Author: openjargon

• I taste-tested and reviewed nine summertime products available at Aldi.
• I'd buy the Reggano elote pasta-salad kit and Benton's key-lime cookie thins again.
• Next time, I'll skip Aldi's caprese pasta salad and the Specially Selected s'mores soufflé.

I've been an Aldi shopper for a while, so I know the budget grocery chain goes all out for summertime meals and treats. Like many people looking to save money by shopping at Aldi amid rising food costs, I'm a big fan of the grocery store's low prices and rotating seasonal stock.

From marinated-chicken skewers to pasta salads and salsas, I decided to stop by my local Aldi, grab as many seasonal items as I could find, and try them all to see which were worth the hype.

Here's how the summer items at Aldi stacked up.

Aldi's caprese pasta salad seemed like an easy summer meal.

I love eating pasta salad in the summer, so I was excited to see that Aldi carries rotini and caprese options for the season.

The caprese pasta salad intrigued me, so I opted for that version. The item is easy to miss, though — this year's pasta salads had pretty plain, basic packaging.

The pasta salad tasted OK, but I thought the noodles had a gummy texture.

The flavors in this pasta salad were OK. I would've preferred if the mozzarella had been in pearls instead of tiny shreds. I also thought the noodles were very gummy.

The best-by date on the packaging was over a month after the day I ate it, and I think the noodles would likely get gummier with time. I'd skip this, as I can probably make a better caprese pasta dish from scratch.

The Park Street Deli smoky peach salsa sounded like my ideal dip for chips.

I love smoky mango salsas. Although I hadn't had peach salsa before, I figured a smoky, sweet salsa like this would be perfect for summer.

I could already envision generous helpings of this salsa over tacos and with tortilla chips for dipping.

This salsa would likely work better for tacos and rice bowls than dipping.

The flavor of the salsa wasn't as balanced as I'd hoped. The smoke flavor was strong, with only hints of spice and sweetness.

I liked the big peach chunks, but I wish the cilantro pieces were more finely chopped.

After tasting this salsa with chips, I thought it was better suited for serving with tacos, rice bowls, or salads. That being said, I'd still buy it again.

The s’mores soufflé seemed very popular at my local Aldi.

When I went shopping, I was specifically looking for the s'mores soufflé — which sounded like an amazing dessert.

I almost missed it because my local Aldi had nearly sold out of the soufflé. I took this as a sign that the dessert would be delicious.

In my opinion, this dessert looked better than it tasted.

The s'mores soufflé looked so good I wanted to eat it cold out of the container. Still, I followed the directions and heated it in the microwave for 30 seconds.

After microwaving, the toasted marshmallows on top of the dessert became super gooey and puffy. It looked good but didn't quite deliver the flavor I expected.

I didn't get the taste or texture of graham crackers, and, in my opinion, the chocolate center tasted like a brownie from a TV dinner. I'd skip this product and just make classic s'mores instead.

The Baker's Corner funnel-cake kit has been on my shopping list for a few years.

Aldi releases the Baker's Corner funnel-cake kit every summer. Though I always see it when it returns for the season, I've never bought it.

The kit, which featured an easy-to-pour pitcher and a bag of dry funnel-cake mix, looked cute.

The setup was a little messy, but the results were worth it.

I thought I'd mix the batter in the packaging it came in, but the directions said to prepare the mixture in a separate bowl and then pour it into the original container.

This process got pretty messy, as the container's opening wasn't very wide. Despite the mess, the finished batter was easy to pour into the hot oil from the pitcher.

I topped the finished fried pastry with powdered sugar, simmered strawberries, and whipped cream. It was delicious, light, and crisp without any sogginess. This will probably be a must-buy for me every summer.

The Fresh Grill sweet-chile-lime chicken skewers had me excited for barbecue season.

I recently reintroduced meat into my diet and have been learning how to prep and cook different proteins.

When I came across the convenient chicken skewers, already prepped and marinated in a sweet chile-lime seasoning, I looked forward to enjoying a flavorful protein that required little effort.

These skewers were super convenient, making them a new summertime staple for me.

I prepared the skewers on a grill pan indoors, but according to the directions, they can also be thrown on the barbecue or baked in the oven for a more hands-off cooking approach.

They were extremely quick and easy to make, and the chicken's flavor was subtle enough for it to be a versatile protein option. It was slightly sweet with a tanginess from the lime.

I look forward to eating these with grilled veggies, in tacos, or on top of salads all summer.

I couldn’t wait to add the Emporium Selection spinach-and-artichoke Gouda to a cheese board.

When I heard Aldi carried various Gouda products for the summer, I headed straight to the grocery store's cheese section to scope out my options.

There were a few summertime Goudas, including hot-honey, Sriracha, and spinach-and-artichoke options. I chose the spinach-and-artichoke flavor because I thought it was unique and would taste great with pretzels and crackers.

I think the Gouda would be much better heated up.

I paired thin Gouda slices with salty pretzels for a quick afternoon snack. In my mind, this was a delicious pairing.

Unfortunately, the Gouda tasted just OK, and the chunks of spinach weren't very tasty and seemed soggy to me. This wouldn't deter me from eating the cheese again, though.

I'd buy this again and use it in a homemade spinach-and-artichoke dip or for a spin on classic mac and cheese.

Benton's key-lime cookie thins seemed like an easy snack to pack for pool days and picnics.

I love key-lime pie in the summer (or anytime), so when I saw these seasonal cookie thins at Aldi, I had to have them.

After opening the bag and smelling the cookies thins, I knew they'd be a hit. Plus, they come in a resealable bag, which is great for packing for the pool, park, or beach.

I loved the cookie thins as-is, but I plan to use them in an actual key-lime pie.

The flavor and texture of these cookie thins were incredible. They tasted like key-lime pie, with a very thin, crispy texture that almost melted in my mouth.

I could easily eat these cookie thins in one sitting, but they'd also make an extra-flavorful crust for a key-lime pie.

I plan on buying another bag, blitzing them in a food processor, and turning them into a pie crust.

Benton's crème-filled summer-berry wafer rolls seemed like another great portable snack or dessert.

My partner and I love wafer rolls, so we were both looking forward to the summertime flavors available at Aldi. My local store carried lemon-meringue and summer-berry flavors — we went with the latter.

The wafer rolls came in a sealed package inside a metal tin with a lid, the perfect size for throwing in a bag or the car on the way to summertime activities.

The summer-berry flavor wasn’t for me, but I'd be willing to give the other option a try.

These wafer rolls looked and smelled amazing. Each roll had pink stripes along the sides and smelled like strawberries. However, the flavor wasn't quite as good as the scent.

I thought they had a somewhat artificial blueberry taste, and the crème filling wasn't as thick as I would've liked.

I don't know that I'd buy the summer-berry flavor again, but I'd be open to trying the lemon-meringue option.

I was most looking forward to trying the Reggano elote pasta-salad kit.

The elote pasta salad came in a boxed kit that required cooking and prep. I thought Aldi's premade caprese pasta salad was gummy, so I was happy to put in a little more work for a pasta salad with what I hoped would be a better texture.

Plus, combining the flavors of elote and pasta sounded like a genius idea for summer cookouts.

The pasta salad was surprisingly customizable.

I liked that this kit offered instructions for making both mayo-based pasta and an oil-and-vinegar version. I opted for the mayo-based option, which was pretty easy to make.

While the noodles were boiling, I combined hot water, the included seasoning packet, and mayo in a bowl. Once the noodles were cooked, I rinsed them in cool water, added the dressing, and put the finished dish in the fridge.

The final pasta tasted OK — I got the corn, chile, and lime flavors. Because of its thick mayo dressing, I think this pasta salad would be better with lots of mix-ins. I plan to buy another box and add roasted corn, cherry tomatoes, black beans, and cilantro or green onions.

Overall, I’d buy most of these Aldi summer finds again.

I found a lot of new favorites at Aldi this summer. The funnel-cake kit was my favorite of the bunch — making and eating the dessert was so fun, and the product was really convenient.

Next time, I'd skip Aldi's caprese pasta salad, the s'mores soufflé, and the summer-berry wafer rolls. I'd buy a couple of products, like the smoky peach salsa and spinach-and-artichoke Gouda, to incorporate into meals as ingredients rather than eat on their own.

This taste test opened my eyes to Aldi's summertime options, and I can't wait to try more next year.

• "House of the Dragon" season two introduces even more dragons.
• Some dragons, like Vhagar, have had multiple different riders.
• Others, like Vermithor and Dreamfyre, have been introduced or mentioned but are still riderless.

Warning: Spoilers ahead for "House of the Dragon" season one.

"House of the Dragon" season two continues to explore the "Game of Thrones" timeline before the likes of Jon Snow (Kit Harington) and Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) were even born.

The latest chapter of the HBO franchise will pick up after the events of the season one finale, which saw Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D'Arcy) distraught after the death of her son, Lucerys Velaryon, at the hands of her half-brother, Aemond Targaryen.

Although the ending of "Game of Thrones" divided audiences, the franchise is still a lucrative property for HBO and Warner Bros., so it's unsurprising that they've expanded the universe with "House of the Dragon." Several other projects are also in development, including the Princess Nymeria series — titled "Ten Thousand Ships," and "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms."

But until those prequel shows come to fruition, "House of the Dragon" season two (and the already-ordered season three) will continue to deliver all the political intrigue, raunchy romantic drama, and flame-spitting monsters that fans could wish for.

Here's a refresher on all the dragons in "House of the Dragon."

Vhagar is the largest dragon.

Vhagar is the largest dragon in the Targaryens' brood, and the show has made sure to show off how intimidating she is in the few aerial scenes she's had so far.

Vhagar is the oldest dragon of the ones owned by House Targaryen in "House of the Dragon," and was previously ridden by Visenya Targaryen during King Aegon I Targaryen's reign years before the series picks up.

Laena Velaryon rides Vhagar first.

While Visenya Targaryen rode Vhagar in the past, Princess Laena Velaryon (Nanna Blondell) was first to own her in the "House of the Dragon" timeline. We even see her flying alongside her husband, Prince Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith), as they head back to Pentos.

Unfortunately, Laena goes through a traumatic birth in episode six that puts both her and her child at risk, and she forces Vhagar to end her suffering by incinerating her with that all-important phrase: "Dracarys."

Aemond Targaryen rides Vhagar after Laena's death.

After Laena's tragic death at the end of episode six, a young Aemond Targaryen (Leo Ashton) sneaks out in the middle of the night to try to tame her dragon, Vhagar. Surprisingly, instead of being incinerated or being turned into a dragon snack, the young boy manages to take control of the largest dragon in Westeros. 

Aemond taking Vhagar for himself is also the reason he ends up losing an eye, as a fight breaks out between the Targaryen and Velaryon children, and Lucerys slashes his uncle with a dagger. 

An eye for a very powerful dragon? That's one hell of a trade. The pair have another face off at the end of season one, but we'll get to that later.

Caraxes has a neck like a snake.

Caraxes might not be the biggest dragon in the gang, but he's longer than most of the others thanks to his snakelike neck. He's also got bright red scales, which gives him a very distinct look.

He was originally owned by Aemon Targaryen, the son of King Jaehaerys I Targaryen, before the prince's death at the hands of Myrish pirates.

Daemon Targaryen commands Caraxes.

Caraxes is owned by the infamous Prince Daemon Targaryen, who constantly rebels against his brother in the series. He even takes Dragonstone (and a dragon egg) for himself alongside his consort, Mysaria (Sonoya Mizuno), and uses Caraxes to intimidate Ser Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans) and his forces when they try to oust Daemon from the castle in episode two.

However, that doesn't go very well when another dragon shows up…

Syrax has yellow scales.

Thankfully, Otto and the soldiers get some dragon backup of their own with Syrax, a yellow dragon of a similar size to Caraxes. She's a much younger dragon compared to the likes of Vhagar and Caraxes, but she's no less vicious.

It's one of the reasons that Daemon backs down when he's confronted on the bridge to Dragonstone. Although that might also have to do with who was riding Syrax.

Rhaenyra Targaryen rides Syrax.

Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen (played by Milly Alcock as a child) commands Syrax from the beginning. The series shows the formidable teenager riding the yellow dragon in the first two episodes.

Her willingness to face off against her uncle Daemon is probably one of the reasons he starts to be attracted to her in the first place.

The older Rhaenyra (Emma D'Arcy) later gives one of Syrax's eggs to Aemond, the son of Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke).

Vermax is a small dragon in the pit.

Vermax is much younger than most of the other dragons in the series and doesn't tower over people like Vhagar, Caraxes, and Syrax. He first shows up in episode six, as the dragonkeepers lead him out to Rhaenyra and Alicent's children.

Vermax also has a distinct look, with green scales and a red spine, but he doesn't see any combat in season one.

Jacaerys Velaryon is learning how to control Vermax.

Vermax belongs to Jacaerys Velaryon (Leo Hart), and he's still learning to control the young dragon as he takes lessons from the dragon keepers about how to use the "dreary" command. They're clearly paying off because Vermax responds by roasting a goat on command.

Poor goat.

Seasmoke takes part in the Stepstones conflict.

Seasmoke is another of the Targaryens' dragons, but he's given to the Velaryon family because Princess Rhaenys Targaryen (Eve Best) married Corlys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint), aka the Sea Snake.

Seasmoke is a silver and gray dragon, who proves to be a pivotal weapon in the War for the Stepstones.

Seasmoke is ridden by Laenor Velaryon.

Seasmoke belongs to Rhaenys and Corlys' son, Laenor (Theo Nate), and he's the one who saves Daemon in the War for the Stepstones when he goes up against the Crabfeeder and his forces.

Laenor eventually marries Rhaenyra and they have children after the time jump in season one, though their children are actually fathered by Ser Harwin Strong (Ryan Corr).

After Laenor's faked death, Seasmoke is currently riderless in Dragonstone. But according to the books, he'll eventually get an unexpected new rider. 

Meleys is also called the "Red Queen."

Meleys is a very large red dragon and she's been seen a few times in "House of the Dragon," first showing up as she heads to King's Landing next to Seasmoke and Laenor Velaryon.

But Meleys is becoming a key weapon against Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke) and Aegon Targaryen (Tom Glynn-Carney). And her explosive entrance in episode nine's Dragonpit coronation scene is one for the ages.

Rhaenys Targaryen still flies Meleys.

Meleys is ridden by Laenor's mother, Rhaenys, who is King Viserys I Targaryen's cousin. She and Corlys are quick to suggest that the king marries Laena when she's 12 years old. Thankfully, he declined and married Alicent instead.

It's worth remembering that Rhaenys is also the one who warns Rhaenyra that she is in a dangerous position as successor to the Iron Throne because most men don't want a woman ruling Westeros.

Rhaenys proves that she's just as dangerous as anyone else in House Targaryen when she crashes Aegon's coronation with Meleys in episode nine.

Dreamfyre was meant for Baelon Targaryen.

There's also Dreamfyre. Don't worry if this isn't instantly ringing any bells, because she's only mentioned briefly back in the small council meeting during episode two.

Dreamfyre gets name-dropped because Daemon steals one of her eggs that was intended for Rhaenyra's baby brother, Baelon Targaryen, who died briefly after Queen Aemma gave birth to him in episode one.

Princess Helaena will eventually ride Dreamfyre, according to the book.

Viserys and Alicent's daughter, Princess Helaena (played by Evie Allen), hasn't become a major part of "House of the Dragon" yet. But she will eventually be the one to ride Dreamfyre, as per the 2018 "Fire and Blood" book by "Game of Thrones" author George R.R. Martin.

No spoilers, but an older Helaena (played by Phia Saban later in season one and in season two) becomes a vital part of the civil war, dubbed the "Dance of Dragons" that tears apart House Targaryen.

Daemon finds Vermithor under Dragonstone.

The finale introduces Vermithor, who is one of the riderless dragons living on Dragonstone. It's definitely helpful for Rhaenyra and Daemon to have several dragons that could be tamed in time for a coming civil war. Although Vermithor isn't as big as Vhagar, he's still a towering beast.

The finale introduces him when Daemon goes wandering into the caves underneath Dragonstone.

Fans who have read "Fire & Blood" will know that Vermithor will remain riderless for a little longer. No spoilers, but the person who ends up flying the dragon into battle is from the unlikeliest background. Expect to see a lot more of Vermithor as the Dance of Dragons really kicks off in future seasons.

Arrax clashes with Vhagar.

The finale also gives audiences another new dragon, Arrax, a much smaller dragon than many of the others ridden by House Targaryen. He has pearlescent scales with red spines and is a nimble flier — as seen in the finale when he dives through rocky terrain to escape Aemond Targaryen (Ewan Mitchell) and Vhagar.

Unfortunately, Arrax disobeys his rider by briefly attacking Vhagar, and the larger dragon also ignores Aemond and responds with brutal force. After chasing Arrax for a while, Vhagar kills the younger dragon and his rider with a single chomp with his massive jaws. 

It's at that moment that Aemond knows he messed up because Vhagar's impulsive violence causes Rhaenyra to go to war.

Lucerys Velaryon rides Arrax.

Arrax belongs to Prince Lucerys Velaryon (Elliot Grihault), and he was given the dragon by King Viserys as a way of dispelling the rumors about him being the son of Ser Harwin Strong (Ryan Corr). But the finale is the first time we see Lucerys and Arrax fly together because Rhaenyra sends them on a diplomatic mission to speak with Lord Borros Baratheon (Roger Evans). 

Unfortunately, Aemond got there first, and he tried to get revenge on Lucerys for cutting his eye out when they were children. But Borros intervenes, which is why Aemond takes to the skies with Vhagar instead.

Their chase ultimately leads to Vhagar chomping Lucerys and Arrax, which was an accident. But obviously, Rhaenyra doesn't see it like that. Oh dear.

Sunfyre takes part in the fight above Rook's Rest.

In the fourth episode of season two, the battle between the Greens and Blacks escalated around Rook's Rest castle. As the armies clashed on the ground, the dragons took to the sky. While Aemond and Vhagar fought Rhaenys and Meleys, Sunfyre surprised everyone by joining the fight alongside Vhagar.

Sunfyre, as the name suggests, is brightly colored with golden scales and pink-tipped wings. But despite his impressive appearance, he's not a formidable opponent, especially against a ferocious beast like Meleys.

Sunfyre gets severely wounded because of this and crashes into the nearby woodland. It's not clear if he survived the fight.

King Aegon I Targaryen rides Sunfyre.

King Aegon I Targaryen (Tom Glynn-Carney) rides Sunfyre in the series, but audiences don't see him take flight until season two, episode four.

Aemond and Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel) had planned to ambush the Greens with Vhagar, but Aegon threw a spanner in the works when he appeared above the battlefield on Sunfyre in an attempt to show strength to his army.

As fans now know, that didn't go so well, as Aegon was severely burnt by Meleys in the fight before he and Sunfyre crashed to the ground. The dragon survived, according to "Fire and Blood."

• Kimbal Musk said he felt hopeless when his brother Elon got beaten up at school.
• He told The Times of London that Musk had upset those involved but didn't deserve the severe beating.
• The brothers grew up in South Africa, which Kimbal described as a "very violent place" at the time.

Elon Musk's brother Kimbal Musk felt hopeless when Elon got "severely" beaten up at school, he told The Times of London in an interview.

Kimbal Musk recounted his experience growing up with his older brother in South Africa, a place he described as "very violent" at the time.

"He had obviously upset them in some form, but nothing that would justify beating someone to death, which is what they were trying to do," Kimbal Musk told the outlet.

He added: "There was nothing I could do."

In a separate incident, Kimbal and Elon Musk were on a train, and a man in front of them got stabbed in the head and died "right there," he said, as everyone tried to exit the carriage.

Elon Musk has previously talked about his childhood experiences, telling author Ashlee Vance that those who beat him got his best friend to lure him out of hiding.

"For some reason they decided that I was it, and they were going to go after me nonstop. That's what made growing up difficult. For a number of years there was no respite," he said, according to Vance's 2015 book "Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future."

He also described being chased around by gangs at school, "and then I'd come home, and it would just be awful there as well."

Kimbal Musk told the Times that his first recollections of getting in trouble with Elon were when they were about four and five and were "caught" lighting a fire in the back of their house.

"We were probably going to burn something down," he told the outlet.

According to The Times, their mother, Maye Musk, a professional dietitian and model, was physically and emotionally abused by her husband, Errol Musk, who often scolded and verbally abused the two boys.

The two brothers went on to move from South Africa to Canada as teenagers, founded Zip2, and sold it for about $300 million in 1999.

They have since worked on many projects together, including SpaceX and Tesla, but have disagreed many times, sometimes leading to physical altercations.

While working together in Zip2's office in the 1990s, Kimbal Musk once "tore off a hunk of flesh" from Elon Musk's hand while the brothers wrestled on the floor, according to Walter Isaacson's 2023 biography of Elon Musk.

In May, in a letter made public in an SEC filing, a group of Tesla shareholders urged others to vote against the reelection of Kimbal Musk and James Murdoch to the Tesla Board, citing concerns they could not effectively oversee the CEO because of their personal ties.

Kimbal Musk told The Times that a couple of months ago he spent days disagreeing with his brother on Tesla's cost-cutting strategy and manufacturing, but this time without bloodshed.

"At least we don't physically fight these days," Kimbal Musk said.

• Osgood Perkins' new horror film, Longlegs, has received considerable buzz, largely due to its masterful marketing campaign.
• It stars Nicolas Cage as the titular devil-loving killer and Maika Monroe as the FBI agent on his tail.
• The movie is eerie and disconcerting, leading to a bloody ending where secrets are revealed.

"Longlegs" may or may not be the scariest movie of the decade, depending on who you ask, but it's certainly in the running to be the most talked-about one.

The satanic horror movie set in 1995 stars modern scream queen Maika Monroe (of "It Follows" fame) as Lee Harker, a preternaturally perceptive, introverted FBI agent thrust into a case that's stumped the bureau for decades.

Over 30 years, 10 different, seemingly unconnected families have been killed the same way: Fathers brutally murder their wives and children before killing themselves. The only commonalities are that each family has a daughter with a birthday on the 14th of any given month, and indecipherable coded letters signed by someone calling themselves Longlegs are left at each crime scene.

A team at the FBI, led by Agent Carter (Blair Underwood), has deduced that Longlegs, though not physically present for the murders, is the person somehow responsible for making the fathers kill. After Lee intuitively figures out what house another culprit is hiding in earlier in the film, she's brought on to help crack the Longlegs case.

The film has been building hype for months thanks to the studio Neon's terrific marketing. The campaign smartly gave away nary a plot detail and held back any glimpses of Nicolas Cage's spectacularly unhinged serial killer Longlegs. Now, it's finally in theaters, allowing eager horror fans into the world that writer-director Osgood Perkins crafted.

The tense, disconcerting film evokes a sense of dread for much of its runtime, creeping toward a twisty, blood-soaked ending that fills in most of the blanks but leaves a few other key questions unanswered.

Here's a complete breakdown of how the movie ends, including what Perkins and the cast have said about it in interviews with Business Insider.

Warning: Major spoilers ahead for "Longlegs," including a detailed description of the ending.

What happens in 'Longlegs?'

"Longlegs" is split into three parts. For the purposes of this explainer, I'm considering the entirety of Part Three (titled "Birthday Girls") the ending.

In Part One ("His Letters"), viewers are introduced to Lee (Monroe) and learn about the Longlegs killings as she's brought onto the case and begins investigating. We also meet Agent Carter's family, including his wife and young daughter, Ruby, who invites an awkward and obviously socially stunted Lee to her birthday party.

It quickly becomes clear that Lee and Longlegs have a twisted history between them, as Longlegs leaves her a birthday card, allowing her to cipher the other crime scene notes he left at the homes of the murdered families. However, the nature of their connection is kept a secret until the end.

Generally, you'd expect a movie about a serial killer to build a finale that involves a confrontation between the killer and the hero, but Perkins pulls a fast one. Instead, Longlegs (whose real name is revealed to be Dale Ferdinand Cobble) is captured a little over halfway through the film's runtime, which is the first time the audience sees his face.

It is, in a word, hideous. He's a strung-out-looking, aging glam rocker-type who's essentially deformed himself with bad plastic surgery, botox, and fillers, looking a bit like a melting candle.

Cobble is arrested in the middle of Part Two ("All Of Your Things") after Lee visits her creepy mom Ruth (Alicia Witt) at her childhood home and finds a Polaroid she took of Longlegs when he first visited Lee when she was a little girl, on January 13, 1974, the day before her ninth birthday.

Part Two also confirms what most watchers had probably already guessed: Lee was the little girl we saw in the movie's opening scene, being confronted by Longlegs when he drives up to her house in a station wagon.

In this part, Lee and Carter also go to the Camera family farm, where one of the murders happened in 1975. There, they find buried beneath floorboards a deteriorated, life-sized doll that looks like Carrie Ann Camera, the daughter who was the sole survivor of that attack.

Carrie Ann (played as an adult by Kiernan Shipka) has been housed at a psychiatric facility and catatonic in the 20 years since the murders, only emerging from her unresponsiveness when Longlegs visits her — right before Lee and Carter stop by. Speaking to Lee, Carrie Ann tells her that she'll do whatever "the man downstairs" tells her to do, including jump out the window. She also suggests she's seen Lee before, or someone who looks like her, at her house and that Lee has also forgotten something about her own past.

How does 'Longlegs' end?

Part Three is when all hell finally breaks loose. Longlegs (aka Cobble) is apprehended by the FBI. Agent Carter is satisfied and believes the arrest will allow the murdered families to have justice. But an increasingly uneasy Lee remains convinced that, as she theorized early on, Longlegs wasn't killing these families alone — he had an accomplice. When she goes in to interrogate Cobble herself, he speaks mostly in riddles and refuses to tell her directly who he is working with.

Finally, he cryptically tells Lee to "ask her mommy," gives a last "Hail Satan" for good measure, and then smashes his face open on the table in front of Lee, killing himself.

A furious Carter confronts a traumatized Lee, admonishing her for remaining convinced of her accomplice theory and informing her that Carrie Ann Camera killed herself earlier that day. Carrie Ann's death seems to suggest that Longlegs' algorithm of killings was completed, as only one day (that day, the 13th) was missing from the pattern — but that's a red herring.

Lee and another FBI agent, Agent Browning (Michelle Choi-Lee), go to her mother Ruth's house to bring Ruth in for questioning, given Cobble's comments before his death. When Lee goes into the house to find her mom, Ruth, dressed as a nun, kills Browning with a shotgun. When a stunned and horrified Lee goes to confront her mother, Ruth is standing with the gun aimed at a life-sized doll that looks exactly like Lee as a child.

Realizing her mother was working with Cobble, Lee tells her that she can stop and that Cobble is gone. Ruth replies, "You got him. Now he's free. And you're free too, baby girl." She shoots the Lee doll in the head, and black smoke emanates from the place where the doll's head once was — and simultaneously, from a disoriented Lee's head right before Lee passes out.

As Lee is unconscious, viewers get an explanation of what the hell has been going on, courtesy of Ruth monologuing over a montage sequence of past events.

According to Lee's mom, Longlegs, a devil-worshipping dollmaker, visited them when Lee was a girl in 1974. Her mother interrupted them, at which point Longlegs told her, in a sing-song voice, that if she let him in now, it would be "nice," but if she didn't, he'd come back as many times as he'd like.

Instead of allowing Lee to be taken by the devil, who is present in the dolls that Longlegs creates, Lee's mother makes a bargain with the killer: She'd help him do Satan's work, murdering other families by delivering dolls to them crafted to look like their daughters, dressed as a nun and under the guise of the doll being a gift from the church.

Satan would do his soul-corrupting work through the dolls to get the fathers to kill, and Lee's mom would simply have to be there to watch the deaths happen. Ruth says this deal allowed Lee to grow up, unlike those little girls in the other families.

When Lee awakens, she's alone in her mom's house. An eerie voice — possibly the devil himself — tells her she's "late for Ms. Ruby's birthday party." Realizing something terrible is about to happen, Lee rushes to Carter's house to find him, his wife, and Ruby there, with Ruth and the Ruby-like doll she's just delivered to them. It's clear that the family is under the devil's spell.

Carter tries to fight against the compulsion and fails, stabbing his wife to death in the kitchen. He emerges and goes to attack Ruby before Lee shoots and kills him to stop him. Lee's mom produces her own knife to finish the devil's work by killing Ruby, reiterating that she's doing this all for Lee — "just like I've always done" — and that she'll do it "again and again," despite Cobble's death.

Apparently realizing her mom is a full-on Satan worshipper now and a lost cause, a distraught Lee shoots Ruth in the head to save Ruby. She also attempts to shoot the Ruby doll, but the gun won't fire.

"You're real scum," Lee says to the doll. And then, the movie ends.

'Longlegs' leaves many unanswered questions

As much as is answered by Ruth's monologue in the final act (like who Longlegs' accomplice is, how and why the other families died, and what the deal is with those creepy dolls), there are still lingering questions.

For one, it's not clear why Longlegs or the devil initially targeted Lee. Her family situation is different from all the other targeted families. Most obviously, her dad doesn't appear to be present at all, and the dad is a key component of all the rest of the killings.

One theory might be that it has something to do with Lee's semi-psychic abilities — perhaps that made her attractive to the devil. But the film doesn't clarify that, and then again, there's no indication her preternatural intuition even existed at that point. Maybe it was her encounter with Longlegs and the devil that sparked it.

Also, during the interrogation scene right before he smashes his own face to a pulp, Longlegs remarks that Ruth was "the seventh she to be given the same choice — crimson or clover." This suggests that Ruth may not have been the first Satanic recruit brought on to the devil's mission in this manner. But again, there's no follow-up there.

One more pressing question relates more directly to the ending: What was up with that black smoke emanating from the Lee doll's head and adult Lee's head once the doll was destroyed?

BI asked Perkins — and he's not telling.

"I don't think I should say," the filmmaker said when asked what the black smoke was. "I think that that's for you guys to worry about. I mean, I know, but I'm not going to say."

Monroe, who plays Lee, confirmed that she believes the black smoke is "up to interpretation."

In a separate interview, Witt, who plays Ruth, gave her own idea of what she thinks the black smoke was.

"It's darkness. It's darkness that's in there, and then it gets released," Witt said.

This interpretation is also backed up by a line Longlegs says earlier in the movie, in a flashback, when he's making the Carrie Ann Camera doll.

"I know you're not afraid of a little bit of dark. You are the dark," he says as he puts a sheet over the doll's head.

This ending wasn't always Perkins' plan

Underwood, who plays Agent Carter, gives a quietly devastating performance in his final scene in the film. In it, Carter, under the control of the devil in the doll, visibly fights against the compulsion to kill his family. He told BI that he had no idea when he initially signed on to the movie that his character was a goner since Perkins hadn't finished the final scene when they spoke.

"Oz…said the script wasn't quite finished, but he had two or three ideas of where he was going to go with it," Underwood said.

Once he finally saw how his story would wrap up, Underwood was thrilled to have such a meaty moment.

"When he finished it, he sent me the scene and said, 'What do you think?' I was like, 'Dude, I love it. I love this, man. I get to play,'" he added.

Perkins explained that his intent when he starts out on a script is always to start with the end.

"There's always the intention to figure out the ending and then map yourself backward," he told BI. "It never really quite goes that way, and I always find myself careening toward, 'Oh, fuck. Here comes the climax, and here comes the crisis, and here comes the thing, and I hope it's enough.'"

"But in this case, it felt like the inevitable thing that was hiding in plain sight, right?" he added. "Anybody watching the movie, certainly a second time, is going to be like, 'Well, of course that's how that goes.'"

The big climax, Ruth's monologue, also got an overhaul. According to Perkins, they filmed a few scenes where Ruth said everything directly to Lee on camera, but they scrapped that plan when "it proved to be too long and too not-dynamic."

The ultimate scene that made it in — a montage of events with Ruth speaking over it — came in the editing room, where Perkins and the film's editor patched it together from existing footage.

In the end, the "stylized sort of bedtime story" way Ruth reveals the truth to Lee (and the audience) fits perfectly with what the movie is about, in Perkins' eyes: a mother telling a lie to their child.

Will there be a 'Longlegs' sequel?

Any horror fan knows that where there's a box-office hit, there's almost inevitably a sequel. For now, Perkins is satisfied leaving things exactly where he left them.

"The good news about making a movie is that you get to say it's over," he said when asked if he's thought about what happens to Lee and Ruby after the abrupt ending. "To me, a movie is a completed movement, and you get what you get. If you want to extrapolate forward, amazing."

That said, when asked directly whether there wouldn't be a sequel, given his feelings about endings, he hinted it was a possibility.

"Any sequel or any subsidiary project wouldn't be like starting at the end and going forward," Perkins said. "It would be something else: prequel or another movie in the universe of 'Longlegs,' or something very unexpected."

"Longlegs" is in theaters now.

• Former Rep. Jane Harman is warning Democrats who want to dump Biden: Look at what happened in Egypt.
• She argued it was "easy to knock people off," pointing to the overthrown of Hosni Mubarak in 2011.
• "I don't think people would say Egypt has better leadership now than it did under Mubarak," she said.

As a growing number of Democrats call for President Joe Biden to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race, one former lawmaker has a warning: Look at what happened in Egypt during the Arab Spring.

During an appearance on ABC News on Thursday night, former Democratic Rep. Jane Harman of California pointed to the 2011 overthrow of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak as a worthy example to weigh when contemplating whether Biden should step aside.

"It's easy to knock people off," Harman said. "We saw it in the so-called Arab Spring. We knocked off Mubarak, the leader of Egypt."

While the US has denied direct involvement in Mubarak's overthrow, then-President Barack Obama supported the public revolt against the Egyptian leader, which came in the midst of the Arab Spring. Mubarak had led the country for nearly 30 years in an autocratic fashion until his resignation. In the subsequent 2012 election, Mohammed Morsi — a candidate affiliated with the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood — was elected president. Morsi was overthrown the following year, and former military officer Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has led the country since 2014.

"Where is Egypt now? We ended up electing — they ended up electing — the Muslim Brotherhood, which was a very toxic, unpalatable group and then that led to a military leader, El-Sisi, and a lot of journalists are in jail, and I don't think people would say Egypt has better leadership now than it did under Mubarak," said Harman. "I'm not totally defending him either. But knocking someone down is easier than building someone up."

Harman suggested that there's no clear plan for who will succeed Biden if he steps aside. Vice President Kamala Harris would likely be the frontrunner, but other Democratic candidates could seek the nomination at a contested convention in August.

"Where is the team that will succeed Biden, and how do we know they can beat [former President Donald] Trump?" asked Harman.

• I tried on similar pairs of linen shorts at Gap, Old Navy, and Banana Republic.
• The pair from Old Navy was the cheapest but felt a bit tough against my skin.
• The Banana Republic shorts were my favorite, but the pair from Gap provided the best value.

I'm someone who loves color and bold fashion statements. There are more pink dresses and puff sleeves in my closet than there are black or white basics.

While I adore the creative expression and femininity in my wardrobe, it's become a challenge to dress for everyday life — my purple fur-lined cardigan isn't necessarily coffee shop-appropriate.

That's why I've made it my mission to invest in neutral, versatile clothing pieces this summer — starting with a pair of linen shorts.

I turned to Gap, Banana Republic, and Old Navy — all owned and operated by parent company Gap Inc. — to find the most comfortable, high-quality option for the best value.

After all, Gap Inc.'s brands are as popular as ever, with both in-store and online sales up from last year. With this in mind, I figured the retailers would have plenty of on-trend items for me to browse. Here's how it went.

I started my search at Old Navy.

Old Navy is one of the largest apparel brands in the world, with over 1,200 locations worldwide. The company also brought in $8.2 billion in sales in 2023, so I figured it must be doing something right.

I also appreciate that Old Navy offers inclusive-sizing options online and in some stores — women's styles are available in sizes 0-30 with no price difference between the smallest and largest items.

I found the shopping experience at Old Navy to be a bit overwhelming.

Old Navy's brick-and-mortar stores aren't quite as big as department stores, but in my opinion, they feel like walking into a warehouse.

It was hard to know where to start looking, but I liked that similar styles were grouped accordingly (such as seasonal pieces, athletic apparel, and pajamas). This made it easy to locate the shorts I was looking for.

They didn't have the white shade I was hoping for in my size, but they did have a selection of other neutral and vibrant colors. So, I tried on the high-waisted linen-blend shorts in black.

I'd reserve the Old Navy shorts for a casual occasion.

I liked the loose-fitting silhouette and the fact that these shorts had two pockets in the front and two in the back. However, the material (55% linen, 45% rayon) could have been softer and felt a bit tough against my skin.

I'd wear these to the beach, for relaxed lunch outings, or while running errands. But because of the elastic waistband and shorter hemline, I'd reserve these for casual occasions.

Overall, I thought the $30 price tag for these shorts was reasonable — but I did find them online at 50% off.

Next, I went to Gap to try on more basics.

I've made a few trips to Gap recently after having rarely shopped there before, and I've been pleasantly surprised by the selection of styles every time.

The store, which has over 700 locations in the US and Asia, has plenty of on-trend seasonal clothing. However, I've been most impressed by their large selection of basics, which is exactly what I've been looking for.

Despite being a massive corporation, I also liked that sifting through the racks at Gap felt more like shopping at a boutique. The garments were neatly organized, and it was easy to find what I needed quickly.

The shorts I tried on at Gap had a relaxed but well-tailored fit.

When I tried on the 365 high-rise linen-blend shorts from Gap, I was satisfied with almost every aspect of them.

I loved the high waistband with belt loops, which would make it easy to dress them up or down to pull off trending-linen looks. The relaxed yet well-tailored fit was stylish and elevated.

I could picture myself wearing these while wandering the streets of Europe or attending a laid-back summer party. However, the button and clasp closure didn't offer much flexibility, so it'd be important to size these correctly.

However, the shorts were pretty see-through.

My main issue with the white shorts was that the material was quite sheer, showing the full pocket squares in the back (you'd need to put on seamless, flesh-colored underwear with these). They're not shown this way in the photos online, so I'm glad I tried them on in person first.

I also noticed that the shorts have the same material makeup as the ones from Old Navy (55% linen, 45% rayon). They were almost double the price but felt more lightweight and comfortable than the Old Navy pair. I didn't notice any stiffness or scratching.

I wouldn't pay the full $50 for these, but I'd buy them on sale — I later saw them for 50% off on Gap's website.

I finished my shopping at Banana Republic.

For my last stop, I visited Banana Republic, which has over 400 stores around the world. I was delighted with the actual shopping experience, which felt luxurious and chic, and an associate immediately helped me find what I was looking for.

They didn't have my size in-store, but I tried on the 4-inch linen shorts two sizes up to see if they might still be worth ordering online.

The Banana Republic shorts came out on top for their high-quality material and fashionable design.

I loved the ultra-high-waisted cut of these shorts, which came with an adjustable, removable belt. The scrunched waistline also added an eye-catching effect, although these would have to be worn with a cropped or tucked-in top.

While the $90 price tag was much higher than the Old Navy and Gap options, this was the only fully lined pair of shorts made from 100% linen. I could feel the difference in the quality and material, too.

$90 is out of my usual price range for a pair of shorts, but when I compared them to similar linen styles from popular retailers like Reformation or Revolve, the price actually seemed reasonable.

However, I'd be most likely to buy the pair from Gap.

If the Banana Republic shorts were available in my size, I would have considered purchasing them. I've been eyeing them online since trying them on, but because I previously found Banana Republic's sizing to be a bit off, I'm hesitant to place the order.

However, I'd be most likely to purchase the pair from Gap (in a non-white neutral color) because of the decent fit and lower price.

• Weeks after George Clooney co-hosted a $28 million fundraiser for Biden, he wants him to drop out.
• Biden's Hollywood support has begun to wane as Clooney and other moguls publicly express doubts.
• Despite Biden's backing from the party, some top donors and media giants want a new candidate.

Less than a month ago, some of Hollywood's A-list attended a fundraiser for President Joe Biden's reelection campaign, co-hosted by George Clooney, Julia Roberts, and Barbra Streisand. They raised $28 million.

But in an essay published by The New York Times on Wednesday, Clooney is now calling for the president to drop out of the race.

Biden has claimed that calls for him to step aside following his disastrous debate in June are coming from the party's elite instead of everyday Americans, but he has long relied on Hollywood for support — the star-studded event last month was the most lucrative Democratic Party fundraiser to date.

Though few Democratic lawmakers are publicly calling on the president to end his reelection bid, big donors and Hollywood moguls are openly expressing their doubts.

Here are the media giants who have asked Biden to end his campaign — so far.

George Clooney

Clooney called on Biden to drop out of the race in an essay for The New York Times on July 10.

Clooney wrote that the Biden he saw at the Hollywood fundraiser in June was "not the Joe 'big F-ing deal' Biden of 2010," nor was he "even the Joe Biden of 2020." Instead, he was "the same man we all witnessed at the debate."

He wrote that Democrats would lose the election if Biden remained in the race, and also claimed that "every senator and Congress member and governor" he's spoken with privately agrees with him, regardless of their public comments.

Rob Reiner

Rob Reiner is a longtime Democratic donor who hosted a campaign fundraiser that Kamala Harris attended just a couple weeks ago, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

But on June 7, he took to X, formerly known as Twitter, with a forceful message: "It's time to stop f—-ing around."

The actor and filmmaker lauded Biden's service but explicitly called for the president to step down. In a separate post on July 10, Reiner supported Clooney's op-ed, saying that democracy is at risk in this election and "we need someone younger to fight back."

John Cusack

Throughout his decades-long career, Cusack has been vocal about his political opinions. In 2020, he was one of the most prominent supporters of Bernie Sanders and vowed on social media that "anyone who cannot see or choose not to see what [Trump] is" was out of his life "permanently."

In 2023, Cusack posted on X that he understood why Sanders endorsed Biden for president.

But the "Say Anything" actor changed his tune in July 2024, quoting a post from Rob Reiner to call on Biden to step down.

"There has been no bigger supporter of Biden's domestic policy than Rob — he's right," Cusack wrote.

Abigail Disney

The heiress to the Disney fortune has promised to withhold all further donations to the Democratic Party unless Biden bows out of the race.

Disney has long supported left-leaning political groups — she donated $50,000 to the Jane Fonda Climate political action committee in the spring and $150,000 to Planned Parenthood Votes, another PAC, in 2014, CNBC reported, citing OpenSecrets and an FEC filing.

"This is realism, not disrespect," Disney told CNBC earlier this month. "Biden is a good man and has served his country admirably, but the stakes are far too high."

Michael Douglas

The award-winning actor and producer hosted a fundraiser for Biden earlier this year but sounded skeptical during a July 10 appearance on "The View."

Though he didn't go so far as to ask the president to end his campaign, he did say that he is "deeply, deeply concerned."

When asked his opinions on George Clooney's op-ed begging Biden to step aside, Douglas ceded that the actor had "a valid point."

Michael Moore

A titan of political filmmaking and supporter of progressive causes, Michael Moore published an article on his website asking Biden not to run, saying "your body is begging you."

Moore went further on an episode of his podcast and likened allowing Biden on the debate stage to "the cruelest form of elder abuse I've ever been forced to watch."

Reed Hastings

Hastings, a co-founder of Netflix, shared his thoughts with The New York Times in an email earlier this month.

"Biden needs to step aside to allow a vigorous Democratic leader to beat Trump and keep us safe and prosperous," he wrote.

This is a shift for Hastings and his wife, Patty Quillin, who, according to The Times, donated $1.5 million alone to Biden's campaign in 2020 and more than $20 million to the Democratic Party.

Stephen King

The horror icon has long been vocally anti-Trump, but he added his voice to the movement calling for Biden to exit the race on July 8.

King wrote on X, "Joe Biden has been a fine president, but it's time for him — in the interests of the America he so clearly loves — to announce he will not run for reelection."

Damon Lindelof

Lindelof, best known for work writing on "Lost," "The Leftovers," and "Watchmen," wrote an essay for Deadline on July 3 telling Biden to exit the race.

"I am a lifelong Democrat," he wrote, "I voted for Joe. I wept when the election was called for him."

Lindelof continued, "I believe in Joe Biden. I believe in him so much that we wrote him a sizable check as recently as two weeks ago."

But after the debate, Lindelof's opinion changed. He's now asking his fellow Democrats to stop donating to the party. "A rising tide lifts all boats. A falling Biden sinks them," he added.

Ashley Judd

The actress and political activist published a lengthy opinion piece in USA Today on July 12 calling on Biden to step aside because "beating Trump is too important." She writes that the debate demonstrated that Biden is unable to effectively counter Trump's rhetoric and so must end his candidacy.

She implored the Democratic party to act quickly — they should, she argues, simultaneously express their deep gratitude to Biden and ask him to step aside before the clock runs out.

"Here where I sit in rural Tennessee, it's clear that Americans have already made up their minds against President Biden," Judd concludes.

• Anant Ambani, a son of the richest man in India, is marrying Radhika Merchant this weekend. 
• The over-the-top festivities will partially held at the family's luxurious Mumbai home, Antilia. 
• Antilia's interiors have rarely been photographed, but it has a 50-seat cinema and three helipads.

Rihanna, Justin Bieber, and Katy Perry have already serenaded Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant in glittering parties that have captured the world's attention.

And the happy couple hasn't even walked down the aisle yet.

That will change this weekend as Mukesh Ambani — India's richest man and father of Anant, the groom — hosts thousands of guests from July 12 to 14 at his youngest son's wedding, the most anticipated nuptials of the year.

Festivities are said to be happening at the Ambani family's custom-built, 27-story tower on Mumbai's most exclusive street, according to CNN. Other rumored venues for wedding events include the Jio World Convention Center, which can accommodate 16,000 people and is owned by the family's company, Reliance Industries.

Dubbed Antilia, the Ambanis' tower is named for a mythical island off the coast of Europe. Reported to cost $1 billion to build, it has been crowned the "most expensive private residence in the world" by the Guinness Book of World Records. It is rumored to contain three helipads and a 50-seat movie theater — and require a staff of 600 employees.

The interior of the building has rarely been photographed, so Business Insider compiled everything we know about the Ambani family home where parts of the wedding of the year may take place.

The Ambani family’s opulent pre-wedding festivities have lasted for months.

The pre-wedding festivities for Anant, 29, and Radhika, 29, included a private Rihanna concert and meals prepared by 100 chefs. The young couple both sit on the board of their family's companies, conglomerate Reliance Industries and pharmaceutical giant Encore Healthcare, respectively.

Anant Ambani’s pre-wedding parties hosted tons of high-profile guests.

High-profile guests, including Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg, flocked to Jamnagar, India, in March to toast the marriage of Anant, whose father, Mukesh, is reported to be worth $113 billion.

Mukesh Ambani and his wife Nita have three children.

Isha and Akash are twins, and they're the oldest Ambani children. Anant is their younger brother. It's unclear who lives at Antilia full-time, though the Huffington Post reported that the home required a staff of 600.

Mukesh Ambani is considered India's richest man.

Mukesh Ambani is the chairman of the energy, retail, and media conglomerate Reliance Industries and is considered India's richest man. The tower he custom-built sits on Altamount Road, the Billionaires' Row of Mumbai.

The Ambani family’s Mumbai residence is the most expensive home in the world.

The Ambani family's home is the most expensive private residence in the world, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. (Other rankings put it second, after Buckingham Palace.)

The tower is called Antilia, named after a mythical island in the Atlantic Ocean.

The 400,000-square-foot structure is officially 27 stories high, although its many double-height ceilings mean it's closer in height to a traditional 40-story building.

Antilia reportedly cost $1 billion to build.

The Ambanis' house was constructed between 2006 and 2010, according to Architectural Digest India. At the time, it cost an estimated $1 billion to build, but there's no way of knowing what the tower is worth today.

Inside Antilia, there are nine elevators, a 50-seat cinema, and a full-service spa.

Plus, the tower has a 168-car garage and is equipped with three helipads.

Antilia opened in February 2010.

In 2011, The New York Times reported Mumbai's elite were speculating that the Ambanis hadn't yet moved into the tower. Antilia didn't align with Hindu architectural philosophy, one expert said.

There's luxury art inside Antilia.

In 2020, Vogue India cataloged some high-end art inside the Ambani house, including work by the modern Indian artist Francis Newton Souza and "Love" sculptor Robert Indiana.

Antilia was a site of celebration in early 2024.

The Ambani family hosted a light show at Antilia in January 2024 in honor of the historic inauguration of Ram Mandir, a gigantic new temple in the ancient city of Ayodhya.

Holograms of religious sayings adorned the building. Visitors flocked to see the bedazzled tower and get close to one of India's most iconic homes.

Antilia's opulence has drawn criticism.

In 2011, Ratan Tata, another one of India's richest men, told the Times of India: "It's sad because this country needs people to allocate some of their enormous wealth to finding ways of mitigating the hardship that people have."

Antilia is decorated with marigolds and bright yellow lights ahead of the wedding.

Preparations have begun at the tower, according to Reuters, but organizers remain tight-lipped about the details of the exclusive event.

A-listers including Kim Kardashian, Khloe Kardashian, Nick Jonas, and Priyanka Chopra had already landed in Mumbai by July 11, ahead of the main event, according to Fortune and People.

The particulars of the actual events are still under wraps, but Vanity Fair said the wedding date was chosen based on the couple's astrological charts.

Locals are already complaining about the traffic the wedding is expected to cause in Mumbai.

Traffic has already slowed down around Antilia and the Jio World Convention Center, Reuters reported.

Mumbai is notorious for traffic congestion and the city is expecting additional slowdowns during the massive event.

Correction: March 7, 2024 — An earlier version of this story incorrectly described the age of Anant Ambani. He's the youngest son of Mukesh and Nita Ambani, not the eldest. It also misidentified one of the people in a photo from the family's pre-wedding celebrations. It's Paula Hurd, not Melinda French Gates.

• Apple jobs are highly coveted in the tech industry.
• Apple CEO Tim Cook has said he favors candidates who are creative and not afraid to ask questions.
• Tech recruiters, career coaches, and an employee shared their advice on how to ace an Apple interview.

Apple's decades of game-changing product launches have helped it become a top employer for tech talent globally.

But candidates hungry for a role at the iPhone maker might find it harder to get a job there than ever before.

After years of surging growth, Apple's head count has been contracting. At the end of last year, Apple employed about 161,000 people, down nearly 2% from 2022. But Apple remains a force: Wedbush analyst Dan Ives has predicted that the tech giant will become "the gatekeepers of the consumer AI Revolution" with the launch of Apple Intelligence and the upcoming iPhone 16 and clear a path to hitting a $4 trillion market cap.

So, what can set you apart from a sea of Apple candidates? We asked an Apple employee and four tech career experts and recruiters.

They said the ideal Apple candidate should demonstrate curiosity, energy, and a collaborative mindset during an interview.

"What Apple is looking for in candidates is workhorses, not show horses," said Marc Cenedella, career expert and founder of work advice site Ladders, Inc. "Working at Apple is all about burnishing and improving the Apple brand, not tooting your own horn."

One Apple employee said tried to show brand identity by matching the font on her résumé to the company's own typeface. She said this likely helped her résumé stand out during the hiring process.

Job candidates can expect several rounds of interviews and tests

Depending on the leadership level, the application process for a corporate position at any large tech company typically includes a rigorous vetting process, conversations with hiring managers, technical interviews with coding tests for software engineers, and a series of conversations within the team known as an "interview loop," ex-Meta and Amazon recruiter Daniel Harten told BI.

Harten said the first stages of interviewing for a job at a Big Tech company are "transactional, focusing on technical abilities," and the second half is situational, "with behavior-based questions."

The interview process at Apple is "generally straightforward," Theresa Park, a former creative recruiter at the company, said. An elevator pitch and an anecdote summarizing your experience are sufficient for the introductory call with a hiring manager.

According to Glassdoor, Apple's software developers can earn well over $300,000 a year, and human resources specialists and recruiters can earn from $40,000 to over $100,000 annually.

One Reddit user said that during a monthlong interview process as a software engineering candidate, he was asked to design a vending machine. Another Redditor who said they applied for Apple's hardware team in Munich described an hourlong interview with no behavioral questions and technical questions that "felt very cherry-picked to my resume/experience."

Apple has shared some interview tips for hopeful candidates on its own careers site. They include:

1. Be yourself.
2. Avoid oversharing about past employers.
3. Don't be afraid to ask your recruiter for accommodations.
4. Come with specific examples of your expertise.
5. Be patient.

Harten emphasized Apple's tip on recruiters, telling BI they're meant to be "your partner in the interview process."

Harten said candidates should leverage their recruiter's expertise ahead of their interview. According to posts on the anonymous employee forum Blind, some Apple recruiters might even disclose the exact questions that will be asked in an interview.

Apple CEO Tim Cook has also shared advice on what the company looks for in candidates. In a podcast last year, he said everyone he works with at Apple believes that "one plus one equals three."

"It's an incredible feeling to work with people that bring out the best in you, and fundamentally, we all believe that one plus one equals three," Cook said. "Your idea plus my idea is better than the individual ideas on their own."

He said he favors candidates who are curious, creative, and not afraid to ask questions.

Cook is known for grilling employees with questions, according to the book "Tim Cook: The Genius Who Took Apple to the Next Level" Leander Kahney.

"He's a very quiet leader," Greg Joswiak, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide marketing, told Kahney, according to the book. "Not a screamer, not a yeller," he said, adding: "He's just very calm, steady, but will slice you up with questions. You better know your stuff."

Social media research can help

Former American Express talent manager and career coach Arianny Mercedes said she advises her clients to network proactively via social media to build relationships within the company and gain insight into its culture. Her advice helped one of her clients secure a role at Apple, she said.

Park said professionals should also update their LinkedIn profile if they've been inactive for a while — even if they aren't actively looking for a new job.

"As an experienced recruiter, I can tell you that we often actively source candidates, so it's crucial to have your LinkedIn profile updated with relevant keywords to make yourself searchable," Park said.

But getting too candid on social media about Apple, or any company you're interviewing for, is "a surefire way to get dinged," Cenedella said.

"No posting on Instagram. No lip-sync TikToks. Do nothing that draws attention to yourself or to the workings of Apple's processes," he told BI.

Representatives for Apple didn't immediately respond to BI's questions about working at the company.

• Russia plotted to assassinate an executive of a German armaments firm, CNN reported.
• The reported target was Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger.
• Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov rejected the CNN report.

US intelligence helped thwart a Russian plot to kill the CEO of a German arms firm that has made munitions and military equipment for Ukraine, according to reports.

Russia planned to kill Armin Papperger, the CEO of Rheinmetall, which has made artillery shells, tanks, and other military equipment for Ukraine during the country's battle against Russian forces, CNN reported, citing five US and Western officials familiar with the situation.

German security services were able to foil the plot by providing Papperger with extra security after receiving a tip-off from US intelligence, the report said.

Papperger was one of a number of defense industry executives that Russia had planned to kill, the unnamed sources said, the report added.

According to the German publication Der Spiegel, the main reason for the Russian plot was Rheinmetall's plan to create a tank factory in Ukraine while building up the local arms industry.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov rejected the CNN report.

"It is very hard for us to comment on reports by various news media that don't contain any serious arguments and are based on some anonymous sources," Peskov said, per Russia's Tass news agency. "All this is presented in the style of fake stories. One can't treat such reports seriously."

German politicians have reacted with shock and anger to the CNN report, with foreign minister Annalena Baerbock telling reporters at a NATO summit that Russia is "waging a hybrid war of aggression."

Analysts say that Russia is stepping up campaigns to destabilize the West using covert methods, including arson plots, interfering with airline GPS signals, and pushing disinformation.

"We're seeing sabotage, we're seeing assassination plots, we're seeing arson. We're seeing things that have a cost in human lives," a senior NATO official told reporters earlier this week, per CNN. "I believe very much that we're seeing a campaign of covert sabotage activities from Russia that have strategic consequences."

According to experts who spoke to Business Insider earlier this year, Russia is seeking to internally weaken NATO members as part of a plan to undermine support for Ukraine.