Autonomous Research, the research firm focused on the financial sector, is warning of a ticking time bomb in China's shadow financial system.

In a new video, the firm, which employs Charlene Chu, dubbed the "rock star" of Chinese debt analysis, said that China's lenders piled up debt and repackaged much of it in the form of Wealth Management Products (WMP's) and Asset Management Plans (AMP's).

By the end of 2016, WMP's and AMP's together amounted to 51% of China's GDP, according to Autonomous Research.

"WMPs and Chinese banks more generally have become so large and complex that any major problems could be just as destabilizing to the global economy as what occurred in 2008," the video said. 

China has shown signs that it is aware of the risks that shadow banking presents. In a recent interview with Bloomberg, Chu stated that Beijing has shown a "surprisingly high appetite for pain" as it tries to curb some of the more egregious shadow banking practices.

Here's the video explaining shadow banking in China:

And here's a step-by-step explanation of the video:

SEE ALSO: McDonald's is going to nearly double its number of stores in China

"China's shadow finance system is often likened to a black hole, one that involves a confusing hodgepodge of acronyms and becomes more complex and opaque each year."

"There are two forms of shadow credit in China. The first involves small lenders who extend credit to borrowers who can't obtain regular loans."

"The second accounts for the majority of activity, and involves Chinese banks transferring credit from their own balance sheets into the shadows."

Two of Britain and America's most powerful ships met up during their break from sea trials and training on Tuesday.

HMS Queen Elizabeth, the UK's new £3.5 billion aircraft carrier, passed by the USS George H.W. Bush off the Scottish coast en route to its new home port of Portsmouth.

The British mega-ship has spent the summer conducting its first sea trials in the North Sea, while its US counterpart was at the Persian Gulf supporting ground troops in their fight against ISIS.

It's now in British waters to take part in training exercise Saxon Warrior, where it is hosting 60 members of the British Royal Navy and Royal Marines. The training began on August 1.

Below are some epic photos from the meetup.

Here are HMS Queen Elizabeth and USS George H.W. Bush sailing next to each other off the Scottish coast.

The British carrier was on her way to Portsmouth after more than two months of sea trials in the North Sea.

HMS Queen Elizabeth is expected to arrive in her new home port between 17 and 22 August, with the exact date dependent on the weather, Defence Secretary Michael Fallon announced on Monday.

USS George H.W. Bush was taking part in Saxon Warrior, a multi-day joint exercise led by the Royal Navy.

A total of 15 ships from across NATO are taking part in the exercise, the Royal Navy noted, with more than 100 aircraft and some 10,000 people involved.

"A great opportunity to break from Contractor Sea Trials to have an early morning PHOTEX [photographic exercise] with USS George H.W. Bush & her taskgroup,"the official Twitter account of HMS Queen Elizabeth said.

To understand North Korean strategy today, we must first understand the implications of its geography.

Korea is a peninsula jutting southward from Manchuria surrounded by the Yellow and Japan seas. It shares an 880-mile-wide border with China and has a 30-mile frontier with Russia.

Korea's northeastern border is about 70 miles from Vladivostok, Russia's major eastern port. The southeast corner juts to within 100 miles of Japan to its south, and the peninsula's southwest shore angles westward only about 300 miles from Shanghai.

Editor's note: This article was originally written in 2016.

The Korean Peninsula and surrounding area

China, Russia, and the US divided Korea after World War II

The end of World War II did not reduce Korea's importance. It simply eliminated one player, Japan, and introduced a new one, the United States. The American presence in Korea was not actually new, though.

The defeat of Japan in World War II ended Japanese hegemony over Korea. The Yalta Conference created a four-power joint government in Korea, but that coalition failed, as did a similar joint government in Berlin.

As in Berlin, Korea was divided — with Soviet troops and their Korean supporters occupying the land north of the 38th parallel and the Americans and their Korean supporters occupying the south.

The US did not see South Korea as a critical strategic asset, but the Soviets and the Chinese saw an opportunity. The Soviets had suffered a defeat in Berlin when their blockade failed because of the American airlift. They also saw Korea as a threat to Vladivostok should the US regain interest.

The Chinese were similarly concerned about a later shift in American interest and wanted to expel the Americans from the peninsula. Again, it was Korean geography that mattered.

The North Korean invasion of South Korea in June 1950 took the US by surprise: US intelligence had failed to detect North Korea's act of aggression on the ground.

President Harry Truman faced a critical decision. Technically, Korea was not critical to US national security. But Truman calculated that Korea's strategic position would protect Japan, and defending South Korea would make clear that the US would resist open aggression.

Truman's decision, made in a weekend, created modern northeast Asia by making the US the guarantor of South Korean national security.

War, however, was extremely difficult to wage on the Korean Peninsula. One of the main reasons was the terrain of the Korean Peninsula. It is narrow — about 200 miles wide at its narrowest — and about 500 miles long. It is also covered with very rugged hills.

A relatively small force, using the rugged terrain cleverly, can hold off a larger force, retreating slowly and inflicting casualties on the attacker, who has to come out from under cover.

During temporary positions of surprise or imbalance, it is possible to drive the defender back. But the Korean War showed that, while it is possible to drive the enemy back, it is not possible to simply wipe it out.

Another reason is the strategic reality that no major regional power can afford to allow the peninsula to fall completely into the hands of a hostile power.

This set of dynamics created the current situation in Korea. The peninsula is divided into two states — one with the full support of the US, the other at the moment in a much more complex relationship with China, its traditional patron.

North Korea became a puppet of the China-Russia Alliance

South Korea has emerged as one of the major industrial powers in the world. One reason for its economic success is the American grand strategy of maintaining a long-term commitment to defend South Korea.

But a strategic relationship with the US carries with it both benefits and risks. The major risk is war. The major benefit is that the US tilts the table in favor of the client state.

North Korea's relationship with China and Russia has not resulted in similar benefits.

The map above displays light visible from space at night. South Korea is ablaze, China less so, but with intense areas. North Korea, on the other hand, is virtually without light, or to be more precise, without enough clustered lighting to be seen from space.

Both South Korea and North Korea were devastated by the Korean War. But while South Korea has transformed into a modern industrial power, North Korea appears to be preindustrial — or so it appears, based on nighttime lighting.

How did this disjuncture occur? The Chinese and the Russians had fewer resources to invest in North Korea than the US had to invest in the South. But the complete answer must be somewhat more complex.

Even on their own, the North Koreans should have been able to generate greater economic growth than they have. And certainly, after the fall of the Soviet Union, the Chinese could have aided North Korea more fully had they wished to do so.

The rest of the answer has to do with the nature of the North Korean regime. The first strategy of any state is its preservation. North Korea was faced with a major US force and an increasingly powerful South Korean force. The logical thing would have been for the Chinese and Soviets to create an equivalent force. They chose not to.

The Chinese and Russians did not want a powerful North Korea because it could turn against them. They wanted a buffer state between themselves and American forces in the south. Therefore, the Russians and the Chinese together created a paradox in North Korea.

Both the Soviets and Chinese understood that simply being communist was no longer sufficient grounds for an alliance. The Soviets and the Chinese had become enemies in spite of a shared ideology. Neither wanted the other to use North Korea as a tool against it.

We should add that South Korea and the US themselves were not eager to see the North Korean regime fall. South Korea did not want to bear the expense and risks involved in reintegration. The US was content with the status quo in the Korean Peninsula, as its primary interest there was minimal conflict.

And out of this paradoxical strategy emerged the contemporary North Korean state.

Alfred Hitchcock is more than just the master of suspense.

Throughout his career, the legendary director transformed cinema as we know it today through his unique visual eye, masterful storytelling, and incredible showmanship.

In celebration of his birthday on Sunday, we look back on his most memorable works — ranging from the crowd-pleasing "Psycho" to a movie regarded as one of the best ever made, "Vertigo."

Here are the 13 Alfred Hitchcock movies you need to watch in your lifetime:

SEE ALSO: How a guy who injected PEDs to see the effects scored a Netflix deal and uncovered the biggest doping scandal in Olympics history

1. "The Birds" (1963)

Hitchcock uses the attack of birds on a small Northern California town to highlight the madness that overcomes people when thrust into extraordinary situations. Made three years after the hit "Psycho," and in the midst of the TV show "Alfred Hitchcock Presents," this is the high watermark of Hitchcock's prominence in popular culture in his lifetime.

2. "Dial M for Murder" (1954)

Perhaps the most famous "Hitchcock blonde," Grace Kelly stars in this crime thriller about a man who attempts to kill his wife after learning she's had an affair. And things get very complex from there.

3. "North by Northwest" (1959)

Another favorite of Hitchcock's, Cary Grant plays a New York advertising executive who is mistaken for a government agent and finds himself on a cross-country chase from police, and bad guys, to clear his name. The movie features the iconic plane-chasing-Grant shot, and the thrilling conclusion on Mt. Rushmore.

Plus-sized fashion has come a long way since Lane Bryant was founded in the early 1900s. 

The brand — which once advertised "slenderizing" clothing for "stout" woman — has transformed into one of the leaders in advertising that puts body positivity front and center.

In other words, a business that was once built on making women feel like they needed to be thinner is now ready to make billions of dollars by telling them they're just fine the way they are. 

The plus-sized clothing market is currently estimated to exceed $20 billion. According to a Lane Bryant investor presentation from early 2017, the brand believes that figure could reach $40 billion to $50 billion. 

"There is, to put it crudely, an insane amount of money just sitting on the table, and it seems, finally, that there are some savvy entrepreneurs out there ready to shrug off fashion’s inherent snobbery and claim a piece of it,"Ashley C. Ford recently wrote in New York Magazine.

Here's how Lane Bryant's transformation shows just how much the definition of plus-sized has changed over the last century. 

SEE ALSO: We visited Ann Taylor's new store for the 'ageless generation' and discovered how H&M and Forever 21 are blowing a huge opportunity

For a long time, the plus-size advertising was all about "slenderizing," like this 1936 ad for Lane Bryant signed "Slenderizingly Yours.

All Lane Bryant scans are from The Vintage Lady, a fantastic blog on vintage sewing, with a focus on plus-sized fashion. 

"Proud of having been in business for thirty-five years — and proud of having sold wearing apparel to so many millions of stout women during those thirty-five years," founder Lane Bryant wrote in a note to shoppers in 1935.

"Whatever your figure problem, if you're STOUT, I have the style for you," reads another Lane Bryant note.

The Carnegie Club at Skibo Castle, situated in the Northern Highlights of Scotland, calls itself the country's "best kept secret."

The 8,000-acre property is home to a championship golf course, a spa, and 21 elegant guest rooms. It is also one of the most prestigious private members' clubs in the UK.

The Carnegie Club was founded by one of the world's first billionaires — American industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie — who "spared no expense in transforming it into a millionaire’s playground," according to the company.

Its 350 members include CEOs, oil tycoons, and Russian, Swiss, and Austrian aristocrats. Madonna even married Guy Ritchie at Skibo Castle in 2000.

It's now looking for new people to join its ranks, a spokeswoman told us. Membership costs £8,000 ($10,400) per year, plus a one-off joining fee of a whopping £25,000 ($32,400). There's also a rigorous joining process.

So what lies inside the doors of this secretive Scottish spot? Scroll down to see inside the exclusive, private Carnegie Club inside Skibo Castle.

Welcome to Skibo Castle, home to the private members' Carnegie Club.

It was founded by American industrialist, philanthropist, and one of the world's first billionaires Andrew Carnegie. Carnegie came to Skibo in 1898 and transformed the estate into what he considered to be "heaven on Earth."

It was originally intended to be a "millionaire’s playground." Its members include CEOs, oil tycoons, and Russian, Swiss, and Austrian aristocrats.

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"Skibo’s membership is 40% American, many of whom are business leaders, CEOs, and oil tycoons largely from Texas, Boston, and New York," the Club told Business Insider.

"There are a large proportion of American guests who have Scottish ancestry and have an interest in Scottish and British culture. The remaining percentage largely hail from Britain, many from London and surrounds, as well as Austrian aristocrats, Swiss and Russians."

Apple's iPhones are known for their great cameras, and they make it incredibly easy to take good shots.

But you can turn your photos from good to great without any editing by just changing a few settings or following a few suggestions. 

Apple has put together a collection of tips on how to make the most of your iPhone's camera. Some of the suggestions are designed for the iPhone 7 Plus and its fancy dual-lens camera system, but the majority apply to any iPhone.

Check out some of the top tips:

SEE ALSO: Here's your best look at the iPhone 8 based on all the rumors

How to take a simple and bold photo.

How to take a beautiful photo using late afternoon "golden hour" sunlight.

How to get the focus and exposure just right on a close-up shot.

Warning: Spoilers for "Game of Thrones" season seven, episode four, "The Spoils of War." If you aren't caught up on the series, read at your own risk. 

As Daenerys' dragons get bigger and bigger, she interacts with them more often. She rides them, climbs them, and yells "Dracarys!" at them.

And in last Sunday's episode, we saw Drogon, her biggest and most beloved dragon, in action more than ever before. In the episode, Daenerys rides him over a field of battle as he roasts Lannisters left and right.

But what kind of work went into that scene? How do you make Daenerys' dragon riding look real?

Business Insider recently talked to the "Father of Dragons," Sven Martin. Martin is the VFX supervisor from Pixomondo Studios, and has been working on the dragons at Pixomondo Studios since season two of “Game of Thrones.”

Here's what Martin had to say about the complications of animating a dragon when there's a person (Daenerys) interacting with it. 

SEE ALSO: Sunday's epic battle on 'Game of Thrones' is similar to one of the most important battles in the history of Westeros

“This is always the most difficult and trickiest part, when you are dealing with featured characters. There is always so much going on."

"In season two, for example, [Daenerys] was wearing this little puppet on her shoulder and rehearsing the whole take," Martin said. "And then the puppet was taken off, and she had to play against nothing, which is very difficult for actors. Because while you're concentrated on the text and the lines, you have to imagine where the dragon is.”

"If it's just a dialogue scene or Dany talking to her dragons, it's important that she [actress Emilia Clarke] knows where to look at . . . where the eyes of the dragons would be."

If Clarke doesn't know where to look at, then the scene won't look good once the dragons are put in on Pixomondo's end. Thankfully, Martin makes it clear that Clarke is a total pro when it comes to pretending that she's interacting with a dragon. 

“It's important that you have a representation of the dragon's body on set, and that the actor has a hand contact. So the actor touches it, and the hand is moving how and where it should move."

Martin told Business Insider that while he's been invited to the set, he's actually never had the opportunity to go. That's because while the film crew is hard at work shooting the show, his team at Pixomondo is already hard at work getting the dragons ready so the show will be ready on time. 

It's not uncommon to have some anxieties about how well you're performing in the bedroom. And while whatever sex you and your partner are comfortable with is "good" sex, there is always some room to improve the mood. 

INSIDER spoke to experts to determine some simple and fun ways to up your game between the sheets. 

SEE ALSO: The ages you're the smartest at everything throughout your life

DON'T MISS: How staying single could actually improve your health

Set the "stage" for a romantic night.

While you might be content having sex on your same old Ikea sheets in a room draped in unwashed laundry, if you want better sex, you may want to improve your environment. 

Take some time, clean up your space, light a candle or at least spray some air freshener and strike up some mood lighting. This can show your partner that you're emotionally invested and boost your connection during sex, Alicia Sinclair, certified sex educator, sex coach and founder of b-Vibe& Le Wand, told INSIDER.

Talk about sex outside the bedroom.

Pillow-talk is a great time to get your desires out there, but it's not always the most productive. 

If you want to boost your connection and enjoyment in the bedroom, that starts with talking about your desires during your everyday life. Try bringing up what you'd like out of your next romp in the sheets during a road-trip or walk around the block, sexologist Megan Stubbs told INSIDER.

"Try to start a conversation with your partner in a neutral location," she said. "It is best not to spring new discussions when you are in bed. This removes the pressure from your partner to act or answer in a way that would keep the peace before bed. Car rides are a great location for starting a dialogue."

Stop comparing yourself to others.

It can be hard not to compare yourself to images in the media, so it's no surprise that many people struggle with worrying if they are having "good sex."

Sex therapist Angie Gunntold INSIDER that putting this of your mind is imperative to improving your sex life. 

"One of the biggest mistakes related to sex that I observe in couples is applying assumptions, past experiences, or media constructed ideas about sex to their sex," Gunn said. "Pleasurable, connective sex is often nothing like the models we've been given or images we've observed. Bodies, positions, sounds, and acts are way more diverse, creative and beautiful than the boxes we try to impose."

Apple is currently putting the finishing touches on its new $5 billion campus, named Apple Park. Employees started moving in around April, but the campus isn't finished yet, and there is still major landscaping and other construction work going on.

Some of the workers have been posting snaps from inside the building on Snapchat, as spotted by 9to5Mac.

You can look at these snaps too — simply fire up the Snapchat app and type "Apple Park" in the search bar.

Some of the snaps are average workplace hijinks, but some offer a substantial look at the "spaceship's" interior and a lobby that looks a lot like an Apple Store. If you're interested, you should probably check out the snaps now, before Apple makes them disappear. We've collected some samples below.

Have you worked on Apple Park? We'd love to hear from you. Email the author at kleswing@businessinsider.com

SEE ALSO: An early investor in Facebook and Google has slammed them for 'aggressive brain hacking'

Warning: Spoilers ahead for "Game of Thrones."

Daenerys Targaryen is in many ways one of the most appealing characters on HBO's "Game of Thrones." She's powerful, determined, and inspires people to follow her again and again.

Now she's close to forming an alliance with Jon Snow, the other main hero of our tale. Together, they'll be a dragon-riding, direwolf-wielding duo who will slaughter the White Walkers and save Westeros. They could both perhaps be "The Prince That Was Promised," Azor Ahai reborn.

But would a writer like George R.R. Martin really let his series end so simply?

Some fans don't think so and point to a few troubling characteristics of Daenerys both on the show and in the books that could lead to her eventual turn towards a darker path.

Let's explore just why some people think Daenerys could become a villain.

Daenerys is a vengeance seeker.

Throughout the series, Daenerys is convinced of her own moral compass. If she ever witnesses something she views as wrong — such as rape or slavery — she immediately attempts to put a stop to it and punishes the wrong doer.

This a noble trait to have, but seeing the world in black and white and believing that she is the sole bringer of justice is one of Daenerys' downfalls.

We saw this early on the series when she saved a healer and maegi named Mirri Maz Duur, one of the Lhazareen women who was being raped by the Dothraki who had conquered their village. To Daenerys, saving Duur was an honorable thing to do and she later enlists the woman to help heal Khal Drogo after he becomes injured.

Instead, Duur makes Drogo's condition worse and also kills Daenerys' son Rhaego when he is still in the womb using blood magic.

Daenerys doesn't understand why the woman turned on her when Daenerys had previously saved her. But Duur viewed it quite differently:

"Saved me? Three of those riders had already raped me before you saved me, girl. I saw my god's house burn, there where I had healed men and women beyond counting. In the streets I saw piles of heads: the head of the baker who makes my bread, the head a young boy that I had cured of fever just three moons past. So, tell me again exactly what it was that you saved?"

Duur herself was seeking vengeance for the death of her people. In retaliation, Daenerys murders Duur in Khal Drogo's funeral pyre and emerges with her three dragons.

Was the scene epic? Of course. But this will not be the last time Daenerys murders or harms people who disagree with her perception of what is right and what is wrong.

Another moment of Daenerys' vengeance gone awry happens when the Great Masters crucify 163 slave children as mile markers on her way to Meereen as a way to intimidate Daenerys. When she sacks the city, Daenerys then crucifies 163 Great Masters as a punishment.

In "A Storm of Swords," however, Daenerys begins to regret her actions, despite her initial sense of righteousness:

She had them nailed to wooden posts around the plaza, each man pointing at the next. The anger was fierce and hot inside her when she gave the command; it made her feel like an avenging dragon. But later, when she passed the men dying on the posts, when she heard their moans and smelled their bowels and blood…

It was just. It was. I did it for the children.

Daenerys, though she suppresses the thought, realizes some of the Masters may not have been guilty of the death of these children. She tries to convince herself that she was right to take their lives.

And on season six, episode five, show watchers saw Daenerys murder the powerful khals in their straw hut. These weren't nice men — they spent a significant chunk of time insulting Daenerys and talking about how they intended to rape and kill her — but watching her burn them alive was still an unnerving moment for some viewers, especially because it looked like she took pleasure in watching them die.

Daenerys' rationalizations for all these events should give her fans pause. Murdering evil people may seem like the right thing to do, but what would happen if Daenerys' moral compass was ever skewed?

It wouldn't be the first time she burned people who disagreed with her, after all.

Dragons as Nuclear Weapons.

In "A Dance With Dragons," Daenerys compares her dragons to monsters:

Mother of dragons, Daenerys thought. Mother of monsters. What have I unleashed upon the world? A queen I am, but my throne is made of burned bones, and it rests on quicksand. Without dragons, how could she hope to hold Meereen, much less win back Westeros? I am the blood of the dragon, she thought. If they are monsters, so am I.

This wild and changeable nature of dragons is directly tied to Daenerys. When she equates herself to a dragon, she means it: She can be just as destructive and changeable as her dragon children.

What's more, George R.R. Martin has talked about ties between the dragons and nuclear weapons. Both are powerful weapons to have, but can easily lead to utter destruction.

"Dragons are the nuclear deterrent, and only Dany has them, which in some ways makes her the most powerful person in the world," Martin told Vulture in a 2014 interview. "But is that sufficient? These are the kind of issues I'm trying to explore. The United States right now has the ability to destroy the world with our nuclear arsenal, but that doesn't mean we can achieve specific geopolitical goals. Power is more subtle than that. You can have the power to destroy, but it doesn't give you the power to reform, or improve, or build."

We saw the full force of this when Daenerys attacked the Lannister army with Drogon. Director Matt Shakman chose to show the battle from Jaime and Bronn's perspective in order to bring the horrors of dragonfire into sharp relief.

"I wanted to tell the story of what it was like [...] when war changes forever and a truly horrific weapon like napalm or an atom bomb is suddenly unleashed and what that does to the men on the ground," Shakman told INSIDER.

Daenerys is sitting with her finger on a red button that could take out all of Westeros. She may not want to destroy the kingdom, especially before she ever has the chance to rule there, but by virtue of wanting to conquer Westeros she could be bringing more death and destruction into a country still ravaged by war.

There's a chance Daenerys could be viewed as a villain instead of the returning hero of house Targaryen.

Daenerys and the Mad King.

While Daenerys has remained fairly sane so far, the Targaryen dynasty has a history of mental illness and madness, mainly due to intermarriage. Daenerys' own father, King Aerys II, was called the Mad King because he became paranoid and started killing people and hiding wildfire around King's Landing.

Daenerys starts to worry about this possible "taint" in her blood, as do many other characters throughout the series. But it's not so much that Daenerys could go crazy — though that's certainly a possibility — but that she could follow in her father's footsteps by punishing those who disagree with her or who she views as her enemies.

Tyrion warned her against this tactic at the end of season six, and the two reached a compromise where Daenerys instead burned just one of the slaver's ships and had Grey Worm execute two of the three slave masters.

Once she arrived in Westeros, Tyrion once again counseled Daenerys against immediately using the dragons to burn King's Landing or other cities, telling her she didn't want to be the "Queen of the Ashes."

But their alternate plans failed due to Tyrion's miscalculations of what Jaime and Cersei would do, and Daenerys got tired of sitting around and doing nothing. She rode Drogon into battle against the Lannister army, and laid waste to their soldiers and loot. She didn't choose a select few leaders and punish them — this time she went for everything in sight.

Granted, it was better than her flying to the Red Keep and attacking civilians, but it was still hard to 100% root for her in this moment.

Daenerys also had a tense conversation with Varys earlier on the seventh season. She made him promise to be straightforward with her about her potential failings as a leader, but she then vowed to burn him alive if he ever betrayed her.

If Daenerys goes too far in the "fire and blood" direction, she could end up repeating her father's mistakes — something that would end up costing her the throne, just like it ended up costing King Aerys both his kingdom and his life.

For the past 50 years, the world has grown used to crazy threats from North Korea that don't lead anywhere.

But the threats have taken a decidedly sharper and more ominous tone under Kim Jong Un, the third supreme leader of the hermit kingdom.

North Korea has carried out several nuclear tests under his rule.

And threats escalated this week after President Donald Trump said that North Korea would "be met with fire, fury, and frankly power, the likes of which this world has never seen before" if the Hermit Kingdom continued to threaten the US.

With all this attention, still relatively little is known of Kim. Here's what we do know of how he grew to be one of the world's scariest dictators.

Jeremy Bender and Gus Lubin contributed to a previous version of this story.

SEE ALSO: US warns of 'significant international response' if North Korea conducts another nuclear test

DON'T MISS: The US's show of force toward North Korea may be 'just adding fuel to the fire'

Kim Jong Un was born on January 8 — 1982, 1983, or 1984.

His parents were future North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il and his consort, Ko Young Hee. He had an older brother named Kim Jong Chul and would later have a younger sister named Kim Yo Jong.

While Kim Jong Un's official birth year is 1982, various reports suggest that the year was changed for symbolic reasons, including that it was 70 years after the birth of Kim Il Sung and 40 years after the birth of Kim Jong Il.

However, a recent move by the US Treasury Department to sanction Kim Jong Un listed his official date of birth as January 8, 1984.

Kim — here with his mother — lived at home as a child.

During this period, North Korea was ruled by "Great Leader" Kim Il Sung. While Kim Jong Il was the heir apparent, Kim Jong Un's path to command was far less certain.

Then it was off to Switzerland to attend boarding school.

Called "Pak Un" and described as the son of an employee of the North Korean embassy, Kim Jong Un is thought to have attended an English-language international school in Gümligen near Bern.

Kim Jong Un is described by former classmates as a quiet student who spent most of his time at home, but he had a sense of humor, too.

"He was funny," former classmate Marco Imhof told The Mirror."Always good for a laugh."

"He had a sense of humor; got on well with everyone, even those pupils who came from countries that were enemies of North Korea,"another former classmate told the German newspaper Welt am Sonntag. "Politics was a taboo subject at school ... we would argue about football, not politics."

The Insider Picks team writes about stuff we think you'll like. Business Insider has affiliate partnerships, so we get a share of the revenue from your purchase.

The Insider Pick:

• There's nothing worse than tangled necklaces and lost earrings. A good jewelry organizer prevents both calamities and keeps your jewelry in order. Of all the jewelry organizers out there, the Firwood Forest Handcrafted Wall Hanging Wooden Jewelry Organizer is our favorite because it's customizable, handmade, and functional.

You’ve likely spent a good amount of money on your jewelry over the years, which makes a jewelry organizer all the more important. The most obvious purpose of any jewelry organizer is to hold your jewelry and keep your necklaces, bracelets, and earrings tangle-free, but they serve other purposes as well. Having all of your jewelry organized together helps you find your favorite pieces faster and shows you all the options you have so you don't forget about pieces you use less often.

Jewelry organizers date back to the Stone Age and were originally considered luxury items only found in wealthy households. They were used to store and protect important documents in addition to jewelry and were typically large pieces of furniture, about the size of a small chest. Nowadays, you can find jewelry organizers in all shapes and sizes, including trays, boxes, armoires, stands, racks, and more.

To begin your search, first examine your jewelry collection: How many necklaces, rings, bracelets, and other items do you have, and how should they be stored? For example, if you have a lot of rings, you’ll want a jewelry organizer that has plenty of ring slots. If you have an abundance of necklaces, you’ll want an organizer that will keep them from tangling. 

In general, pieces of jewelry should be stored as separately as possible to prevent items from tangling and also to prevent scratches and other damages. Once you’ve sized up your collection, don’t fall victim to buying an organizer solely based on the looks of it. Different designs several different purposes. Some jewelry organizers display your jewelry for all to see, while others focus on keeping it safe and out of sight.

The following picks come from thorough research, expert opinions, and customer reviews. The products included in our list are designed for individuals with small to fairly large jewelry collections and most picks accommodate various types of jewelry. We hand-picked products that are both economical and practical, as well as well-received and highly rated. 

Although the Firwood Forest Handcrafted Wall Hanging Wooden Jewelry Organizer is our top pick, for various reasons laid out in the slides below, you should also consider the MyGift 3 Tier Tabletop Jewelry Organizer, the Misslo Jewelry Hanging Organizer, the Songmics Jewelry Box, and the Songmics LED Jewelry Cabinet.

SEE ALSO: The best makeup organizers you can buy

The best jewelry organizer overall

Why you'll love it: The Firwood Forest Handcrafted Wall Hanging Wooden Jewelry Organizer is easily customizable, downright practical, and undeniably unique.

The Firwood Forest Jewelry Organizer isn’t jewelry rack — it’s a jewelry solution. We love that you can really customize it to hold as much or as little jewelry as you want. It's also great at storing all kinds of jewelry from necklaces and bracelets to rings and earrings. The wooden organizer is handcrafted by a small family-run business that also has an Etsy shop.

Beyond being functional, it acts as a decorative piece that will stand out in your room. It’s handcrafted out of solid wood and you can choose different background colors to suit your tastes. The wall-mounted organizer measures 17 inches wide, 14 inches tall, and 3 inches deep, so make sure you have enough room on your wall to hang it.

The Firwood Forest organizer has a bracelet bar, a wire mesh background to hold your earrings, 20 hooks to hold your rings and necklaces, and a convenient shelf to hold anything else. For an average-sized jewelry collection, this organizer is just the right fit. 

GistGear features the Firwood Forest Handcrafted Wall Hanging Wooden Jewelry Organizer in its Bestselling Jewelry Organizers article and its Most Bought Jewelry Organizers article. 

The Firwood Forest Handcrafted Wall Hanging Wooden Jewelry Organizer holds a 4.8 out of 5-star rating on Amazon based on 160 reviews, 136 of which are 5-star reviews. Amazon buyers largely talk about how beautiful the organizer looks, and many are happy to be supporting a small business.

Pros: Perfect size, unique design, handcrafted from real wood, accommodates various types of jewelry

Cons: It may not be large enough to support very large jewelry collections, rustic style may not appeal to all

Buy the Firwood Forest Handcrafted Wall Hanging Wooden Jewelry Organizer on Amazon for $44.00 (originally $64.00) 

The best jewelry organizer for dangling jewelry

Why you'll love it: If untangling jewelry is something you truly dread, the MyGift 3 Tier Tabletop Jewelry Organizer provides a practical, affordable organizational option.

If you’re someone who wants to display, rather than tuck away your jewelry, this MyGift 3 Tier Tabletop Jewelry Organizer is just right. Elegantly designed, it features three vertical ball-capped crossbar poles at different heights along with a tray base that provides additional storage. The poles are ideal for necklaces and bracelets, while the tray is intended to hold smaller jewelry, such as studded earrings and rings. 

The design is rather versatile so you could easily hang dangling earrings and even watches on the polls and use the base for any other jewelry. It's a simple, basic jewelry tree rack, but your jewelry will make it look beautiful. 

The MyGift Modern 3 Tier Tabletop Jewelry Organizer is listed as number one in the BoomsBeat article Top Best 5 jewelry holder organizer for sale 2017 and number two on the Gist Gear article, Bestselling Jewelry Towers. On Amazon, it’s ranked number two in the Jewelry Towers category where it holds a 4.7 out of 5-star rating based on 217 reviews.

Amazon reviewers are generally satisfied with their purchase, writing that the organizer does its job and that it’s a nice, stylish addition to their dressers or bathroom counters. “This is the perfect solution to organize my necklaces and bracelets, and it looks so nice on my bathroom counter. I've tried many things over the years but this is so simple and actually looks nice,” writes this reviewer.

Others comment that it’s a good-sized jewelry organizer that's also high quality. Out of all the reviews, only 15 are critical. The main complaint is that the unit bent or arrived damaged. You can always contact the seller or Amazon if you run into a problem.

Pros: Stylish, practical, keeps necklaces untangled, well-crafted

Cons: All three bars may not be perfectly symmetrical, does not accommodate all types of jewelry

Buy the MyGift Modern Black Metal 3 Tier Tabletop Bracelet & Necklace Jewelry Organizer Display Tree Rack on Amazon for $22.50

The best hanging jewelry organizer

Why you'll love it: The Misslo Jewelry Hanging Organizer displays all your jewelry so you can find what you're looking for.

If you don’t need your jewelry sitting out, or can’t have it out because of space constraints, this Misslo Jewelry Hanging Organizer is the one for you. The hanging jewelry organizer fits over any standard hanger and can be placed on the back door of a closet door if you have a hook there. 

Because it’s nearly flat and takes up about as much room as a dress in your closet, the organizer is a huge space-saver, but it still holds a ton of jewelry. One side has 32 clear vinyl pockets while the other has 18 hook and loop closures.

We like that the vinyl pockets are transparent, so you can easily see your jewelry and that the pockets are a nice medium size to fit most pieces. The hook and loop closures are ideal for necklaces, and because the hanging jewelry organizer is large, you don’t have to worry about necklaces getting tangled. It’s also convenient that the loop closures have velcro tabs to make them sturdy enough to hold even heavy necklaces or other long dangling jewelry. 

The jewelry organizer itself is large enough and has enough compartments it could easily be used to store other items in addition to jewelry, such as cosmetics, or hair and fashion accessories. 

The Misslo Jewelry Hanging Organizer is listed in Broad Review article Best Jewelry Organizers, and it's ranked number one in the Faveable article, 5 Best Jewelry Organizers. On Amazon, the Misslo is the number one best-seller in the Jewelry Organizers category where it holds a 4.6 out of 5-star rating based on more than 2,000 customer reviews.

Amazon reviewers largely like that the Misslo Organizer keeps everything organized and accessible and many say that it helps them to remember what jewelry they own so they now wear various pieces more often. Others note that the materials are sturdy. The only major complaint about the product seems to be that it doesn’t come with a hanger or that customers had trouble finding a hanger that fit correctly, such as this reviewer. 

Pros: Price, holds over 50 items, study, tangle-free solution for necklace storage, major space saver, helps you ‘remember’ what jewelry you have

Cons: Does not come with a hanger, finding the right hanger may be complicated

Buy the Misslo Jewelry Hanging Non-Woven Organizer Holder on Amazon for $7.99 (originally $12.99) 

When I treat myself to fast food, 99% of the time it's a burger — which is why I often neglect chains that serve things like fried chicken.

However, after a recent newsroom debate that made me realize just how many people have an overwhelming passion for for Popeyes' fried chicken, I decided to give the chain a try.

Keep scrolling to read about my first experience at the restaurant.

I visited the Popeyes on 14th Street in New York City since it's just a short walk from my office.

Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen was founded in 1972 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Today, it has over 2,600 locations worldwide. Its distinctive red and yellow color scheme is reminiscent of McDonald's.

I knew I wanted fried chicken (obviously), but I had a hard time choosing between the chain's many signature sides. I had heard people rave about them, so I didn't want to pick the wrong one.

There are 11 sides, like coleslaw, biscuits, mac and cheese, and corn on the cob. Popeyes also has chicken tenders, sandwiches and wraps, and seafood, like popcorn shrimp and Cajun fish.

In the end, I went with the red beans and rice. I'm not a huge fan of mashed potatoes, and I didn't want to choose something that I could just get anywhere, like French fries or onion rings.

• Delta broke ground on its new terminal at the new LaGuardia Airport.
• Delta will contribute $3.4 billion.
• New LaGuardia will be the first new airport in the US in more than 20 years. 

On Tuesday, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian broke ground a $4 billion terminal facility at the new LaGuardia Airport.

"We know the new LaGuardia is one that New Yorkers will be proud to call their hometown airport," Bastian said in a statement. "And we are confident that this investment will further cement Delta as the No. 1 airline in New York, with the best customer service and experience on the ground as well as in the air."

First unveiled in 2015 by Cuomo and then Vice-President Joe Biden, the new LaGuardia will be nation's first new major airport to open for business since Denver International in 1995.

At the announcement ceremony, Governor Cuomo emphasized the importance of airports, calling them the "front door" to the state. At the same time, the Governor lamented the fact that New York and the rest of the nation have fallen behind their international competitors when it comes to infrastructure.

"Either you are building and developing or you're going backwards," Governor Cuomo said. "Because if you're not building and developing, your competition surely is."

"We are living off the inheritance not of our parents, but of our grandparents. Everything you see, all of the infrastructure, all of the great accomplishments are literally from our grandparents' generation and we've been standing still," the Governor added.

Delta will contribute $3.4 billion the towards the $4 billion facility while the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey will kick in $600 million.

The Delta facility is just one portion of the $8 billion rebuilding of LaGuardia. Under the new plan, LaGuardia Airport will be unified under one roof instead of the current layout which features multiple terminal buildings.

Delta will occupy the eastern end of the new terminal building while American, United, JetBlue, Southwest, and Air Canada will operate from the western end, which has been under construction since last summer. 

Here's a closer look at Delta's new LaGuardia terminal. 

SEE ALSO: Delta's replacement for the jumbo jet has arrived

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The new Delta terminal facility will occupy the eastern end of a new LaGuardia Airport that's designed to accommodate 50 million travelers a year.

Delta's part of the facility will feature 37 flexible sized gates capable of handling any aircraft in the airline's fleet.

Delta passengers will also have access to a new luxury lounge with an outdoor deck.

One of the features that Android users like to boast about to their iPhone-toting friends is "quick charging," and it's certainly a boast-worthy trait.

As you might have guessed from its name, the quick charging feature is, indeed, quick. There are several YouTube videos and articles showcasing how much faster an Android phone like the Galaxy S8 can charge versus the iPhone 7. In one video, an iPhone 7 Plus took an entire hour longer to charge from zero to 100% than a Galaxy S8+.

So, quick charging is a worthwhile feature. It means you can get more charge in less charging time, which is incredibly meaningful for a device that's always turned on and that's used on a regular basis. 

Check out how and why some Android phones can charge so much faster than iPhones:

SEE ALSO: Everything we know about the iPhone 8

You might see the words "Quick Charge" or some other variation in an Android phone's marketing material or inscribed on its charger.

"Quick Charge" is a technology that was developed by chip maker Qualcomm, which the company adds to certain models of its chips.

Qualcomm's Quick Charge tech is different from regular charging in that it uses a different combination of voltage and amps to provide a higher wattage – and therefore faster charging. 

Whereas the iPhone's regular charger outputs 5 volts at 1 amp for a total of 5 amps, a Quick Charger can output 9 volts at 1.67 amps, making for 15 amps. Some quick chargers even go up to 12 volts at 1.67 amps, making for a fast 20 watts that's incredibly fast for a mobile device. 

Where Qualcomm's chips come into the equation is the management of that charge to keep within a battery's safety threshold. 

And a lot of Android smartphone makers use Qualcomm chips in their phones, so they can benefit from Qualcomm's Quick Charge technology.

Major League Baseball and the MLB Players' Association have announced that all teams will wear special brightly colored uniforms for the first-ever "Players Weekend" August 25-27.

You can see every team's jerseys and caps, as well as all of their nicknames below.

In addition to the bright colors, the uniforms will also feature player nicknames on the back, and according to SportsLogo.net, who first broke the news and the photos, other uniform restrictions will be loosened to allow players to wear things like customized cleats and bats.

This is a popular trend in pro sports. The NFL has their "Color Rush" uniforms for Thursday night games and for one weekend during the 2016 season they allowed players to wear customized cleats to support their favorite charities.

The NBA has allowed players to occasionally wear nicknames on the back of their uniforms for special designated games in recent seasons. Individual MLB teams and players have used nicknames on the back of their jerseys in the past (e.g. the 1976 Atlanta Braves), but the most notable instance of nicknames on uniforms was the short-lived XFL football league.

Below is a look at all of the MLB uniforms and the nicknames.

Amazingly, the actual jerseys look even brighter than the artistic renderings below.

Tweet Embed:
https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/895326419873546240
The MLB "Players Weekend" caps and jerseys are already on sale, naturally.

You can get those here: https://t.co/GiQjpxbEPApic.twitter.com/vcc4mLJEBc

But the true level of brightness is best appreciated when just the caps are grouped together.

Tweet Embed:
https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/895328814435151872
All 30 MLB Players Weekend caps, to be worn Aug. 25-27 (as compiled by @sportslogosnet). pic.twitter.com/cFWipvqrTv

Louisville Slugger is also making custom bats for the players. It looks like the Yankees will be using silver bats.

Warning: Spoilers ahead for "Game of Thrones," including speculation of future events.

HBO just dropped new photos for the upcoming "Game of Thrones" episode, "Eastwatch," and fans are eager to see what lies in store.

Last week's "Spoils of War" was arguably one of the greatest "Game of Thrones" episodes of all time, so there's a high bar for the rest of the season. Based on the preview for "Eastwatch," we might be seeing more of a villainous Daenerys Targaryen soon.

Let's take a closer look at the new photos to see if we can spot hints about what's to come.

SEE ALSO: We talked to the guy who makes dragons come to life on 'Game of Thrones' about Sunday's big, fiery battle

Tyrion Lannister will walk among the wreckage from the battle. Is Daenerys going to be "queen of the ashes" after all?

Some fans believe that the first dragon battle supported a theory that Daenerys will wind up being the real villain of "Game of Thrones."

Tyrion and Daenerys will need to deal with their prisoners. There's no peek at Jaime or Bronn, so we don't know what will happen to them.

In the preview, Daenerys tells her prisoners to bend the knee or burn. But who is in her prisoner group? Will Jaime and Bronn emerge from the water just to be captured by Daenerys?

Tyrion and Varys will talk back in Dragonstone. Looks like they're sharing a glass of wine, which makes us wish we were part of this happy hour.

The INSIDER Summary: 

• A great ensemble cast is often the key to a successful TV comedy.
• Classics like "Friends" and "Sex and the City" are perfect examples of great comedy casts. 
• Newer shows like "The Mindy Project" and "Modern Family" also have some great talent.

A great ensemble creates a mysterious bond between a show and its viewers. The chemistry shared on screen brings with it a certain level of comfort.

But to refer to this quality as some kind of supernatural power does a disservice to the men and women who forge it. There is the talent of each individual performer to consider: If any of them falter, the whole dynamic falls apart. It’s a dynamic that requires work, too. Whether it’s bonding in real-life or being a good listener on set, chemistry is a science for these casts; it’s made, not found.

Then there’s the versatility of expanding these connections beyond just one or two cast members, but an entire ensemble of six or so series regulars. The best ensembles work no matter who’s paired up in a scene, and it feels like the TV can barely contain them when the cast all comes together. 

With that in mind, we gathered some of the best of these groups from the past quarter century. To help narrow down the scope, we did set a few extra rules. For simplicity’s sake, we kept this particular list to American productions (otherwise, programs like “The IT Crowd” and “Peep Show” would have been a shoo-in). We also ruled out sketch shows (the only reason “The Dana Carvey Show” isn’t in the upper ranks).

But what really makes an ensemble stand out is how they elevate the material by themselves. No show discussed below would have been better with different actors. These people weren’t expendable. They proved integral to the series’ success and became more than just the faces of a show: They’re its spirit, too.

25. “Brooklyn Nine-Nine”

As the show continued in the tradition of workplace comedies with some of the same creative teams behind them, “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” had the added pressure of not being a rehash of “The Office” and “Parks and Recreation.” But a nimble ensemble not only helped to separate the show from the rest of the network sitcom pack, it also flipped the cop show formula on its head. Andy Samberg carried over his Lonely Island charm to an ongoing workplace comedy, but “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” has always given an even spread to the other precinct employees: Melissa Fumero’s perpetually ambitious Santiago, Chelsea Peretti’s unapologetic Gina, Stephanie Beatriz’s imposing Diaz, and Joe Lo Truglio’s fumbling sophisticant Boyle have all enjoyed their share of featured episodes amidst the day-to-day exploits of the department. And Terry Crews flexing his comedy muscles is its own particular delight. The glue that holds the entire show together? Andre Braugher’s textbook deadpan perfection as Captain Holt, proof that the best comedy collaborations don’t cut all their same contributions from the same stylistic cloth.

24. “Master of None”

As a writer/creator/star, Aziz Ansari broke new ground by depicting an average Indian American citizen as a romantic lead on TV. This inclusive rarity is only part of one of the most diverse casts in a TV comedy. Dev’s pals are a Taiwanese guy named Brian (Kelvin Yu), black lesbian Denise (Lena Waithe), a token white friend (Eric Wareheim), and Ansari’s real-life parents to add verisimilitude to Dev’s parents. The beauty of the cast is how natural their interactions are — whether it’s long-winded banter, awkward parental conversations, or goofy Instagram photo sessions — and just how charming that can be. The cast rarely works as a single group: These stories are told between two or three people at most. But it’s that intermittent moving in and out of focus that truly highlights how they gel when they get a chance to work off of each other.

23. “How I Met Your Mother”

When you have nine seasons to explore five characters, you not only get a chance to delve into every possible relationship, but uncover the hidden skills of its cast. “How I Met Your Mother” unveiled Josh Radnor’s inner goofiness, Alyson Hannigan’s punchline chops, Jason Segel’s musical talents, Cobie Smulders’ bad-assery, and Neil Patrick Harris’s capacity for emotional depth. However you feel about the show’s ultimate conclusion, the best moments of “How I Met Your Mother” were always rooted in the ensemble’s “found family” feel, one built upon a well-developed history for its characters and chemistry that never failed to spark.

Fall is undoubtedly a magical season, thanks to trees putting on a spectacular show of sprinkling the world with stunning hues of red, orange, and yellow.

However, some spots are more magical than others.

Keep scrolling to see some of the prettiest places to view fall foliage around the world.

Paris, France

Fall is one of the best times of the year to visit Paris because it's cheaper, less crowded, and possibly even more beautiful. Can you think of a better time to see the Palais-Royal Garden or Versailles than when they are surrounded by fiery hues?

Million Dollar Highway (US Route 550), Colorado

Colorado's fall is so incredible it even has its own name: Indian summer. The aspen trees that line this route are a fiery red, orange, and yellow this time of year. 

Kyoto, Japan