, said after chairman Devin Nunes, a Republican, shut down the investigation earlier this year.

"If the Russians do have leverage over the president of the United States, the majority has simply decided it would rather not know," Schiff said.

Democrats also plan to reintroduce legislation safeguarding the integrity of the FBI's ongoing Russia investigation by protecting key figures like special counsel Robert Mueller and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. Moreover, they want to bring legislation protecting future elections from foreign influence by countering nation-state sponsored cyberattacks and disinformation campaigns.

Read more:A string of recent revelations paints a stark picture of Russia's ongoing campaign to meddle in the 2018 midterms

Where the White House is concerned, one source close to the House Oversight Committee said Democrats want to pressure the president to beef up surveillance bodies that are tasked with overseeing the intelligence community, like the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board.

The source said Democrats also plan to scrutinize the White House's process of granting security clearances. The issue took center stage this year after the White House raised red flags by granting high level clearances to White House staffers like former staff secretary Rob Porter. In February, the White House downgraded the clearances of more than 30 aides, revoking their top-secret level access.

The president also attracted sharp criticism when he revoked former CIA Director John Brennan's security clearance in August and announced he would be revoking the clearance of several other current and former law enforcement and intelligence officials. All the names on the list were people who have been critical of the president in the past and were involved in the Russia investigation.

Reviewing Trump's process in granting and revoking clearances will be a "top priority" for Democrats, the source close to the House Oversight Committee said, adding that lawmakers would also subpoena documents related to the revocation of Brennan's clearance.

Trump could face dozens of nightmare scenarios

House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer outlined several other areas Democrats will prioritize, most of which involved the administration's economic and health care agendas.

The committees on the budget, ways and means, and financial services will likely probe Trump's handling of the US economy and budgetary process, while others would look into botched natural disaster responses.

Among the highest priorities for Democrats is the Trump administration's dismantling of former President Barack Obama's signature policy, the Affordable Care Act.

"In terms of oversight, we'll be looking at what they're doing administratively to undermine the operations of the Affordable Care Act and what consequences they may have caused to literally millions of people," Hoyer said in a meeting with reporters in September.

An area that could be particularly stressful for Trump is the probing of his personal finances and benefits his properties and companies may or may not be receiving during his presidency.

"I think we'll try to focus on issues which undermine the American people," Hoyer added. "Also I think we want to focus on the integrity of the interests of the president in terms of what interests he has and is he pursuing policies that are in the public's interest or in the Trump investment interest."

The pledge by Democrats to pursue countless investigations into the Trump administration could put a serious hindrance on Republicans' agenda — and create dozens of nightmare scenarios for the president.

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NOW WATCH: Trump once won a lawsuit against the NFL — but the result was an embarrassment