US video game makers brought in about $2.6 billion in revenue back in 1996, but that number had skyrocketed to $21 billion by 2013.

The video game industry has obviously seen explosive growth, and an ex-professional StarCraft player and current Twitch star named Sean Plott has a theory about why.

It all starts with accessibility.

In many ways, video games have democratized sports. Anyone, big or small, can join in and, with enough practice, compete with the best of them. That accessibility, Plott told Business Insider, is going to push video games and e-sports to become one of, if not "the predominant hobby in the world."

"It is only natural for [the industry] to grow from here," Plott said. "Accessibility drives traffic and growth in technology. That's a proven trend in technology."

For many kids, video games today are just more accessible than traditional sports.

"If you want to play soccer, you need a huge field," Plott said. "If you want to play football, you need armor! If you want to play squash, you need a court. If you want to play a video game, all you need is a computer and an internet connection."

Let's say you like basketball, Plott explained. One day, you decide to watch one of the few games that makes it to national television. One of the more popular teams is on — the Cleveland Cavaliers — and you see Lebron James do an incredible dunk.

His dunk inspires you to play a game of pick-up basketball. To act on that desire, you must first find a basketball court at a park, change into gym clothes and sneakers, get a basketball, and, finally, convince a few friends to play.

If any of those things fall through — say your friends don't want to play or the court at the park is occupied — you are out of luck, according to Plott.

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

The recent announcement from Sweet Briar College that the school would close following the end of this semester caught faculty, students, and alumni by surprise.

The 114-year-old women's liberal arts college seemed to have a solid financial footing, with an endowment valued at nearly $100 million. Sweet Briar administrators cited several enrollment trends that informed their decision to close, including a decline in students interested in single gender education, as well as fewer students interested in rural schools.

However, it may not be so simple. Alumni are raising millions of dollars to keep the school open, and there are questions as to what will happen to Sweet Briar's campus — which had been designated as an all-women's school based on the founding benefactor's last will and testament.

Additionally, the college may have to may pay back much of its endowment, $53 million of which is designated as permanently restricted funds.

Now, a Virginia state senator is raising questions about the legality of Sweet Briar's closing.

"It seems to me if their duty is to try to fulfill the mission of the school, they ought to be making some effort to keep it open or at least look at the option of keeping it open," State Senator J. Chapman "Chap" Petersen told The News & Advance.

Petersen — whose grandmother graduated from Sweet Briar College — sent the following letter to Attorney General Mark Herring last week:

Dear Attorney General Herring:

I am writing at the request of alumnae of Sweet Briar College to obtain your opinion of state law as it pertains to the recently announced closing of the College.

As I understand, the College has a ninety four million dollar endowment and has been soliciting and collecting donations right up until a few weeks before the announced closing. I also understand that it owns a 3,200 acre campus with fixed assets, which is specially designated for the maintenance of a women's college. Finally, I understand that the founder's (and original land donor's) intent is for the purposes of establishing a women's college, and that it is an accredited institution operating a four-year program with approx. 525 full-time students.

With that factual predicate, I pose the following questions for your response:

1. What are the rights of the donors who made gifts to the institution in the past year, i.e. after the plans for closing had apparently been decided but not disclosed? Do they have a right to seek a refund if the school continues with its plan for closing?

2. What is the obligation of the school to its existing students, particularly those students who are within a year of achieving their degree?

3. What will happen to the property if it is no longer operating as a women's college? Does it not revert to the donating party?

4. What is the role of the Board of Visitors in this process? Does the Board have a fiduciary duty to protect the interests of donors and students, as well as the mission of the College?

Thank you again for considering these questions and providing an answer which I can share with those interested parties.

Sincerely,

JCP

We have reached out to Sweet Briar College, State Senator Petersen, and Attorney General Herring and will update with any comment we receive.

SEE ALSO: A Virginia college that's imploding can't be sold, according to the founder's last will and testament

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NOW WATCH: Animated map of what Earth would look like if all the ice melted

The HTC One M9 may have an overheating issue, according to a new report from Dutch website Tweakers.net (via 9to5Google).

The phone's surface registered at 133 degrees Fahrenheit during the website's testing, which was significantly higher than the temperatures reached by the iPhone 6 Plus, HTC One M8, LG G3, and Galaxy Note 4.

The photo from Tweakers.net shows how much hotter HTC's new phone became than its competitors during the same test. The image shows the rear surface temperature of each phone — which is the area of the phone you would feel against your hand while holding it. 

It's not uncommon for phones to heat up during testing, as 9to5Google points out, but it seems to be excessive with the One M9. There's been some speculation that the overheating could be caused by the chip that powers the phone, Qualcomm's Snapdragon 810. Samsung reportedly opted not to use that processor for its Galaxy S6 because of overheating issues. 

HTC said it doesn't "comment on tests on unreleased software" when Business Insider asked for comment. 

The HTC One M9 will launch this spring, but HTC hasn't announced a final date yet.

SEE ALSO: A funny parody video about how Apple made its new MacBook

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NOW WATCH: Things That iPhone Users Say That Drive Android Users Crazy

When Alibaba first started out in 1999, its founder Jack Ma pushed his employees hard to work longer hours so they could out-innovate competitors, especially the ones in Silicon Valley.

One of those innovations was revealed Sunday night, when Ma introduced a new project Alibaba has been working on lately: a facial recognition technology for mobile payments.

According to Re/code, Alibaba is working on a new technology called “Smile To Pay” that will allow users to make mobile payments by simply scanning their face. It would basically work the same way as Apple Pay does with fingerprints, where users can approve mobile payments with a single tap on the home button — only, Alibaba wants to replace fingerprints with the user’s face.

“[Using] online payments to buy things is always a big headache,” Ma said during his speech at CeBit conference in Germany on Sunday. “You forget your password, you worry about security. Today we’ll show you a new technology, how in the future people will buy things online.”

Ma went on to demonstrate the new product, which is currently in test-mode. He took out his smartphone, searched for a product on Alibaba, and simply pressed the “buy” button. Instantly, it brought up a facial recognition screen, and just like that, Ma was done with the purchase.

Ma didn’t take any follow-up questions for the new payment system, so it’s a bit unclear when to expect its official release. But Re/code says sources have told Alibaba is “quite serious about the technology,” while CNBC reports Smile To Pay will be first released in China.

Here’s a video of Ma’s presentation (Smile To Pay demonstration starts at 1:17:45):

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NOW WATCH: This is what happens to your brain and body when you check your phone before bed

The oil crash has hammered energy stocks.

When oil prices nose-dived more than 50% last year, energy stocks tumbled 26.5% from June to January. 

Right now, the oversupply that prompted the oil crash is getting worse and could further weaken oil prices, according to the International Energy Agency. 

The US is running out of storage space for oil, to the extent that storage is becoming a tradable commodity.

In a note Friday, Citi's Tobias Levkovich wrote that a nuclear deal with Iran that may bring its production back online could flood the oil market even more. That would put more downward pressure on oil prices and energy stocks.

And Levkovich adds that this could possibly weigh down the whole S&P 500:

"For those worrying about the broader market, it is worthwhile to note that Energy now is the highest beta sector in the S&P 500 and one of the highest industry groups (see Figure 13 and 14) and thus weakness could drag down the S&P 500 somewhat as well. Hence, the Cushing capacity problem may have more meaningful near-term implications."

Beta is a measure of a stock's volatility as it relates to the broader market, and vice versa.

A stock with a beta of 1 tends to move in-line with its benchmark index, while stock with a beta from 0 to 1 will generally move in the same direction — but less — than the index, and beta's over 1 will move in the same direction — but more — than the index. 

Because the energy sector's beta is so high, it would take a pretty big move in energy stocks to make a significant move in the broader market. It's this potential further decline to the downside, which Levkovich warns could be bad news for the S&P 500 overall.

Here is Citi's table summarizing the betas of various sectors and industries: 

On Sunday, West Texas Intermediate crude oil broke below $44 for the first time in six years. It fell by more than 4% on Monday.

By Citi's forecast, it could sink to as low as $20.

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NOW WATCH: The oil boom in North Dakota now has a serious sex-trafficking problem

Michael Dell and Marc Benioff are friends and Fitbit pal,s and now they've turned those things into a friendly rivalry for charity.

The CEO to log the most steps during a 5-day challenge wins, and Fitbit will donate $10,000 to American Heart Association in the victor’s honor.

Both of these men are huge philanthropists, Dell with his own foundation and Benioff with his 1-1-1 foundation model, so there's more than a little pride at stake here.

As part of the challenge, Dell, who describes himself as "competitive" wasn't above dishing out a little smack talk at his friend, either, in a Q&A conducted by Fitbit.

For instance, he told the story of how he was talking to reporters at his Dell World trade show about big data using Fitbit. "We scrolled through my leaderboard to see how I was doing relative to my friends. I was way ahead of Marc that day too, so this should be a lot of fun," Dell said.

Benioff concedes that Dell regularly beats him on Fitbit, saying, "Michael and I have been friends for many years and he’s actually called to check on me when my Fitbit shows that I’ve missed a few days. He logs an incredible amount of steps, so I know I am in for a challenge. I’ve joked before that I think Michael puts his Fitbit on his dog."

For the week, both are sharing their Fitbits stats and so far Dell is far ahead of Benioff. Dell has logged nearly 43,000 steps to Benioff's nearly 30,000. (On average, every 10,000 steps = about 5 miles.). Anyone can also join Team Dell or Team Benioff and donate money. For every dollar donated, the CEO gets 10 steps added to his total.

We're pretty certain Dell is feeling gratified by his progress over Benioff so far.

Dell said his mantra for this week was going to be #dellbeatsbenioff2015.

Here's the Q&A sent to us by Fitbit.

Fitbit: How has having friends on Fitbit like Marc Benioff / Michael Dell inspired you to be more active?

Michael Dell: I’m pretty active anyway, but I’m also competitive. Funny story. I was in a media interview at Dell World last fall, and we were on the topic of Big Data. I used my Fitbit as an example of the innate power of data to turn information into insights and actions. We scrolled through my leaderboard to see how I was doing relative to my friends. I was way ahead of Marc that day too, so this should be a lot of fun. J

Marc Benioff: Michael and I have been friends for many years and he’s actually called to check on me when my Fitbit shows that I’ve missed a few days. He logs an incredible amount of steps, so I know I am in for a challenge. I’ve joked before that I think Michael puts his Fitbit on his dog!

FB: How do you see wearable devices evolving in terms of how they will continue to change consumers’ approach to health and fitness?

MB: Fitbit is an amazing example of the power of wearables and data. It can track my location, my physical activity and my vital signs, like my heart rate. I have no doubt that in the future, wearable devices like Fitbit will know my blood pressure, hydration levels and blood sugar levels as well. All of this data has the potential to transform modern medicine and create a whole new era of personalized care.

MD: Wearable devices are here to stay, and they’ll only get more sophisticated and effective as they evolve. Until now, most of us have made our health and fitness decisions based on what we think we know about ourselves. Advancements in technology – wearables and otherwise – will eventually take much of the guess work out of healthy living. And we’ll all benefit from it.

FB: On a larger scope, where do you see the Internet of Things and connected devices going in the next five years?

MD: I think it’s the next trillion-dollar opportunity for growth – and not just for my industry but for all industries. The productivity, efficiency and insights that all that connectivity will bring to bear in the world is how we’ll continue to grow and thrive on a planet with a growing population and finite resources.

FB: Why are you participating in the Fitbit Celebrity Challenge benefiting American Heart Association?

MD: It’s a worthy cause, and a good excuse to have to some fun with Marc.

FB: In fitness, just like in business, a little competition can be a big motivator. During this Fitbit Challenge, what will you do to stay a step ahead of Marc/Michael, respectively, and what’s your mantra going to be?

MD: How about #dellbeatsbenioff2015? That has a nice ring to it.

SEE ALSO: LEAKED: Revenue and usage numbers for Microsoft's most important new business

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NOW WATCH: This 100-year-old celebrated her milestone birthday skydiving — and she even landed on her feet

Hiring managers decide whether they think you're intelligent, ambitious, and trustworthy within just a few seconds of meeting you. 

That's according to a study from 2000, which is cited in Google senior vice president of people operations Laszlo Bock's upcoming book, "Work Rules!" 

The study, by Tricia Pricket and Neha Gada-Jain, two psychology students at the University of Toledo, and their professor, Frank Berieri, found that judgments made in the first 10 seconds of a job interview could predict the outcome of the interview.

In a recent LinkedIn post, Bock shares a preview of the book. 

"Most interviews are a waste of time," he writes, "because 99.4% of the time is spent trying to confirm whatever impression the interviewer formed in the first 10 seconds."

He explains that interviewers do this by asking questions like, "Can you tell me about yourself?""What is your greatest weakness?" and "What is your greatest strength?"

In other words, he writes, most of what we think of as "interviewing" is "actually the pursuit of confirmation bias." 

So, the lesson here is this: Yes, you always need to make a killer first impression — but it's just as imperative that you maintain and reinforce it throughout the entire conversation. 

Click here to read the full LinkedIn post.

SEE ALSO: Google HR boss says this is the secret to happiness

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NOW WATCH: 7 smart questions to ask at the end of every job interview

In honor of St. Patrick's Day, we're taking a look at ten actors from Irish descent. And some may surprise you.

Whether hailing from Ireland or Hollywood, these actors have starred in huge franchises and won multiple Academy Awards.

But no surprise, considering they were born with the luck of the Irish.

10. Evanna Lynch

Birth place: Termonfeckin, County Louth, Ireland

Age: 23

Most well known films: Played Luna Lovegood in the "Harry Potter" series.

Irish ancestry: Born into a family of six in Ireland, Lynch often acted in school plays and attended a summer school for gifted teens in Dublin. After reading the "Harry Potter" books and becoming a fan, Lynch sent letters to author J.K. Rowling, who corresponded with Lynch during her two-year battle with anorexia at age 11 and 12.

In 2006, after auditioning for the role of Luna Lovegood at an open casting call in London among 15,000 other girls, Lynch was cast in the "Harry Potter" series at age 14. The actress made her on-screen debut in 2007's "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix."

9. The late Peter O'Toole

Birth place: Connemara, County Galway, Ireland

Age: O'Toole died in 2013 at the age of 81.

Most well known films:"Lawrence of Arabia" (1962), "The Lion in WInter" (1968), "My Favorite Year" (1982) O'Toole has been nominated for eight Oscars. In 2008, starred as Pope Paul III on "The Tudors."

Irish ancestry: After being born in Ireland, O'Toole was raised in England, where lived until his death.

From the book "Fame and Obscurity":

Though Peter O'Toole remains an uprooted Irishman by choice, he leaves London and returns to Ireland every now and then to do some drinking, to play the horses at the Punchestown racetrack outside Dublin, and to spend some solitary hours thinking. 

8. Stuart Townsend

Birth place: Howth, County Dublin, Ireland

Age: 42

Most well known films: "The League of Extraordinary Gentleman" (2003), "About Adam" (2000). Townsend made three movies with his former girlfriend of nine years, Charlize Theron: "Trapped" (2002), "Head in the clouds" (2004) and "Eon Flux" (2005).

Irish ancestry: Townsend was raised Irish Catholic by his professional golfer father and model mother. The actor began his career while attending the Gaiety School of Acting in Dublin and later made his professional stage debut in 1994's "True Lines" which was a part of the Dublin Theatre Festival. Before fame, Townsend formed a theatre group with his friends in Dublin where they re-enacted a popular childrens' show.

We came across a well-known Wall Street billionaire's signature in his firm's investment letter and couldn't believe how illegible it was. 

Can you figure it out?

Clue: This person's middle initial is not "C."

(Scroll down for the answer.) 

(Answer: Stephen A. Schwarzman, CEO of private equity firm The Blackstone Group) 

SEE ALSO: What the signatures of Wall Street's biggest titans say about their personalities

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NOW WATCH: If you're not using this data-searching trick in Excel, you're wasting lots of time

Conservation movement Freedom Conservation set a new world record by successfully flying an eagle equipped with a camera from the top of the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, in Dubai. 

Using one of the world’s smallest action cameras, a Sony Action Cam Mini, the flight recorded an extraordinary bird’s eye perspective of the landscape.

Video courtesy of Freedom Conservation

Follow Freedom Conservation on Facebook and YouTube

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Starbucks is in hot water after launching a campaign that encourages baristas to talk about race relations with customers.

Critics have been lashing out at the company on social media, saying Starbucks is trying to capitalize on racial tension in the US.

Following the backlash, Starbucks' senior vice president of communications, Corey duBrowa, appears to have deleted his Twitter account, which added to critics' outrage.

Twitter users claim they were blocked by duBrowa before his Twitter account went inactive.

Here's a cached version of duBrowa's Twitter account.

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NOW WATCH: What the Chinese saying 'The ugly wife is a treasure at home' actually means

I was recently browsing my bank account activity on the budgeting app Mint when I noticed a fee my bank (Citibank) had charged me for $12.

The charge was listed as an "Account Maintenance Fee."

(Yes, there's also an ATM fee in there, only because there wasn't a Citibank anywhere near me at the time.)

My immediate reaction was anger. That $12 could buy me some groceries!

When I had signed up for my checking account, I specifically remembered being told that as long as I made a direct deposit during each statement period, I wouldn't be charged any fees.

And I was pretty sure I had made a direct deposit during the past statement period.

So I decided to call my bank — not right then when I was irritated, but the next morning.

After working my way through a series of automated prompts, I found myself speaking to a friendly customer service representative, who ended up reversing the fee and crediting my account $12.

Here's roughly how the conversation went:

Bank: Hello, thank you for choosing Citibank as your financial partner. What can I do for you today?

Me: Hi, I'm calling because I was charged an account maintenance fee for $12, and I'm not sure why I was charged that.

Bank: Ok, let me just pull up your account information. You have a basic checking account, which means that in order not to be charged any fees, you either have to have maintained a balance of $1,500 for the prior calendar month, or you have to have made a direct deposit to the account and paid a bill during the statement period.

(I had forgotten that I not only had to make a direct deposit, but I also had to pay a bill.)

Me: Yes, and I'm pretty sure I've made a direct deposit and paid a bill, so I don't understand why I'm being charged. (I wasn't 100% sure that I actually had, but I was almost sure, so I decided to just go with that feeling.)

Bank: Ok, what I'm going to go ahead and do for you is reverse the charge and credit your account $12.

Me: Great, thank you.

And just like that I had my $12 back. The bank representative didn't actually check if I had made a direct deposit or paid a bill, she just refunded me.

Why?

I was pleasant and polite.

I said a friendly hello and goodbye, and I never cut her off. I listened to everything she had to say — from the fact that she was happy I had chosen Citibank as my financial partner, to her explanation of the bank's basic checking account requirements.

I kept my tone light.

I resisted the urge to start the phone call with something sassy like, "This fee is coming out of nowhere and I really shouldn't be paying it." Instead, I simply asked for an explanation of why I was being charged that fee, and that's what I framed the phone call around.

I never actually asked for a refund.

I have a feeling that if I had demanded a refund, the customer service rep would have been less likely to give it to me. I didn't go into the call assuming I would get the $12, I just thought I would call and see what happened.

So next time you're unhappy with something your bank did, just give them a call. Yes, it was only $12, but after about seven minutes, that $12 was back in my pocket, which is a better place for it to be than in my bank's pocket.

SEE ALSO: Ask Yourself These Questions Before Choosing A Bank

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NOW WATCH: Animated map of what Earth would look like if all the ice melted

Dublin (AFP) - Hundreds of thousands of green-clad revellers partied in Ireland for Saint Patrick's Day on Tuesday, as Prime Minister Enda Kenny hit out at Irish stereotypes following comments from Australian PM Tony Abbott.

After Abbott's video message which mentioned Irish drinking and singing, there was plenty of music in the streets of Dublin for the annual parade to celebrate the Emerald Isle's national day.

"There has been a long-term view of a stage Irish perception. I reject that," Kenny was quoted as saying by The Irish Times newspaper during a visit to Washington.

"I've heard the prime minister's comments. He made them. I don't agree with that."

Abbott had thanked the Irish for giving Australia "the love of life and good humour" and invited people to "share a Guinness or two and maybe even three".

The celebrations in Dublin were mirrored in towns and cities in Ireland and across the world.

Marching bands, Irish dancers and pageants celebrating contemporary Ireland paraded through Dublin as cheering crowds looked on.

US student Lindsey Lauritzen, 21, is studying in Northern Ireland and took a road trip to Dublin with friends on Tuesday. 

"We wanted to see what the real Irish do and so we can say we were here for Saint Patrick's Day because it seems like a legendary thing to do in our lives," she told AFP. 

- Tourism boost -

Saint Patrick's Day traditionally kick-starts the Irish tourism season with more than 120,000 visitors expected to arrive this week.

"It's worth about 140 million euros ($148 million) to our economy overall," said Tourism Minister Paschal Donohoe.

Tourism Ireland's annual "Global Greening" initiative saw more than 150 landmarks worldwide lit up green in honour of Saint Patrick's Day.

They included Niagara Falls, the Colosseum in Rome and the statue of Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro.

"We are using every opportunity to capitalise on Ireland's heightened profile this week," said Tourism Ireland's Niall Gibbons.

This year's parade theme was "Let's Celebrate Now", an exploration of modern Ireland's achievements in arts and culture.

The celebrations come a week after official data showed Ireland's economy grew at the fastest rate in Europe in 2014 -- and is forecast to repeat the feat this year.

Famed for its double-digit growth in the 1990s, Ireland's once-proud "Celtic Tiger" economy crashed in the late 2000s when a property bubble burst, forcing Dublin to seek an international bail-out.

This year's parade grand marshal, comedian and actor Brendan O'Carroll, said Irish people were slowly beginning to emerge from the shadow of recent years.

"There's a lot of optimism and I think we've been lacking that," he told AFP.

"We've been lacking any sense of hope and at least there's a little sense of hope now."

At the White House, Kenny will present US President Barack Obama -- who himself has Irish roots -- with the traditional gift of a bowl of shamrock, Ireland's three-leafed national emblem.

Kenny has used his trip to the US to reach out to Irish immigrants, weeks after he launched the country's first diaspora policy, supporting Irish emigrants and encouraging people who left during the financial crash to return.

The White House's South Lawn fountain was dyed green in celebration of Saint Patrick's Day.

Meanwhile in Britain, Prince William's heavily pregnant wife Kate presented the Irish Guards with traditional sprigs of shamrocks.

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Bud Light's #UpForWhatever hashtag backfired, and now people are accusing the brand of promoting rape. 

Here's the tweet that has some people furious. 

On #StPatricksDay you can pinch people who don't wear green. You can also pinch people who aren’t #UpForWhatever. pic.twitter.com/B9aATwrEXo

— Bud Light (@budlight) March 17, 2015

The tweet has received hundreds of responses who called the tweet "hurtful" and ignorant." 

Some went as far as to accuse the brand of sexual harassment. 

@budlight Wow. This is... so gross, offensive, and borderline rapey that I would stop drinking Bud Light, if I had ever drank Bud Light.

— Jace Proctor (@JacePro) March 17, 2015

.@budlight Shocked that this tweet got approved. Your messaging is hurtful, ignorant, and shows a lack of corporate responsibility. Not cool

— Jenna Clark Embrey (@JennaCEmbrey) March 17, 2015

STOP PERPETUATING RAPE CULTURE. @budlight

— nope fiend (@babyhorselegs) March 17, 2015

@NILEstyle_ I don't see any men being labeled as the ones who need to be up for whatever, do you?

— baby weasus (@weasel_babe) March 17, 2015

The brand's #upforwhatever slogan is supposed to support the idea that Bud Light drinkers are adventurous. 

But many people say a company so closely associated with college culture shouldn't be using the phrase. 

The company has yet to respond to the allegations on social media or delete the tweet.

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NOW WATCH: 6 Crazy Things Revealed In HBO's Explosive New Scientology Documentary 'Going Clear'

With "Furious 7"— the  latest installment of the "Fast and Furious" series —  set to kick off in a couple of weeks, we now know what car the film's villain will driving. 

It's a Jag!

Played by action star Jason Statham, the sinister Deckard Shaw opens the film behind the wheel a white Jaguar F-Type. 

Those who've been watching TV for past year shouldn't be all that surprised. 

Jaguar is in the midst of its "Good to be bad" marketing campaign, launched last year with a gloriously sinister Super Bowl ad.

The ad, featuring such stalwart British movie villains as Sir Ben Kingsley, Mark Strong — and Loki himself, Tom Hiddleston — explains why Brits make such great villains. Interspersed with the actors' speeches are shots of Jag's F-Type driving through London.

The campaign is meant to position the Jaguar as a sleek and attractive, yet naughty, alternative to the straight-and-narrow Mercedes and BMWs that dominate the luxury car segment. 

And it seems to have worked, with Jaguar Land Rover notching its best sales year ever in 2014. 

Like his fellow "Fast and Furious" characters, Statham's Shaw won't be confined to just one car. Throughout the film, Shaw will also be behind the wheel of a modified Maserati Ghibli and an Aston Martin Rapide.

And this isn't the only badness on film that we'll be seeing from Jag. The carmaker's terrifyingly gorgeous C-X75 will provide a wicked set of wheels for the villain in the upcoming James Bond flick, "Spectre."

The Jaguar F-Type sports car is the company's highly praised follow up to the legendary E-Type of the 1970s. With power coming from an available 5.0-liter, 550-horsepower, supercharged V8, the sleek cat can rocket to 60 mph in just 3.9 seconds, with a top speed of 186 mph.

"Furious 7" will hit theaters in the US April 3. 

Check out the official trailer here:

SEE ALSO: I Spent A Weekend Driving The Most Beautiful Car I've Ever Seen — The Jaguar F-Type Coupe

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NOW WATCH: Top Gear cast responds to Jeremy Clarkson's suspension

A disturbing sign of Iran's growing influence in Iraq and beyond was highlighted on March 8 during a seminar titled "The Iranian Identity," Bloomberg View reports.

"Iran is an empire once again at last, and its capital is Baghdad," said Ali Younusi, an adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Khamenei.

Iraq, particularly the eastern and southern regions of the country with a majority Shia population, has tended to fall within the orbit of Iran's influence. During the Iran-Iraq war (1980 to 1988), Iran funded Shiite militias with the aim of overthrowing Saddam Hussein's government.

The two countries ultimately ground each other into a stalemate. But after the American invasion and subsequent withdrawal from Iraq, Iran's ability to project power into Iraq has only grown.

Here are various ways in which Iran is constantly expanding its power in Iraq:

The formation of Shiite militias

Following the Islamic State group's blitz through Iraq and march toward Baghdad, Iranian-funded Shiite militias were remobilized. The most powerful of them was the Badr Organization, an Iranian-backed political and military organization that has carried out revenge attacks against Sunnis throughout Iraq.

That became an issue for the US, because such sectarian militias, generally loyal to Iran, killed and maimed hundreds of American troops during the Iraq war.

"It's a little hard for us to be allied on the battlefield with groups of individuals who are unrepentantly covered in American blood," Ryan Crocker, a career diplomat who served as the US ambassador to Iraq from 2007 to 2009, told US News.

More recently the so-called Special Groups have played a pivotal role in halting the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, after the Iraqi Army disintegrated.

"Iran and its Iraqi proxies have been carving out a zone of influence in eastern Iraq for well over a decade,"writes Michael Knights, a fellow at the Washington Institute. "And this zone, as [US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey] noted, is expanding."

The introduction of heavy weapons and warplanes

To assist in the siege of Tikrit and further military operations against ISIS, Iran has moved advanced rockets and artillery systems into Iraq, The New York Times reports.

These systems have introduced a new level of sophistication into the Iraqi warzone and could further inflame sectarian tensions as the artillery is often imprecise and has the potential to cause collateral damage.

"The Fajr-5 rocket and Fateh-110 missile launching systems are typically carried on a specially designed truck and are formidable additions to the Iraqi arsenal," The Times notes. "Fajr-5 rockets, which are named after the Persian word for dawn, have a range of about 45 miles. Each is 20 feet long and weighs more than 2,000 pounds. The Fajr-5 warhead alone weighs 375 pounds ... The Fateh-110 missile is even more capable than the Fajr-5."

In November 2014, Iranian pilots bombed ISIS positions in Diyala, a religiously mixed Iraqi province that abuts Iran.

The presence of Iranian planes conducting airstrikes at the same time and in the same region as US military operations showed at least a deconfliction between the two countries' militaries. (The same thing is happening in Syria.)

The presence of Qassem Suleimani

Iran's military mastermind, Qassem Suleimani, has played pivotal roles in the deployment of Iranian assets against ISIS in Iraq. Suleimani was present during the successful siege of Amerli in August, and he is on the frontlines of the battle against ISIS in Tikrit.

Suleimani is the head of the Quds Force of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, putting him in charge of directing Iranian proxies throughout the Middle East. His constant presence in various frontline battles serves to underscore the propaganda of an ascendant Iran with its forces battling for control throughout the region.

The battle for Tikrit

Tikrit is under siege by a coalition of Iranian-backed Shiite militias and Iraqi army forces. The offensive is being overseen by Suleimani. Should the forces liberate Tikrit from ISIS, Iran will have scored a significant propaganda win.

The seizure will place Iranian-backed forces on the road to ISIS-controlled Mosul, Iraq's second-biggest city, and humiliate Sunnis by having Iran take control of Saddam Hussein's hometown.

Furthermore, the US has to sit back and watch.

"There's just no way that the US military can actively support an offensive led by Suleimani," Christopher Harmer, a former aviator in the United States Navy in the Persian Gulf who is now an analyst with the Institute for the Study of War, told Helene Cooper of The New York Times. "He's a more stately version of Osama bin Laden."

'Export the revolution'

Iran's ambitions go far beyond Iraq and are taking them increasinglycloser to the borders of the country's regional adversaries.

Last month, Suleimani gloated: "We are witnessing the export of the Islamic Revolution throughout the region. From Bahrain and Iraq to Syria, Yemen and North Africa."

Tony Badran, a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, explains what Iran's military mastermind means by this: "When he talks about exporting the Islamic Revolution, Suleimani is referring to a very specific template. It's the template that the Khomeinist revolutionaries first set up in Lebanon 36 years ago by cloning the various instruments that were burgeoning in Iran as the Islamic revolutionary regime consolidated its power.

"As a result, Hezbollah remains the most comprehensive and developed export of the Iranian model ... Now the Islamic revolutionary model is being reproduced in Iraq, Syria, and Yemen as well, by setting up those same structures."

That why Ali Khedery, who served as a special assistant to five US ambassadors and as a senior adviser to three heads of US Central Command between 2003 and 2009, told The New York Times in December that Suleimani was "the leader of Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Yemen," adding that "Iraq is not sovereign. It is led by Suleimani, and his boss," Iranian Supreme Leader Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

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The stock market's price/earnings (P/E) ratio will tell you if the market looks cheap, expensive, or fairly valued.

When it's below some long-run average, the market is cheap. When it's about average, like it is now, the market is expensive.

Unfortunately, just because stocks are expensive, it doesn't mean investors should immediately cash out and prepare for imminent price declines.

"P/E has a poor track record for predicting shorter-term returns," BMO Capital Markets' Brian Belski writes.

Belski tested the relationship between P/E and the 12-month returns using R², a statistical measure which reveals how well a regression line — the line of best fit you see — explains the relationship. The higher the R², the better better job a P/E ratio does in explaining returns.

"According to our work, the simple P/E ratio explains a significant portion of longer- term stock market returns (e.g., 10 years+, Exhibit 1)," Belski said. "On the other hand, P/E ratios have little explanatory power for holding periods up to 10 years."

The fact of the matter is that P/Es aren't that reliable over any given period. It's just worse in the short-term, which at ten years is still a rather long time.

"Therefore, we believe investors are likely overstating the importance of elevated P/E levels as it relates to potential market performance in the coming months," Belski said.

In February, Citi's Tobias Levkovich ran a similar R² test to show that the cyclically-adjusted price-earnings ratio does an absolutely horrible job of explaining 12-month returns.

"Although we do not discount the possibility of periods of market weakness – especially given the stage of the current cycle –nothing in our work suggests an imminent end to the current bull market," Belski wrote.

Belski maintains a 2,250 price target on the S&P 500.

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Gedion Zelalem, the 18-year-old Arsenal youth player who became a naturalized U.S. citizen in December, has been called up by Germany's under-18 national team.

Zelalem was born in Germany but lived in the Washington, D.C. area from ages 9 to 15, when he entered the Arsenal academy. He played on German youth teams growing up, but declined an invitation to play for Germany's under-17 team in 2014.

It's unknown if he'll accept the invitation to play for the under-18 team.

Zelalem is regarded as one of the most promising youth prospects in England. He has appeared in the FA Cup and a Champions League game, but has yet to debut for the first team in the Premier League.

The U.S. is in the process of filing an exception with FIFA that would make him eligible to play for the U.S. immediately. US Soccer president Sunil Gulati told ESPNFC he hoped the paperwork would be done by April.

FIFA requires naturalized citizens to live in a country for five years after age 18 for them to play for the national team. An exception — which FIFA has granted liberally in the past, ESPNFC reports— would allow him to bypass that rule and play right away.

Soccer writer Ives Galarcep speculated on Twitter that the German under-18 call-up could be a ploy to make FIFA think twice about approving the exception:

Coach Jurgen Klinsmann recently said that Zelalem could walk into the U.S. first team once he's eligible. That's something that Germany, the reigning World Cup winners, cannot offer the 18-year-old. While Germany is the more prestigious team, there's no guarantee that Zelalem — even if he goes on to have a successful career — will ever break into the first team, much less play in a major competition.

Klinsmann has been aggressive in recruiting dual nationals since he took over, particularly German-Americans. There were five German-Americans on the 23-man World Cup roster in Brazil.

Ultimately, it could come down to which country Zelalem identifies with more strongly. He was born in Berlin, but spent his formative years in the D.C. area.

"If you speak to Gedion, it sounds like you're speaking to an American,"Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger told SI's Jeff Bradley last summer. "And, certainly, when we found him, he was living in D.C. and thinking of himself as a young U.S. kid."

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An Air Force veteran has been caught and charged with trying to provide support to ISIS. 

Tairod Nathan Webster Pugh, an American citizen, was a former avionics specialist and Air Force veteran. 

“Pugh, an American citizen and former member of our military, allegedly abandoned his allegiance to the United States and sought to provide material support to ISIL,” Assistant Attorney General Carlin said in a press release from the Department of Justice. 

“Identifying and bringing to justice individuals who provide or attempt to provide material support to terrorists is a key priority of the National Security Division.”  

“As alleged, Pugh, an American citizen, was willing to travel overseas and fight jihad alongside terrorists seeking to do us harm,” said Assistant Director in Charge Rodriguez.

“U.S. citizens who offer support to terrorist organizations pose a grave threat to our national security and will face serious consequences for their actions.  We will continue to work with our partners, both here and abroad, to prevent acts of terrorism.  This investigation demonstrates the importance of law enforcement coordination and collaboration here and around the world.”

Pugh flew from Egypt to Turkey in order to cross the border into Syria; however, Turkish authorities denied him access to the country and he was forced to return to Egypt. He was subsequently deported from Egypt back to the US.

In the US, Joint Terrorism Task Force agents conducted a search of Pugh's electronic devices on January 14, 2015. On his laptop, the agents found internet searches for information pertaining to how to cross into Syria, parts of the Turkish border controlled by ISIS, and downloaded ISIS propaganda videos. 

Pugh was arrested on January 16, 2015 in Asbury Park, New Jersey. He has been in custody since his arrest. 

The US has been leading a military coalition against ISIS since August 2014. The anti-ISIS coalition has carried out airstrikes against the militant organization in both Syria and Iraq. 

ISIS has recorded brutal execution videos of its captives since it conquered vast swathes of territory in Syria and Iraq in June 2014. In August 2014, ISIS released a video showing the execution of US journalist James Foley. This was the first video the group released of the execution of a western hostage. 

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On Sunday, 71-year-old real-estate scion Robert Durst was arrested the same weekend as the finale of "The Jinx," the HBO documentary series about him.

But the AP made a critical error in reporting the news – it confused Robert Durst with Fred Durst, the 44-year-old former frontman of Limp Bizkit.

A jimromenesko.com reader first flagged the error that looked like this on AP:

NEW ORLEANS (AP) – A Louisiana State Police trooper says millionaire Robert Durst has been booked on weapons charges in that state – on top of a first-degree murder charge lodged by Los Angeles authorities. Trooper Melissa Matey told the Associated Press that an arrest warrant was issued for the former Limp Bizkit frontman and he was rebooked in the Orleans Parish Jail on Monday under two new charges.

It was only after Romenesko asked the AP’s spokesperson to confirm the Robert Durst/Limp Bizkit error that the story was corrected:

The Associated Press reported erroneously that Robert Durst is a member of a band. He is a real estate heir; Fred Durst is the former frontman of Limp Bizkit.

People on Twitter are having a field day with the error:

Robert Durst was arrested by FBI agents Saturday afternoon at a New Orleans hotel, a day before the final episode of the HBO series aired.

"FBI agents believed Durst may have wanted to flee the country, possibly to Cuba, as he registered under an alias at the hotel, paid with cash, and was found with fake documents," according to ABC News. Coincidentally, Saturday marked the first nonstop flight from New Orleans to Cuba since 1958, as pointed out by nola.com.

SEE ALSO: The LAPD insists Robert Durst's arrest was actually not connected to HBO's 'The Jinx'

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