Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jon Greenert outlined in a speech last week what the Navy would hope to see in a next-generation strike aircraft. Tellingly, Greenert's ideal bears little resemblance to the trillion-dollar F-35, as David Larter reports for the Navy Times.  

For instance, the most senior naval officer in the US Navy said that "stealth may be overrated," a statement that could interpreted as a swipe at the troubled F-35.

"What does that next strike fighter look like?" Greenert said during the speech in Washington. "I'm not sure it's manned, don't know that it is. You can only go so fast, and you know that stealth may be overrated ... Let's face it, if something moves fast through the air, disrupts molecules and puts out heat — I don't care how cool the engine can be, it's going to be detectable. You get my point."

Greenert's has a long-standing skepticism of stealth, which he believes will not be able to keep up with advances in radar technology. In 2012, Greenert wrote that "[i]t is time to consider shifting our focus from platforms that rely solely on stealth to also include concepts for operating farther from adversaries using standoff weapons and unmanned systems — or employing electronic-warfare payloads to confuse or jam threat sensors rather than trying to hide from them."

Greenert's position on the questionable utility of stealth meshes with what certain figures in the US defense industry are saying, with Boeing taking the view that electro-magnetic warfare and the use of jamming technology is fundamentally more important than stealth. Boeing and Lockheed Martin, the company that produces the F-35, often compete for similar military contracts.  

"Today is kind of a paradigm shift, not unlike the shift in the early part of the 20th century when they were unsure of the need to control the skies," Mike Gibbons, the vice president for Boeing's F/A-18 Super Hornet and EA-18G Growler programs, told Business Insider. "Today, the need to control the EM [electro-magnetic] spectrum is much the same."

"Stealth technology was never by itself sufficient to protect any of our own forces," Gibbons said.

Boeing's EA-18G Growler specializes in disrupting enemy sensors, interrupting command and control systems, and jamming weapons' homing systems.

Boeing believes that its Growlers compliment Lockheed's F-35. Ultimately, the Navy remains lukewarm about the acquisition of the F-35. For 2015, the Navy ordered only two F-35s, which which lawmakers increased to four. The Marines requested six and the Air Force ordered 26 of the planes for the coming year. 

The US plans to purchase 1,763 F-35s by 2037, according to Reuters.

SEE ALSO: The US Air Force's biggest research program is also one of its most mysterious

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NOW WATCH: The Taiwan Navy Just Unveiled A Stealth Missile Warship Dubbed The 'Carrier-Killer'

Donetsk (Ukraine) (AFP) - A ceasefire agreed between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian rebels came into force Sunday, the first step in a fragile peace plan aimed at ending 10 months of conflict in east Ukraine.

The truce officially started at midnight Ukraine time (2200 GMT on Saturday) but surging fighting in the run-up to the ceasefire has already cast doubt on whether it will be respected.

Under the terms of the deal, inked Thursday after marathon talks in Minsk between the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France, the two warring sides have two days from the start of the truce to start pulling back heavy weapons from the frontline.

The last-ditch peace plan is seen as the best hope of ending the violence that has claimed at least 5,480 lives since April but scepticism remains high after the collapse of a similar previous deal.

Ferocious fighting raged in the hours before the ceasefire was set to come into effect, with Ukraine and the United States accusing Russia of piling in weapons to fuel a rebel onslaught to grab territory.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier warned Saturday of dire consequences for Europe if the Ukraine ceasefire fails.

"If we fail now in our efforts, all parties involved in the region... will pay a high price," Steinmeier said during a visit to Lima.

"I call on the warring parties to act sensibly and avoid further escalation."

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Beaver Creek (United States) (AFP) - Olympic champion Mikaela Shiffrin saved her best for last Saturday, defending her world slalom crown with a blistering second run in the final ladies event of the Beaver Creek Worlds.

The 19-year-old American clocked a time of one minute 38.48 seconds, topping an earlier run by silver medallist Frida Hansdotter of Sweden, who finished 0.34sec behind. Czech Sarka Strachova was 0.43sec back of Hansdotter for the final podium spot.

Shiffrin becomes just the third woman to win the slalom title in back-to-back Worlds and the first world champion to win on home snow since 1997 when Italian Deborah Compagnoni did it in Sestriere.

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On Tuesday, Brian Williams was suspended for six months as anchor and managing editor of "NBC Nightly News."

The network's announcement comes after Williams was forced to apologize for and recant his story about being on board a helicopter forced down by RPG fire during the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Before Williams' news career was called into question last week, the 55-year-old was known as America's most trusted anchor.

Brian Williams' unlikely road to fame >

Until last week, Williams was known as the Emmy-winning anchor and managing editor of "NBC Nightly News." But TV news was initially an industry in which Williams struggled to enter after he dropped out of college.

Recently earning a $10 million annual salary, Williams went bankrupt in his early 20s after "a failed experiment in local news."

It wasn't until a news director in Washington, D.C., took a chance on Williams that he resumed his on-air career years later.

MediabistroTV spoke to Williams about his big break and success after failure.

As Williams grew up in New Jersey, it was "very clear all along that I had to work, I had to support myself. I was working a series of jobs and I had an epiphany [after dropping out of George Washington University] that I had to at least try something that I always wanted to try."

"My late mother always used to say about people on local news in New York, 'I think you could do better than some of these people.' I don't know what she based that on, but I loaded up what few belongings I had and moved to Pittsburg, Kansas."

"I worked at a small television station for 13 months and started making $168 a week for a seven-day work week."

Kiev (AFP) - The peace process in Ukraine is being "threatened" by pro-Russian separatists who have virtually encircled Ukrainian troops in the key battleground town of Debaltseve, President Petro Poroshenko said early Sunday, shortly after the start of an agreed ceasefire.

"Unfortunately, the peace process is threatened, the rebels will use Debaltseve to undermine the ceasefire," Poroshenko said during a meeting with the army chief of staff broadcast live on television, after ordering the military to implement the ceasefire from midnight (2200 GMT Saturday).

"As supreme commander of the armed forces, I want peace," Poroshenko added.

A surge in fighting around the strategic railway hub of Debaltseve in the hours before the ceasefire has cast doubt on whether the truce will be respected.

The fragility of the ceasefire was further highlighted when rebels on Saturday warned that they would consider it an act of aggression if surrounded Kiev forces made any attempts to move out of Debaltseve after the ceasefire's start. 

"These attempts will be stopped by us and the enemy will be destroyed," said Donetsk rebel leader Alexander Zakharchenko -- considered by the West to be a Kremlin puppet. 

Kiev in turn accused Zakharchenko of essentially announcing that his forces would not respect the ceasefire. 

"This is just more proof of the undisguised attempts by Russia and the terrorists it controls to scuttle the agreements for a ceasefire and peaceful resolution," Ukraine's national security council said in a statement.

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Who can resist romance between the commander-in-chief and the first lady on Valentine's Day?

Married on October 18, 1992, Barack and Michelle Obama have captured our hearts with their love for one another.

Obama mentions his wife in almost every speech he gives, and often seems unable to resist showering his wife with PDA, even when the cameras are rolling.

While President Obama spent the weekend golfing in California, the First Lady sent him a  Valentine's Day message via Twitter.

At the end of his weekly address, President Obama wished his wife a Happy Valentine's Day.

Even though they are across the nation from each other today, we have collected a few of our favorite photos of America's first couple's most romantic moments.

Brett LoGiurato contributed to this report.

Secret Service agents avert their eyes as the Obamas share a private moment on Inauguration Day 2009.

Dancing at the White House during the Governors Ball in February 2009.

Holding hands while heading to Camp David for the first time in March 2009.

Every time you finish an Uber ride, you give your driver a rating from one to five stars. Chances are you probably don't put a lot of thought into that rating, but for Uber drivers, it's crucial.

Uber uses driver ratings to create an average rating for each driver. And if a driver's rating slips below a certain amount, they're booted off Uber, left to either try other ridesharing services or change their job.

Uber's San Francisco office sent a guide to all of its drivers in 2014 that explained how the driver-rating system works, and how drivers can improve their scores. 

The document says that 4.6 is the important number when it comes to driver ratings. If a driver's rating is 4.6 or lower then Uber is going to start considering kicking that driver off the system. 

This chart shows the distribution between the different driver ratings:

The 2014 document says that only 2-3% of drivers are in the danger zone below a 4.6 average rating, putting them at risk of deactivation. It also says that "deactivating the accounts of the drivers who provide consistently poor experiences ensures that Uber continues to be known for quality."

Uber's weekly email newsletter

Uber drivers (or "partners," as they're known) are sent an email newsletter every week by Uber which covers fares, surge pricing, and other important information.

If a rider is underperforming it includes a line of red text to let them know that their average rating is low. Like this:

This diagram is also included to remind drivers to keep their rating high.

There's another driver statistic that Uber tracks

The driver rating isn't the only statistic that Uber tracks. It also looks at something called the "Acceptance rate." When a rider requests a trip through Uber, the nearest driver gets a "ping" telling them that someone wants a ride. They have 15 seconds to tap on the screen of their phone and accept the ping, otherwise it goes to another rider. The percentage of pings accepted is the acceptance rate.

Uber tells drivers that they should keep above an 80% acceptance rate, but "the closer to 100% the better."

It includes the statistic in the weekly email that is sent out to drivers:

Why drivers get low ratings

The Uber guide to the driver ranking system also includes information on what causes riders to leave low ratings. 

Here's a chart created by Uber that shows the most frequent complaints that Uber customers have (the annotations are Uber's own):

Uber says that it takes a lot for a driver to receive a one-star rating. In fact, as of 2014, only 1% of driver ratings are one-star, and 5% of trips are rated three stars or lower. The leading causes of one-star ratings are fights or harassment, a problem that Uber has repeatedly struggled with.

There's a common myth shared amongst Uber drivers that their ratings actually get worse during the busiest times. They think working late nights over the weekends will result in the worst ratings. But Uber denies that. It offers up this chart as proof that late-nights actually give better ratings:

What drivers can do to improve their rating

The most useful part of the Uber guide for its drivers will probably be the advice on how to maintain a high score. Here's what Uber recommends:

• Offer passengers bottled water, chewing gum, snacks, mints and phone chargers.
• Keep your vehicle clean and well-maintained
• Dress appropriately
• Open the door
• Offer to carry bags
• Take the best route
• Be nice
• Pick up the right rider
• Don't ask for a five-star rating

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NOW WATCH: We Did The Math: Is Uber Really Cheaper Than A Taxi?

According to NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, 2014 was the hottest year in recorded history, which, for weather, starts in 1880.

The global temperature average has increased by 1.4 degrees F, which may not seem like a lot, but the effects of the increase are being seen and felt globally.

Droughts, wildfires, melting ice caps, and violent thunderstorms can be caused by heightened temperatures, and the wrath of these phenomena can be long lasting.

Water shortages in South America, raging wildfires in California, and shrinking glaciers in the Arctic are just some of the signs of the heat.

(Captions by Chelsea Harvey, Christian Storm, and Reuters)

2014 saw record-breaking temperatures all over the world. In Europe alone, new record high temperatures were set in 14 countries, making 2014 the hottest year in Europe as a whole in history. Here, people sunbathe on the beach of Wannsee near to Berlin, July 20, 2014.

Source: The Conversation, EURO4M Climate Indicator Bulletin

Heat prevailed elsewhere in the world, too. Here, a woman transports a drum after filling it with free drinking water supplied by a municipal corporation water tanker at a slum on a hot summer day in New Delhi, June 16, 2014. Periods of extreme temperatures have led to thousands of deaths since the 1990s, largely in rural areas where basic infrastructure is poor. In 2014, it was reported that up to 100 people were dying a day because of the heat.

Source: The Times of India

And in Beijing, temperatures hit a record high of about 104 degrees F in May, the highest since 1951. The roasting conditions are exemplified by this man in an opened shirt walking along a street in Beijing, May 30, 2014.

US markets are closed Monday for President's Day.

But there's plenty of stuff to watch on the economic calendar during this four-day week.

Here's your Monday Scouting Report:

Top Stories

• About all that money everyone's saving on gas... Tumbling oil prices was supposed to be a mega-stimulus for the America consumer, especially the poorest consumers who are more likely to put away those newfound savings. However, the data suggest spending has been on the disappointing side. In January, retail sales excluding autos and gas climbed by just 0.2%, missing economists' expectations for 0.4% growth.
  
  "We suspect that there are a number of factors at play that have worked to minimize the impact from lower prices at the pump," Wells Fargo's Mark Vitner said. "For starters there is simple arithmetic. While the typical consumer will save between $500 and $800 this year from lower gasoline prices, they do not receive a check up front. Instead, the savings accrue gradually as they fill up their tanks from week to week. On a weekly basis, the saving work out to between $10 and $15, which is meaningful for lower and middle income households, but not enough to finance a spending spree, particularly right off the bat."
  
  And then there's the fact that there's less driving today then there was back in the day. From Vitner: "Another possible explanation for why lower gasoline prices have not given retail sales a bigger pop is that you have to drive regularly to save much money on gasoline. The slide in the labor force participation rate from 66.4% prior to the recession to 62.9% today means that there are fewer people than there would otherwise be driving to work and back  each day or looking for work."
  

Economic Calendar

• Empire State Manufacturing Survey (Tues): Economists estimate the this regional manufacturing index slipped to 8.5 in February from 9.95 in January. "The Empire State index bounced back in January after an unexpected decline in the prior month," Nomura economists said. "Gains in the orders measures in this report in January provide support for activity in the NY region this month. Possible downside risks include the snowstorm which affected sections of New York late last month and the general slowing in economic momentum recently."
• NAHB Housing Market Index (Tues): Economists estimate this builder sentiment index climbed to 58 in February from 57 in January. "The labor market continues to improve, likely boosting confidence," Bank of America Merrill Lynch economists said. "However, interest rates started to edge higher and weather conditions were exceptionally poor in parts of the country."
• Housing Starts (Wed): Economists estimate the pace of starts fell 1.7% in January to an annualized rate of 1.07 million. The pace of building permits is estimated to have climbed 1.0% to 1.068 million. "The weakness should primarily be in the single family sector, as starts fall back in line with the pace of permits," Bank of America Merrill Lynch economists said. "The weather is unlikely to have a big impact since conditions were close to normal during the month. The heavy snowfall didn’t begin until February, which implies downside risks to construction in February."
• Producer Price Index (Wed): Economists estimate PPI fell 0.4% month-over-month in January. Excluding food and energy, core PPI is estimated to have climbed by just 0.1%. From Morgan Stanley's Ted Wieseman: "Wholesale gasoline prices plummeted over 25% over the PPI survey period, and with similar weakness in other petroleum products and also downside in natural gas utility prices after a sharp pullback in natural gas prices the past two months, we look for overall PPI energy to be down a near-record 12%, driving a sharp drop in headline PPI and lowering the year/year rate to 0.1% from 1.1%. For the core – ex food, energy, and trade services — dollar strength, energy price passthrough, and sluggish global growth are likely to keep core goods under pressure, partly offsetting modest upside in services to lead to a small monthly gain and deceleration in the year/year pace to 1.2% from 1.3%."
• Industrial Production (Wed): Economists estimate industrial production increased by 0.3% in January as capacity utilization climbed to 79.9%. "Positive signs from the market, including a rise in manufacturing employees and steady average weekly hours indicate that production has picked up over the past few weeks," Wells Fargo's John Silvia said.
• FOMC Minutes (Wed): The Federal Reserve will release the minutes of its Jan. 27-28 Federal Open Market Committee meeting at 2:00 p.m. ET. From Credit Suisse: "It will be interesting to observe whether the committee's worries had intensified along with the dollar's gains. We suspect that while foreign developments may have taken a more important position on the Fed's radar, the FOMC is still working on the assumption that it will initiate a slow, cautious policy normalization process with a rate hike around mid-year. And to the extent the global picture brightens, the path to policy lift-off should become smoother still."
• Initial Jobless Claims (Thurs): Economists estimate the weekly jobless claims climbed to 290,000 from 304,000 a week ago. "Jobless claims are the most important [data release on Thursday] as they cover the February employment survey week," Deutsche Bank's Joe Lavorgna said. "We are preliminarily projecting a 250k increase in February nonfarm payrolls."
• Philadelphia Fed Business Outlook (Thurs): Economists estimate this activity index jumped to 9.0 in February from 6.3 in January. "The Philly Fed manufacturing index fell over 30 points between November and January," Nomura economists noted. "Activity appeared to fall in that region to start the year, and the recent declines in energy prices and prospects of weaker global growth may be negatively impacting business sentiment."
• Markit US Manufacturing PMI (Fri): Economists estimate this manufacturing index slipped to 53.6 in February from 53.9 in January.

Market Commentary

Analysts have done almost nothing but cut their forecasts for near-term earnings growth thanks to falling oil prices and a strengthening dollar.

"The Q1 bottom-up EPS estimate (which is an aggregation of the estimates for all the companies in the index) dropped by 7.4% (to $27.31 from $29.48) during the first half of the quarter," FactSet's John Butters writes. "In fact, this marks the largest percentage decrease in the bottom-up EPS estimate for the S&P 500 for the first half of a quarter since Q2 2009 (-7.5%)."

And yet the stock market remains resilient with the S&P 500 closing at a record high of 2,096 on Friday.

For more insight about the middle market, visit mid-marketpulse.com.

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NOW WATCH: Nationwide's Super Bowl commercial about dead children is about corporate profits ... in a way that we can all appreciate

At $600 billion a year in sales, food and beverage is by far the largest retail category in the U.S. by a wide margin. However, it's also the category that has been the least disrupted by e-commerce; less than 1% of food and beverage sales currently occur online, according to BI Intelligence's estimates.

But shopping habits are changing, and niche online grocery services that compete on convenience and selection are gaining traction. Meanwhile tech giants like Amazon are fronting the cost of expensive delivery infrastructure that has so far held back grocery e-commerce. 

In a new in-depth report, BI Intelligence looks at why the grocery business has proved so challenging to e-commerce companies — from consumer reluctance to complicated and expensive logistics — and what new strategies e-commerce startups and big-name tech companies are pursuing to push more grocery sales online. Between 2013 and 2018, online grocery sales will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 21.1%, reaching nearly $18 billion by the end of the forecast period. For comparison, offline grocery sales will rise by 3.1% annually during the same period. 

Access The Full Report And Downloadable Charts By Signing Up For A Free Trial>>

Here are some of the key findings explored in the report: 

• There are a number of disadvantages to buying groceries online on both the consumer and business side, such as the cost and complexity of logistics, shipping fees, and the quality and freshness of orders. For online grocers to deliver the freshness consumers want, they have to be able to deliver orders fast while maintaining the quality of easily damaged foods like produce.
• But there are still some advantages to online grocery shopping, in particular convenience and a large selection of products. Only 15% of U.S. adults have purchased general food items online, but 25% said they have bought specialty food and beverages online, which are hard to find elsewhere.
• New startups that focus on concierge shopping and subscription prepared meals are innovating on the online grocery model and offering services that really are differentiated from traditional supermarket shopping. We believe these services could change the way people shop for food. In addition, established online grocers have an opportunity in enterprise grocery sales, which lowers costs through bulk purchases.
• Some of the biggest names in tech — Amazon, eBay, and Google — are beginning to offer and promote same-day delivery services. As consumers get used to the convenience of ordering something online and receiving it the same day, grocery e-commerce may benefit too, with people more likely to buy food they know they will get quickly. While same-day delivery comes with a big price tag, 25% of millennials said they would pay a premium for same-day delivery.

To access the E-Commerce Grocery Report and BI Intelligence's ongoing coverage of the future of retail, mobile, and e-commerce — including downloadable charts, data, and analysis — sign up for a free trial. 

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NOW WATCH: 14 things you didn't know your iPhone headphones could do

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NOW WATCH: Mark Cuban: Here's The Hardest Part Of Being A Billionaire

The plunging oil price has pummelled private equity but may now help it

OIL'S fall may be good for consumers, but it has hurt big private-equity firms. Earlier this month Apollo Global Management announced that profits were down by 79% year on year in the three months to December 31st. This week KKR and the Carlyle Group said they were smarting too, with KKR's profits down by 94% and Carlyle's by 68%. Energy-related assets, whose valuations have fallen with the oil price, are largely to blame.

Spurred on by the shale boom in America, private-equity funds have invested heavily in the energy sector. More money was raised for energy buy-outs in America in 2014, and more deals were made, than ever before, according to Preqin, a data provider. "All sorts of folks who would never have dreamed of oil and gas piled in, often loading companies with debt," says Joel Moser of Aquamarine Investment Partners, a fund that has invested in the sector for decades.

Private-equity firms mainly invested in oilfield-services companies, which support the industry but do not own oil themselves. Because such firms are involved in a variety of activities there is greater scope for the type of restructuring private-equity types specialise in, such as selling off less-profitable units or firing people. But the buy-out firms had also begun to invest in oil companies themselves--a more straightforward bet on the oil price.

Carlyle's earnings were dragged down by its stake in SandRidge Energy, a debt-laden oil-and-gas exploration company, which lost 58% of its value over the quarter and has just announced that it is mothballing most of its drilling rigs. Shares in EP Energy, an oil-and-gas company of which Apollo owns about a quarter, are down by 40%. And Samson, an American producer partly owned by KKR, has also fallen in value. (One buy-out firm that got away relatively unscathed was the last of the "big four", Blackstone. Sceptical about $100 oil, it started selling energy assets in 2013.)

Despite such losses, private-equity investors are now more interested in the sector than ever, according to Antoon Schneider from the Boston Consulting Group. Buy-out funds love distressed assets. Many see the situation now as akin to the collapse in property prices in 2008, when investors who had borrowed too much (including many private-equity funds) were forced to sell as prices plummeted.

Blackstone's chief executive, Stephen Schwarzman, said in December that the turmoil would be a "wonderful, wonderful opportunity for us".

The giddiness is not without reason: prices for energy-related assets have been slashed indiscriminately. Some oil-services firms that cater to ongoing operations--by providing maintenance for offshore rigs, for example--may have been hit unfairly hard and could well bounce back.

Companies that specialise in more expensive ways of getting oil out of the ground, such as makers of offshore drilling rigs and construction vessels, were already suffering from the problem of overcapacity before the price fell and are now in even worse shape. Private equity thrives on such price swings.

Another way to cash in is through credit provision. The volume of high-yield debt in the energy sector is now three times what it was in 2008, according to Credit Suisse. Cheap oil is imperilling borrowers, such as American shale producers, who need cash to stay afloat until prices (they hope) rebound. With banks unwilling to lend and many companies desperate not to sell assets, private-equity firms can name their terms when offering financing.

Such thoughts have sent the buy-out titans into a fund-raising frenzy. Blackstone alone says it has a war chest of $9 billion available for energy investments, not to mention the energy-related debts it might buy through credit funds. Warburg Pincus, another private-equity firm, closed a $4 billion energy fund late last year. Apollo is also raising a multi-billion-dollar fund.

All of which holds out a ray of hope for those private-equity funds that are currently sitting on devalued energy investments, provided they can afford to wait it out.

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NOW WATCH: 14 things you didn't know your iPhone headphones could do

Tim Urban has created a wonderful series of infographics over at "Wait But Why."

The graphics illustrate "your life in weeks."

If you're an American male and you make it to the average life expectancy of just over 76 years, you'll live about 3,962 weeks.

If you're a American female, you'll probably live longer — about 81 and a quarter years, or 4,225 weeks.

Either way, it's startling to see all those weeks laid out in a single chart. And it's sobering to see how relatively few of them you probably have left.

Here, for example, is Urban's chart of the "life of the typical American."

Each row is a year. Each dot in each row is a week.

The colors show the basic periods in the typical life.

Holy crap! If I live an average life span for my gender, I only have another 1,404 weeks!

(Click through for bigger and better)

Check out the rest of Tim Urban's graphics here >

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NOW WATCH: Research Reveals Why Men Cheat, And It's Not What You Think

Sydney (AFP) - Ireland will hope history repeats itself when they face the West Indies in their World Cup opener in Nelson on Monday.

The last two editions of cricket's global showpiece event have seen Ireland establish themselves as the game's leading giantkillers, with the men in green defeating Pakistan in the Caribbean in 2007 before, on the back of Kevin O'Brien's fastest-ever World Cup century, they beat England in a memorable night in Bangalore four years later.

But prior to those triumphs it was their win over the touring West Indies at Sion Mills back in 1969, where the visitors were skittled out for just 25, that remained Ireland's best-known victory.

Much has changed for both sides since that extraordinary encounter, with the West Indies -- who won the first two World Cups -- dominating world cricket from the mid 1970s to the early 1990s before suffering a sharp decline while Ireland, no longer a team of happy-go-lucky amateurs, are pushing for elevation to Test status.

Monday's match promises to be a particularly memorable occasion for Ireland coach Phil Simmons, the former West Indies batsman.

With four teams from each of the two pools qualifying for the quarter-finals, Ireland know that if they can knock over at least one of the Test sides in their group as well as the United Arab Emirates, they could reach the knockout stages.

One longstanding feature of the West Indies' protracted decline from their days at the summit of world cricket has been a series of increasingly bitter disputes between players and administrators.

Arguably the all-time low came as recently as October when a row over contractual terms led the West Indies to cut short their tour of India following a player boycott.

Amid the ensuing recriminations, all-rounders Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard, two of the West Indies' leading one-day players, were left out of the World Cup squad, with the 23-year-old Jason Holder given the seemingly poisoned chalice of captaincy.

- Vocal Gayle -

Ireland's Niall O'Brien, the brother of Kevin, said he hoped the behind-the-scenes unrest would work in his side's favour.

"Chris Gayle has been very vocal in not having his friends Pollard and Dwayne Bravo in the side, which is understandable, and their results haven’t been too great so far," O'Brien told the Irish Times. 

"But they're a world-class team with people like Gayle and (Marlon) Samuels, and we need to be on top of our game, but I think it’s a game we know we can win."

Holder too did not shy away from the absence of Bravo and Pollard, saying: "Not having them would be a huge loss to any side. But it's beyond our control and we have to accept it and move on."

Powerful opener Gayle has been struggling for runs lately but if the left-hander comes good, and West Indies bat first, an emerging trend at this World Cup could be maintained.

So far, all four matches at the tournament have been won by the side batting first putting at least 300 on the board.

India, the defending champions, kept the sequence going with a score of 300 for seven in their 76-run win over Pakistan on Sunday -- a match watched by an estimated global audience of 2.5 billion.

Virat Kohli, with 107, became the first Indian batsman to score a World Cup hundred against arch-rivals Pakistan.

South Africa piled up 339 for four in an ultimately convincing win over Zimbabwe but only after a new record fifth-wicket one-day international stand of 256 between David Miller (138 not out) and JP Duminy (115 not out) rescued them from the depths of 83 for four.

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Paris (France) (AFP) - Veteran French actor Louis Jourdan, who starred in "Gigi" and "Octopussy", has died in Los Angeles at the age of 93, his official biographer Olivier Minne said Sunday.

Jourdan died of natural causes at his Beverly Hills home on Saturday, Minne told AFP from Paris. "He embodied French elegance and Hollywood offered him the parts to go with that," Minne said.

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On 2.5 acres in Houston, Texas, an anonymous owner has erected an enormous 27,000-square-foot chateau that’s being sold for $43 million.

The newly built monumental mansion is reminiscent of Versailles with hand-painted decorations, period-inspired molding, and its lavishly gilted details.

It has eight bedrooms, seven full bathrooms and four half baths, a library, three different kitchens, and a fitness center. There's also has a pool, gardens, outdoor BBQ and fireplace, and pool house on the property. 

Kelli Geitner with Martha Turner Sotheby’s International Realty has the listing.

The newly constructed home sits on 2.5 acres in Houston, Texas.

It's massive with ample grounds and gardens.

The 27,000-square-foot mansion was modeled loosely after Versailles in Paris.

Tesla shares have been getting crushed on Thursday.

Following a fourth-quarter earnings report that disappointed, shares of the electric-car maker were down more than 7% as earnings and car deliveries disappointed in the final quarter of 2014.

In a note to clients after the report's release, analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, which has an underperform rating and a price target of $70 on Tesla shares (Tesla shares were trading just below $200 early Thursday), outlined numerous risks surrounding the company.

One of the risks highlighted by BofA is the "key-man" risk posed by the belief that a company helmed by CEO Elon Musk is in good hands, almost regardless of what the financial performance says. 

"In our view, many bulls view Elon Musk's leadership and business acumen as the crux of their investment thesis in Tesla shares," the firm writes. 

"In fact, we have been told on more than one occasion that betting against Musk is unwise. While we certainly cannot argue with the successes, both past and present, of Tesla's charismatic CEO, we do recognize the existence of key-man risk. In other words, investors should perhaps ask themselves how comfortable they would be with their investment if Elon Musk resigned from Tesla."

According to data from Bloomberg, BofA's $70 price target on Tesla is the lowest among major Wall Street firms covering the stock.

BofA adds that there are "many fundamental reasons" why it believes the stock is overvalued, and while there is a litany of views arguing in favor of the company's current valuation, BofA writes that it has "a hard time believing anyone would argue that the Tesla story would not change dramatically without Musk in the picture."

As for fourth-quarter-specific problems, BofA had this to say:

• Deliveries, revenue, and earnings were big misses.
• Tesla burned $455 million of free cash flow during the quarter.
• Operating expenses, capital expenditures, and cash burn were all higher than forecast, and there isn't much relief in sight.
• It could be hard for Tesla bulls to maintain their lofty expectations.

At the time BofA published its note, Tesla shares were down only slightly in after-hours trade Wednesday, and the firm wrote that "there is likely much more ahead," in terms of downside movement for the stock.

So far, that is playing out Thursday.

SEE ALSO: Tesla shares are getting crushed

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Will Smith's last film, "After Earth," was a domestic flop when it debuted in May 2013. 

The $130 million sci-fi flick from director M. Night Shyamalan, made just $60 million domestically. 

While the movie, also starring Smith's son, Jaden, went on to make $243.8 million worldwide, the Sony and Columbia Pictures film received terrible reviews for Smith's wasted talent and references to Scientology that seemed a little too strong in a mostly generic, slow-moving, and boring film.

In a new interview with Esquire, Smith acknowledges that "After Earth""was the most painful failure" in his career.

Smith says "After Earth" hit him harder than the critically-panned 1999 film "Wild Wild West," because his now 16-year-old son Jaden was in it with him. 

The film's failure led him to go on a hiatus for a year and a half to evaluate the sorts of movies he was putting out and contemplate why it was important for him to have a number-one movie at the box office.

Via Esquire:

Wild Wild West was less painful than After Earth because my son was involved in After Earth and I led him into it. That was excruciating. What I learned from that failure is how you win. I got reinvigorated after the failure of After Earth. I stopped working for a year and a half. I had to dive into why it was so important for me to have number-one movies. And I never would have looked at myself in that way. I was a guy who, when I was fifteen my girlfriend cheated on me, and I decided that if I was number one, no woman would ever cheat on me. All I have to do is make sure that no one's ever better than me and I'll have the love that my heart yearns for. And I never released that and moved into a mature way of looking at the world and my artistry and love until the failure of After Earth, when I had to accept that it's not a good source of creation.

Smith adds that the weekend after "After Earth" came out was a difficult time. Not only did he find out how poorly his film performed at theaters, but he also received bad news about his father.

"I get the box-office numbers on Monday and I was devastated for about twenty-four minutes, and then my phone rang and I found out my father had cancer," said Smith. "That put it in perspective—viciously. And I went right downstairs and got on the treadmill. And I was on the treadmill for about ninety minutes."

"And that Monday started the new phase of my life, a new concept: Only love is going to fill that hole. You can't win enough, you can't have enough money, you can't succeed enough. There is not enough. The only thing that will ever satiate that existential thirst is love. And I just remember that day I made the shift from wanting to be a winner to wanting to have the most powerful, deep, and beautiful relationships I could possibly have." 

Read the full interview at Esquire here.

SEE ALSO: Will Smith turned down 'Django Unchained' because he wouldn't be the lead

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Bitcoin is back in the news this year, and not necessarily for the best reasons. Early in the new year, the price of the virtual currency crashed by 30% in a matter of days. And more recently, a suspected Ponzi scheme disappeared with at least $8.1 million, leaving its Hong Kong customers in the lurch.

But there's been good news too. Startup Coinbase had a record-breaking funding round for the industry, and established a US-based exchange. The Winklevoss twins also plan to launch their own competitor called Gemini in the coming months, aiming to take Bitcoin "mainstream."

Either way, Bitcoin isn't going away any time soon, so it's important to understand how it works. Reuters has put together an infographic explaining the basics of the virtual currency, from transactions to mining.

Check it out:

SEE ALSO: Why Bitcoin's astonishing price collapse doesn't matter

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The most public of private residences is a fortified command center for nearly 17,000 employees and is the home of the most powerful person in the world. The 223-year-old White House, boasts 6 levels, 132 rooms, 35 bathrooms, 412 doors, 28 fireplaces, and requires 570 gallons of paint to cover its outside surface.

Here is an infographic of the White House republished with permission from Around the World: An Atlas for Today. 

Here is a closeup of the West Wing:

Here is a closeup of the Residence Villa:

The following text is reprinted from the infographic:

A. The President's Room

In the past, the room was used as a workplace for secretaries or the President himself. Today the room is used as a dining room.

B. The Oval Office

Probably the most famous room of the White House. The Oval Office, which is located in the West Wing, is the main workplace of the President. The windows are made of bullet-proof glass. Each President may redecorate the room as he wishes. 

C. The Cabinet Room

The US President meets with his ministers in this room. The sessions are rarely held in the White House. The President sits always at the middle of the table, the Vice President sits in the Oval Office directly opposite him. 

D. Blue Room

The Blue Room — blue upholstery, blue curtains, and blue carpets. This oval-shaped room has stayed the same color since 1837. Traditionally, the President greets state visitors and congress representatives here.

E. East Room

The large banqueting hall in the White House is reserved for large events, such as gala evening, state receptions, balls and, since the Kennedy administration, also to a greater extent for concerts. 

F. Office of the First Lady

This office in the East Wing is usually occupied by the wife of the President. Until now there has been only one exception: Hillary Clinton chose to occupy an office in the West Wing, the power center of the White House.

Infographic republished with permission from Around the World: An Atlas for Today published by Gestalten.

Alongside classic facts about nature, history, population, culture, and politics, Around the World’s compelling information graphics thoroughly explain complex processes that impact our lives such as global trade and changing demographics. 

The book gives added insight into our modern world through its visual exploration of subjects such as eating habits, overfishing, and internet providers, as well as events that have left indelible marks on our collective conscience including September 11, the Olympic Games, Japan’s Fukushima disaster, and the sinking of the Titanic.

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