On Dec. 3, an oil pipeline in southern Israel ruptured, leaking nearly five million liters of crude into a nature reserve.
The spill is one the worst environmental disasters in Israel's history.
Billionaire hedge-fund manager Steven A. Cohen still can't find a buyer for his NYC penthouse.
The duplex penthouse at One Beacon Court just had its price reduced to $82 million, Curbed reports.
The apartment has been on the market since 2013. It was originally listed for $115 million and then dropped to $98 million.
Cohen, who now runs Point72 Asset Management (formerly SAC Capital), purchased the apartment in 2005 for $24 million. He hired the late architect Charles Gwathmey to transform the space.
We've included the details of the 9,000-square-foot, four-bedroom, 5.5-bathroom apartment at One Beacon Court in the slides that follow. It's definitely impressive. Look and see for yourself.
Founded by Benjamin Franklin, the University of Pennsylvania remains among the top colleges in the world.
The Philadelphia Ivy has produced 25 billionaires — more than any other school in the world — as well as numerous CEOs, politicians, and actors.
From billionaire Warren Buffett to "Hunger Games" actress Elizabeth Banks, these are UPenn's most successful alumni.
Source: Gloria Allred.com
Source: Wharton Alumni Magazine
Source: Evan Carmichael, Wharton
The single best gift you can get for a new parent is the offer to give them a break — whether it's babysitting while they nap, cooking, cleaning, or just hanging out and having some adult conversation.
But if you can't physically be there, here are 19 great gifts every new parent will appreciate.
New parents love to see pictures of their babies.
But instead of just seeing one picture, this digital photo frame will let them view a rotating cast of their favorite digital pics.
Price:$50
The cost of diapers and wipes can really rack up. Amazon Mom offers discounts on diapers, wipes, and other baby essentials. Plus, it allows new parents to get discounts on their Amazon baby registry items.
Members also get all the benefits of an Amazon Prime membership, including free shipping, and access to Prime video and books, as well as Amazon's new exclusive brand of diapers, which is only available to Prime members.
Price:$99/year
Often the only bag new moms find themselves carrying is a diaper bag. So why not get her a stylish diaper bag that looks like a purse? The Skip Hop Versa diaper bag looks like a pocket book but is roomy and filled with tons of pockets to stash diapers, wipes, and more.
New dads, however, might appreciate a manly-looking diaper bag from Diaper Dude.
Price:$60
On Dec. 8, after a 13 year-long military operation, the US and NATO ceremonially ended their combat mission in Afghanistan.
Operation Enduring Freedom had the dual objective of hitting back at al Qaeda and their Taliban hosts after the 9/11 attacks and rebuilding Afghanistan into a functioning state. Today, the Taliban is in the middle of a resurgence with the Afghan military taking unsustainable losses as they assume more of the country's security burden.
It was against this backdrop that photographer Robert L. Cunningham returned to Afghanistan in order to capture the end of combat and the sense of the unknown that is now permeating both the Afghan and US military about what happens next.
Cunningham is one of a handful of people who have ever taken a Leica Monochrom, a black-and-white only digital camera, into a war zone. The majority of the following images are taken with the Monochrom, although not all of them.
In 2003, photographer Thilde Jensen was living in the hectic urban environment of New York City when she began to suffer from chronic sinus and ear infections that only kept getting worse.
One day while waiting in traffic, she noticed a car ahead of her spewing out exhaust and simultaneously felt her throat become sore and a fever come on. It was then she knew that the pollution and chemicals around her were making her ill.
"The urban life I so carelessly had enjoyed now turned into a toxic war-zone," she tells Business Insider.
Soon after, she was diagnosed with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, or Environmental Illness (EI), a condition where patients suffer chronic symptoms when in the presence of low-grade chemical exposure. Jensen joined a small group of people whose lives had become completely debilitated by the toxins present in everyday life.
As a photographer, Jensen's immediate response to her situation was to document it with her camera. She met other MCS suffers and set out to tell their stories. Her acclaimed book of this work, titled "The Canaries," was released this year.
Jensen shared a selection of images and her story with us.
Spend all day on one of Google's chat services?
Us too.
We've put together our favorite fun tricks for GChat and Google Hangouts
This ultra-luxurious penthouse in Manhattan is the home of an extremely private billionaire.
So private, in fact, we can't even tell you his name.
But we can show you inside the 18,000-square-foot apartment, located a whopping 90 stories in the air with 360 degree views of New York City. It was recently redesigned by ODA Architecture, and the pictures are incredible.
The luxurious penthouse contains nearly every amenity you can think of, including a sculpture garden with a 30-foot water wall and reflection pool, a game room, a day spa, and a recording studio, according to ODA.
The penthouse's extensive renovations reportedly took ODA four years to complete.
Jill Comoletti contributed to an earlier version of this post.
Amateur photographer Charles W. Cushman traveled extensively in the US and abroad, capturing daily life from 1938 to 1969.
His works have been donated to and maintained by Cushman's alma mater Indiana University, which has kindly given us permission to publish his gallery of New York City photos taken in 1941 and 1942.
They give a great impression of what Chinatown, the Financial District, and Midtown looked like 70 years ago.
Photo: Courtesy of Charles W. Cushman Photograph Collection / Indiana University Archives
Photo: Courtesy of Charles W. Cushman Photograph Collection / Indiana University Archives
Photo: Courtesy of Charles W. Cushman Photograph Collection / Indiana University Archives
Kim Kardashian attempted to #BreaktheInternet, we got our first glimpse of "Star Wars: Episode VII," and George Clooney got married.
We've rounded up the most memorable entertainment moments of the year in photos.
From the Oscar selfie to the unveiling of the new Bond cast, relive the best of 2014.
See how Taylor Swift reacted here.
Read about Pharrell's hat here.
Read more about the halftime show here.
Usually on the underside of a belt or inside a leather good, the leather quality will be stamped one of three things: genuine leather, top-grain leather, or full-grain leather.
But what exactly do these mean? When you're buying your fancy leather briefcase, jacket, or shoes, you should know exactly what to look for in your leather.
Genuine leather doesn't just mean that the product is made of real leather (which it is), but it also means it is the lowest quality of all products made out of real leather.
Genuine leather generally doesn't last as long or look as nice as higher-quality leather. You'll typically find it in belts from mall stores, shoes from lower-priced department stores, and bags or other goods in the lower-leather price range.
Goods marked as genuine leather will be several layers of low quality leather bonded together with glue and then painted to look like a better-quality leather. It's what is left over when the other, higher grades are stripped away.
This grade of leather is acceptable if you're just buying something cheaply and don't care too much about its quality. It won't last very long, so it probably shouldn't be something you use every day.
Top-grain leather is the grade of leather you'll find in "fine" leather goods and is the middle-of-the-road quality of leather. It's used in the vast majority of purses for women as well as small leather goods for men like wallets that are sold by well-known designer brands.
It's made by splitting a piece of full-grain leather and sanding away any imperfections in the hide and stamping a fake grain on it. Usually, it's then treated and colored to provide a completely uniform look.
The finished product ends up being a bit plastic-y, and not nearly as durable as the best quality leather — full grain. It will not age well with use, and will end up looking old and worn after a time.
This finish of leather is great, however, if you don't care as much about durability and more about the color of your leather item, or its resistance to stain.
Full-grain leather takes the entire grain of hide, with all the imperfections and inherent toughness of the material.
It's often used for heavy-duty leather items, like weapon holsters and utility belts. But it can also be used (with great success) for dress belts, briefcases, dress shoes, work boots, and numerous other leather goods.
This type of leather is naturally marked with imperfections from the animal, like a brand or a scar, but products from pricier companies won't use these flawed hides.
Full-grain is hard-as-nails leather that will develop a rich patina as it ages, looking more and more beautiful as you use it. It's widely recognized as the best and highest-quality leather money can buy.
Often much more expensive, full-grain pays dividends with its durability. If you invest in an item made with full-grain leather, you will probably have that item for the rest of your life if you take care of it properly.
If you can you should avoid leathers like bonded leather (scraps of leather glued together to form one piece), patent leather (leather treated with a glossy plastic finish), and corrected grain leather (lower quality leather printed with a fake grain).
SEE ALSO: The 3 Kinds Of Boots Men Need For Winter
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No guest wants to show up to dinner empty-handed, especially around the holidays.
But finding the perfect house gift can be tricky, even if you've known the host for years.
We've rounded up 25 unique gifts for $25 or less that are sure to bring a smile to your host or hostess' face.
Liz O'Connor contributed to this article.
This set of six beer glasses comes with one shape for each type of brew: Classic pilsner, English pub, Belgian ale, craft pub glass, porter/stout, wheat beer.
Buy it: $21.90
Does your host like to work the grill all season long? These meat handlers will ensure he doesn't drop dinner. They're also great for making pulled pork and other shredded dishes.
Buy it:$13.95
This little bonsai can survive indoors or outdoors and needs very little attention. And it won't take up much space: full grown, it stands around nine inches tall.
Buy it: $25.97
All year, Jeffrey Gundlach has nailed what would happen with interest rates and the US dollar.
In a new presentation titled, "This Time It's Different," Gundlach outlines the challenges he sees facing the Federal Reserve and the global economy right now.
Gundlach also highlighted some of the complications that the crash in oil prices could pose for the global economy.
And of course, Gundlach staged a defense of his presentation's title.
"It's always different," Gundlach said. "The one thing that is constant in the world of investing is change... Things are always changing."
Go through all 60 of Gundlach's slides and you'll see what he's talking about.
When Mark Zuckerberg announced the $2 billion acquisition of Oculus Rift earlier this year, he said it was going to change a lot more than gaming.
"Imagine enjoying a courtside seat at a game, studying in a classroom of students and teachers all over the world or consulting with a doctor face-to-face — just by putting on goggles in your home. This is really a new communication platform."
I finally got to try the latest version, "Crescent Bay," at Business Insider's IGNITION conference earlier this month and I'm a believer. He's absolutely right. This is about way more than gaming, or entertainment. It will change entire industries.
By now you've likely heard that Microsoft has a cloud version of Office, called Office 365, that you pay for on subscription either monthly or annually.
Office 365 is a little unusual in that it is cloud software and you install it on your PC, to give you the best of all worlds. As you keep you paying for it, Microsoft automatically adds cool new features.
We asked Microsoft to send us a list of the best new things you could do with the software that most people didn't know it could do.
Everyone can edit a document at the same time in Word, PowerPoint or Excel. You can see the changes as they make them and who is doing the editing.
No more emailing attachments. Everyone can just pile on and work at once.
By the way, while this feature is new for Office 365, it's not unique to Microsoft. Google Apps offers the same. But the first time you see it in action, it's wild.
In the coming weeks, Microsoft will be rolling out a feature that lets you simply click a "Chat" button to begin chatting with everyone working in the document over Skype.
Even if you leave the Office document, you'll be able to continue the conversation via Skype on your desktop or phone, so can keep talking to the team as they make edits.
If your company uses a business edition of Office 365, here's a nifty trick for sharing a file. Upload your file to Office 365's cloud storage. Fire up the cloud version of Outlook (known as Outlook Web App) and, instead of attaching a file, link to the file on your cloud.
This isn't unique to Office 365 — all cloud storage services allow you share documents via links. But Outlook will automatically grant edit permission to the people you are emailing. (You can change their permissions, too.)
The modern lady knows how to hustle, so chances are, you've already got the holidays under control.
But there's always that one person in your life who's tough to shop for – the dad who never asks for anything, or the new friend you only met this year.
Fear not, ladies. We're here to inspire. Business Insider made a list of unique, useful gifts for everyone in your life.
The global housing market is a diverse one. Some are red-hot and others are ice-cold.
According to the Global Property Guide for Q3: "While house prices have continued to rise in the United States, as in several Asian countries, Brazil, and New Zealand, momentum in almost all of these countries has weakened, and China's housing markets have entered a downturn, as has Singapore's."
We've put together a list of the bottom seven markets based on year-over-year, inflation-adjusted price performance as of the third quarter. The chart accompanying each slide shows the year-over-year percentage change in house price.
Home prices in the Slovak Republic fell 0.41% year-over-year, which was a slowdown from 2013's decrease of 1.61%.
Prices fell 0.33% during Q3 2014.
Source: Global Property Guide
Home prices in Finland fell 1.06% year-over-year, which was a slowdown from 2013's increase of 1.07%.
Prices fell 0.71% during Q3 2014.
Source: Global Property Guide
Home prices in Beijing fell 2.40% year-over-year, which was a slowdown from 2013's increase of 17.74%.
Prices fell 3.06% during Q3 2014.
Source: Global Property Guide
If you're planning a tropical getaway, the Caribbean islands are a gold mine of beauty, seclusion, and adventure.
Even though all the Caribbean islands are beautiful, some are better than others. So we decided to rank them.
We figured that the best islands would have a low cost, be easy to get to, and have beautiful beaches and lots of activities. In most instances, we defined a Caribbean island as a single country, republic, or territory in the Caribbean.
To rank these islands, we factored in each island's average hotel room cost, according to Hotels.com; the distance from New York City; the number of attractions listed on TripAdvisor; and the amount of coastline per square kilometer, which we called the beach density score. Read more on our methodology here.
We also created an infographic and map that shows our ranking of the best Caribbean islands.
Distance from NYC: 7 hours and 45 minutes (no regularly scheduled direct flights)
Average hotel room cost: $107/night
Haiti's capital city of Port-au-Prince is the ideal setting to unplug and unwind. While the Wi-Fi may be shotty, the island boasts 23 historic and picturesque attractions — like the Musee du Panthenon National Haitien and Marche de Fer flea market — to explore.
Haiti has a low beach density score of 0.06, indicating that it has relatively little beachfront compared to other Caribbean islands.
Distance from NYC: 6 hours and 20 minutes (no regularly scheduled direct flights)
Average hotel room cost: $184/night
Guadeloupe is an outdoorsperson's paradise, although its beach density score is a low 0.19. Fifty-eight of the 84 attractions focus on nature, from the serene botanical gardens of Deshaies to the untouched, protected coral reefs of Pointe des Chateaux.
Distance from NYC: 5 hours and 55 minutes (no regularly scheduled direct flights)
Average hotel room cost: $183/night
The aptly nicknamed "Nature Island" offers volcanic peaks, sparkling waterfalls, rainforest canopies, and 300 miles of trails — although it has a low beach density score of 0.2. Many of Dominica's 69 attractions are located in the capital city of Roseau.
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The National Guard is the US military's reserve force, offering manpower, equipment, and expertise for missions abroad but also providing America’s first line of defense at home.
When there's a natural disaster or a threat to public safety that law enforcement alone can't handle, the Guard kicks into action. It is constantly preparing itself for new and emerging threats, be they nuclear, chemical, biological, or a natural disaster.
We recently watched the New Jersey National Guard’s 2nd Battalion, 113th Infantry participate in a drill to practice how they would respond to a possible nuclear or chemical emergency without warning and with no immediate explanation of what was happening. The snap exercise aimed to duplicate the conditions of an actual unfolding threat and showed how the Guard keeps itself prepared for even a worst-case scenario.
This year is going to be dominated by personal drones. Why? Because they’re incredibly fun to fly, and becoming increasingly affordable.
We're bringing prices down even further — here’s a roundup of deals not to miss. We and our friends at Stack Commerce put together four drones that will make it easy to take to the skies.
Despite weighing just over an ounce, the Extreme Micro Drone 2.0 (46% off) is impressively equipped with gyro-based stabilization and a camera — in fact, this is the only micro drone in the world with a swiveling lens.
Being so compact means it can fly indoors and out, and it can pull 360º flips. A really nice all-rounder that is forgiving on newbies and ships globally for free.
Get 46% off the Extreme Micro Drone 2.0 ($74.99 incl. global shipping)
Don't forget to use the code droneinsider10 for an extra 10% off.
The Code Black (55% off pre-orders) looks like it emerged from the Batcave, and it has the kind of features the Dark Knight would demand. It is a great out-of-the-box flyer, with a HD camera on board, and it is small enough to fly anywhere.
Plus, it can perform the all-important flips. If you order by Dec. 1, the Code Black will ship in time for Christmas, but the price will rise come mid December.
Get 55% off the Limited Edition Code Black drone + HD Camera ($89 incl. shipping; pre-order)
Don't forget to use the code droneinsider10 for an extra 10% off.
Panther Spy drone (55% off), which uses its size for durability. The rotors are surrounded by protective foam, but given that it has gyro stabilization, those guards shouldn’t be needed all that often. It also has a 720p camera, 2.4GHz transmission for good range, and 360º flips in its tricks locker.
Get 55% off the Panther Spy drone with HD camera ($110 incl. shipping)
Don't forget to use the code droneinsider10 for an extra 10% off.
There’s a reason why Richard Branson backed the 3DRobotics IRIS+ (3% off) — it is an incredible machine. Along with nice manual controls, this thing has a GPS to pilot itself along any flight paths you designate, and it can even intelligently track objects.
With a GoPro mounting, that means the IRIS+ is ideal for capturing your sporting exploits hands free, and a flight range of 16-22 minutes is unusually long.
Get 3% off the 3DRobotics IRIS+ ($750 incl. shipping)
Don't forget to use the code droneinsider10 for an extra 10% off.
