Category: Business

• Jeff Bezos told Washington Post staffers Tuesday that their journalistic standards will not change.
• The memo came as the Post's publisher and incoming editor face criticism over past reporting.
• Bezos said he was committed to maintaining the Post's "quality, ethics, and standards."

Jeff Bezos, the owner of The Washington Post, tried to assure staffers on Tuesday that the journalistic standards at the newspaper will not change as controversies mount over its new publisher and incoming editor.

"The journalistic standards and ethics at the Post will not change," Bezos wrote in the email, which was obtained by CNN. He also copied Will Lewis, publisher and CEO of the Post, on the email.

"To be sure, it can't be business as usual at The Post. The world is evolving rapidly, and we do need to change as a business," Bezos said, adding, "With your support, we'll do that and lead this great institution into the future. But, as the newsroom leaders who've been shaping and guiding our coverage, you also know our standards at The Post have always been very high. That can't change — and it won't."

He continued, "You have my full commitment on maintaining the quality, ethics, and standards we all believe in."

The billionaire owner's email comes as Lewis faces criticism related to the phone-hacking scandal that rocked the UK starting in 2011 when it was revealed that reporters at a British tabloid had hacked the phone records of celebrities and private citizens and that some had paid sources for information. Lewis was brought into News Corp. to deal with the fallout.

The New York Times on Saturday reported that Lewis himself had assigned stories based on "fraudulently obtained" phone and company records in the early 2000s when he was a business editor at The Sunday Times.

The Post published a story on Sunday that said a self-described "thief" who stole records for stories was connected to Lewis and Robert Winnett, the Post's incoming editor.

Bezos did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent by BI. The Post did not provide comment when reached by BI. Previously, The Post told The Times, "William is very clear about the lines that should not be crossed, and his track record attests to that."

Winnett was tapped to take over the Post newsroom this fall after Executive Editor Sally Buzbee abruptly stepped down this month, with former Wall Street Journal Editor in Chief Matt Murray stepping into the role until after the election.

The Times, citing unnamed sources, reported earlier this month that Buzbee and Lewis had clashed over whether to cover a legal development in a lawsuit related to the phone-hacking scandal.

Beyond controversies involving its leadership, the Post has also been struggling financially.

Bezos bought the Post for around $250 million in 2013, but the Times reported the newspaper had $100 million in losses in 2023. The Post also cut 240 jobs at the end of last year.

• A small study of men with erectile dysfunction found microplastics hiding in most of their penises.
• An older man with a traditional lifestyle was the only one who didn't have microplastic in his penis.
• Scientists don't totally understand how microplastics affect reproductive health, but they're worried.

When scientists first started murmuring about a striking connection between more microplastics and more heart attacks, Dr. Ranjith Ramasamy's mind immediately traveled further south, to another blood-pumping organ, one that he knows very well.

"Penis being such a vascular organ, similar to the heart, we said, 'Hey, could this also be present in the penis?'"

Ramasamy, a reproductive urology specialist who has conducted penile implant surgeries in Miami for many years, wondered how the microplastics that we inadvertently inhale from everyday items including food, water bottles, and household dust, might impact fertility and verility in men.

What he's found, while still preliminary, is that microplastics are present in some penises experiencing erectile dysfunction (ED).

Microplastics were found in 80% of penises with ED in this small study

Ramasamy's first-of-its-kind study, just released in the International Journal of Impotence Research, was a small, pilot sample of six men, all with ED, each one undergoing surgery to insert a penile implant.

While the study is still preliminary, it's part of a growing body of research that finds microplastics are present everywhere in the human body that researchers have looked so far.

It's also one of the first studies to study a connection between impotence and more plastic use. Other studies have already suggested there may be some link between our plastic modern existence and lower-quality sperm. Ramasamy wanted to know whether microplastics might physically impact penis muscle function.

At the start of each surgery, Ramasamy carefully extracted some tissue from deep inside the shaft of the penis — an area that's responsible for making and sustaining erections. He and his team worked to ensure there was no plastic contamination in the surgery rooms by using non-plastic surgical instruments and collecting the tissue in glass containers. They then whisked the tissue off to two separate labs for analysis.

Scientists found microplastics present in five of the six penises they sampled. The most abundant plastic in the penises was polyethylene terephthalate, or PET, a common plastic used in food packaging including plastic bottles and takeout containers. They also found polypropylene, which is used to make plastic bottle caps.

We are gobbling up more plastics than ever, and learning more about the effects

We don't know how much plastic might be hiding out in the penises of men without ED and can't take much away from such a small initial study.

Still, this research goes hand in hand with what other microplastics experts are discovering.

We are consuming more plastic than ever before. In several recent microplastic studies, younger men have had more microplastic in them than older men.

The one man in this study who didn't have any detectable microplastics in his penis "leads a very traditional, Cuban guy elderly lifestyle," Ramasamy said. "He said he doesn't use a lot of plastics."

He's not getting a lot of the takeout that often comes in plastic-lined containers, and he's not drinking from plastic-lined coffee cups or plastic water bottles very often. In other words, without trying, he's doing most of the things that microplastic researchers recommend to people hoping to reduce their risk of any potential microplastic-related health issues: avoiding drinking and eating from plastic, and never microwaving plastic containers.

This finding has given Ramasamy pause. He has become much more wary of drinking from plastic water bottles since completing this study, and he tries to always put his food on a real plate now before he re-heats it, instead of microwaving plastic tubs. He knows it's still unclear what contribution microplastics might be making to infertility and low sperm quality, but he's got a hunch there's probably some contribution, on some level.

"As convenient as society has become, I think we're facing some of these harms," he said. "I don't think our parents were exposed to as much: They were not drinking water out of plastic bottles — they were certainly not doing as much takeout."

Could microplastics be interfering with important penis muscles?

Microplastics have traveled to almost every corner of the body that scientists have looked at so far, including lungs, livers, blood vessels, penises, and brains, as well as fluids including semen, blood, and placentas. Just last month, researchers at the University of New Mexico found microplastics in testicles, cementing the idea that microplastics can penetrate the body's protective blood-testes barrier. What these tiny bits of plastic are doing to our bodies remains an open question.

Richard Pilsner, a men's reproductive health expert at Wayne State University who studies the chemicals in plastics, says "we have a lot to learn in terms of where it's accumulating and what processes it may be affecting." Recent work he's done suggested that men with higher levels of plasticizers and plastic chemicals in their bodies see their sperm age faster, in a similar way to cigarette smokers.

"It kind of is all pointing in the same direction — that these environmental factors are influencing sperm fitness," he said.

While the impact of microplastics on erections is unclear, that's nothing new in this field. Erections are still a very poorly understood, multifactorial phenomenon, involving nerves, hormones, muscles, and interest.

Ramasamy is confident that this is seriously worth investigating, especially given the recent link between more microplastics in blood vessels pumping oxygen to the brain, and more heart attacks and strokes. Couldn't it also be the case that microplastics are connected to erection issues, in a similar, physical way?

"You could have good blood supply, but if you don't have the actual muscle to do the heavy lifting, how are you going to make it work?" he said.

• One of the most popular cruise ports in the world just got an environmental makeover.
• PortMiami is now equipped with shore power, which allows ships to plug into giant electrical outlets.
• The technology allows cruise ships to kill their engines while docked, reducing emissions and noise.

The cruise ship capital of the world unveiled its new shore power system this week, an innovative energy source that will help curb the industry's negative climate impacts.

Cruise ships docking at PortMiami are now able to plug into massive electrical outlets instead of running their diesel engines while idle.

Large commercial vessels typically keep their engines running while docked to ensure crew members and passengers who stay on board have access to electricity and other amenities. One cruise ship running its engine at port can use as much energy as 10,000 households in one day, The Miami Herald reported.

The Florida port saw more than 7 million cruise passengers pass through in 2023, a record-breaking figure for the busy cruise hub.

Shore power utilizes the local land-based power grid. The Miami apparatus is a collaboration between Miami-Dade County, Florida Power & Light Company, and several large cruise companies.

The project cost an estimated $125 million and was funded by grants and contributions, including from the US Environmental Protection Agency and the Florida Department of Transportation, Cruise Hive, a trade publication, reported.

The energy comes from individual substations built by Florida Power & Light, which are installed at multiple terminals throughout the port, according to The Herald.

Shore power will help cut emissions and noise pollution, the outlet reported. MiamiPort has 16 megawatts available for cruise ships, and each vessel requires anywhere from eight to 13 megawatts per docking, port director Hydi Webb told The Herald.

MiamiPort did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.

Monday marked the grand unveiling of PortMiaimi's shore power system. Executives from five cruise lines — Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Virgin, Norweigen, and MSC — attended, according to media reports.

The port's shore power rollout is quick. Three ships per cruise line will be able to plug into the substations starting this week, The Herald reported.

A Carnival ship was the first vessel to connect on Monday, according to Cruise Hive. The company did not immediately respond to BI's request for comment.

While 30% of global cruise ships have shore power capability, less than 30 ports are equipped to serve such ships, according to a 2023 report from the Cruise Lines Industry Association.

But more and more ports appear to be ready for the change. The Port of Seattle recently announced that it will require all cruise ships homeported there to use shore power by 2027.

• A woman accused broker Tal Alexander and his brother Alon of raping her in 2012. 
• In a lawsuit, the woman states that a third brother, Oren Alexander, watched the rape.
• Two other women have accused Oren and Alon of raping them in separate lawsuits.

A woman has accused star real estate broker Tal Alexander and his brother Alon of raping her at a Manhattan apartment in 2012.

The accusation was made in a lawsuit filed Tuesday in a New York state court. Earlier this year, two other women filed separate lawsuits accusing Alon and a third brother, Oren Alexander, of rape.

In the latest lawsuit, Angelica Parker accuses Alon and Tal of assaulting her in the fall of 2012 in their SoHo apartment while Oren watched.

Parker stated she met Oren in 2012 and "developed a brief personal relationship" with him. Parker says that in the fall of that year, she and a friend met Oren and Alon at the apartment at 543 Broadway.

The friend left after Alon began "groping her" and waited in a stairwell out of concern for Parker, according to the complaint. Parker's lawyer says in the lawsuit that Alon then orally and vaginally raped her and that during the vaginal rape, "Tal proceeded to forcibly orally rape Ms. Parker against her will."

Oren, "sat and watched as Ms. Parker was raped by his brothers," the complaint says.

Isabelle Kirshner, a defense attorney representing Alon and Oren, said the brothers denied the allegations in Parker's lawsuit.

"They are pure fiction," Kirshner said in a statement. "We look forward to presenting the facts in court."

Michael Willemin, Parker's attorney, said in a statement that the case was "intended to send a message that the law applies even to the very wealthy and well connected, including the Alexanders."

"We have no doubt that Angelica will prevail in this matter," Willemin said.

An attorney for Tal Alexander did not immediately return an email Tuesday seeking comment on the allegation.

Tal and Oren were among the biggest names in the lucrative business of selling high-priced homes. They also developed a reputation in the brokerage business for their aggressive approach in courting wealthy clientele and elbowing other brokers out of transactions.

Two years ago the pair broke off from Douglas Elliman, the brand-name brokerage where they had worked for more than a decade, and cofounded Official Partners, a firm that focuses exclusively on the uppermost tier of the residential sales market.

In March, two women in separate lawsuits filed in NY state court accused Oren and his identical twin brother Alon, 36, of rape. In one case, Rebecca Mandel said Oren and Alon met her at a Manhattan nightclub in 2012, spiked her drink, and invited her to a party at their apartment. When they arrived, the home was empty, and Alon and Oren held her down and took turns raping her, she said.

In the second lawsuit, Kate Whiteman said Oren and Alon whisked her away from a nightclub in a private car and raped her at a mansion in the Hamptons in 2012.

Evan Torgan, the attorney representing Mandel and Whiteman, said his clients felt "devastation" for Parker after hearing about her lawsuit.

"But they're really gratified that everyone's joining the fight with them as well," he told BI. "Hopefully, they'll get justice, and all the victims will get justice, and it'll finally come to a stop."

Oren announced last week he would take a "pause" from Official Partners while he defended himself from "these baseless civil claims."

"I am confident that through review of the extensive evidence, including text messages and other communications, that the truth will be brought to light," he stated.

Official released a message last Friday to its employees stating that Oren's brokerage license was severed from the firm "and the process of removing him from ownership is well underway."

A spokesman for Official Partners declined to comment on the newest lawsuit and didn't say whether Tal Alexander will remain at the firm.

• Athlete marketing has been shaken up since student-athletes gained the right to make money from their name, image, and likeness.
• NIL has created career paths for college athletes and brand-deal managers.
• This article is part of "Trends to Bet Your Career On," a series about trending professional opportunities.

Before ever stepping foot on the court in the WNBA, the rookie and college-basketball phenom Caitlin Clark scored an eight-year shoe deal with Nike worth up to $28 million.

The deal, reported by The Wall Street Journal, is the richest sponsorship contract to date in women's basketball. It came on the heels of other high-profile sponsorships for the leading NCAA Division I scorer, including with State Farm, which made her the first college athlete and female player to sign with the insurer.

Other athletes, like Clark, have leveraged their success in sports to strike brand deals and kick down doors once closed to amateurs.

Athlete marketing was upended in 2021 when the NCAA lifted its long-standing ban on student-athletes getting endorsement deals, which opened the door for them to make money from their name, image, and likeness.

College players — from the University of Southern California freshman basketball player Bronny James to the Louisiana State University gymnast Olivia Dunne — are earning millions a year from licensing and brand deals.

NIL has also created career paths for college athletes, some of whom are building businesses as influencers and content creators or getting jobs in social media and marketing rather than going pro. And it's given rise to a cottage industry of companies helping student-athletes work with brands and managing logistics such as licensing and compliance.

According to the NIL marketplace Opendorse, spending on the NIL market hit an estimated $1 billion in its second year and is forecast to reach $1.17 billion in year three.

While the rules around NIL are still evolving, with recent developments setting the stage for schools to pay athletes directly and get involved with NIL deals, one thing is for sure: NIL isn't going anywhere.

"Everyone needs to embrace it — I think schools, coaches, athletes, families. It is here to stay," Garrett Yaralian, the head of NIL at WME Sports, told Business Insider. "It will continue to shift, and it'll continue to kind of change." It's important for schools that want to be involved in NIL deals to engage in sports marketing and sourcing deals for athletes, he added.

Athletes are building careers as influencers

Dunne, who has 5.2 million followers on Instagram, where she's been creating content since she was a teenager, is one of the top-earning student-athletes, with an annual NIL valuation of $3.9 million, according to On3.

Brands and talent agents are engaging with athletes like Dunne earlier in their careers, said Yaralian, who works with Dunne, TikTok, and the University of Texas at Austin track-and-field star Sam Hurley.

While Dunne and Hurley are still focused on competing, they may have other opportunities if they choose not to go pro after college, such as becoming full-time influencers, building consumer brands or products, or pursuing passions like fitness, Yaralian said.

Dunne already followed one of her passions last year by establishing the Livvy Fund to bring more NIL opportunities to her school's female athletes.

Though Division I athletes seem to be among the highest earners, student-athletes of all levels are making money from NIL. Connor Printz, a former Division III basketball player at Claremont McKenna College, has landed over 100 NIL deals.

NIL has also helped some student-athletes set themselves up for careers outside athletics or content creation. The University of California, Los Angeles, quarterback Chase Griffin is working toward a master's degree in legal studies because he wants to understand the contract side of talent and production work.

"This has just fast-tracked me for opportunities that I think I probably would've had with a lot of hustle at 27, 28, 29," Griffin previously told BI. "Now I'm able to do it at 20, 21, and 22, all while still within the safety of my scholarship, the safety of education, and continuing to play the game I love."

It's not just student-athletes who are benefiting

NIL isn't creating more career opportunities only for college athletes.

Sports marketing and talent agencies are staffing up to support their NIL work. WME Sports, for example, now has a dedicated team that sources NIL deals for student-athlete clients and a small team in Austin that supports the agency's partnership with the Texas One Fund for University of Texas student-athletes.

A crop of companies has emerged around NIL, from platforms such as Opendorse, where brands and student-athletes can connect and access educational and compliance resources, to companies like The Brandr Group and OneTeam Partners that work on group licensing for jerseys, playing cards, and more.

Some of the donor-funded collectives that facilitate some 80% of NIL spending are also run like businesses with full-time staff.

There may be more opportunities on the horizon, too, if more schools bring NIL activities in-house as the University of Georgia Athletic Association has, with it hiring an athletic-marketing manager to lead the department.

Venture capitalists are also eyeing NIL startups as they see opportunities to provide financial resources to athletes, transform the fan experience, and offer tools to manage compliance.

"The future of the NIL will require technology to optimize and operationalize its structure to ensure a better financial future for athletes," Drew Glover of Fiat Ventures wrote in March.

• Following on from "House of the Dragon," there are more "Game of Thrones" spinoffs in the works.
• HBO has released a teaser image for "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms," which is now in production.
• Here's the status of every rumored and confirmed "Game of Thrones" spinoff, sequel, and prequel series. 

HBO has long planned to create a "Game of Thrones" television universe, giving fans of the global fantasy phenomenon more stories based on author George R.R. Martin's various book series that take place in Westeros and beyond.

With the success of the first season of "House of the Dragon," it appears that the network is keen to continue to mine the world George R.R. Martin created with more spinoffs, sequels, and prequels. Some of the series in development (which Martin prefers to call "successor shows") are based on existing stories the fantasy author has written, while others would feature characters and locales he has created in brand new stories.

Here's everything we know about all the "Game of Thrones"-related projects that are in development, are rumored to be in development, or returning.

Kim Renfro contributed reporting to a previous version of this article.

"A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight"

HBO announced in June that production had officially begun on "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms," the six-episode spinoff series based on Martin's "Dunk & Egg" stories, in Belfast, Ireland. The network also provided fans with the first teaser image of Peter Claffey as Ser Duncan the Tall. 

The show — which the author told Entertainment Weekly in 2016 would be the "most natural follow-up" to the much-loved fantasy series — was given a straight-to-series order. The series is written and executive produced by Martin and Ira Parker, with "House of the Dragon" showrunner Ryan Condal, Vince Gerardis, Owen Harris, and Sarah Bradshaw serving as executive producers. HBO announced in June that director Sarah Adina Smith would helm three of the show's six episodes. 

The show stars Peter Claffey as Ser Duncan the Tall ("Dunk") and Dexter Sol Ansell as Aegon V ("Egg"), his markedly less-tall squire. The series is set approximately a century prior to the main events of "Game of Thrones": the Targaryen family still holds the Iron Throne, but the memories of dragons still remain. 

Other cast members include Sam Spruell as Maekar Targaryen, Bertie Carvel as Baelor Targaryen, Finn Bennett as Aerion Targaryen, Tanzyn Crawford as Tanselle, and Daniel Ings as Ser Lyonel Baratheon. 

Ser Duncan and Aegon V's adventures —  which appear across three novellas in the book "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms" — are known fondly by fans as the "Dunk and Egg stories," but Martin explained in a blog entry why he and HBO had opted for a different title for the adaptation.

"There are millions of people out there who do not know the stories and the title needs to intrigue them too," he wrote. "If you don't know the characters, Dunk & Egg sounds like a sitcom. Laverne & Shirley. Abbott & Costello. Beavis & Butthead. So, no. We want 'knight' in the title. Knighthood and chivalry are central to the themes of these stories."

The greenlighting of the series may have come as something of a surprise to fans as Martin shared on his blog in 2017 that despite his initial enthusiasm for a "Dunk and Egg" show, he was putting the idea on a back burner since he was not yet done writing for the characters.

He wrote at the time: "Eventually, sure, I'd love that, and so would many of you. But I've only written and published three novellas to date, and there are at least seven or eight or ten more I want to write."

"We all know how slow I am and how fast a television show can move. I don't want to repeat what happened with GAME OF THRONES itself, where the show gets ahead of the books," he continued. "When the day comes that I've finished telling all my tales of Dunk & Egg, then we'll do a TV show about them, but that day is still a long ways off."

Martin was, of course, referencing the way HBO's "Game of Thrones" wound up overtaking his published books in the "A Song of Ice and Fire" series, resulting in a divisive final season that may significantly deviate from Martin's planned (and still unwritten) book ending. 

The Jon Snow spinoff, "Snow"

"Snow," which would have explored what happened to fan favorite Jon Snow (Kit Harington) after the events of "Game of Thrones," was set to be the only spinoff in development that is not based on pre-existing material by Martin.

However, Harington told Screen Rant in April 2024 that the series was no longer in development.

"Currently, it's off the table, because we all couldn't find the right story to tell that we were all excited about enough," Harington said. "So, we decided to lay down tools with it for the time being. There may be a time in the future where we return to it, but at the moment, no. It's firmly on the shelf."

A representative for HBO declined to comment on Harington's remarks.

Writing on his blog in June 2022, Martin said that he was involved in the series, but revealed that the idea for the show had actually come from Harington himself.

He explained that Harington "brought the idea to us" and had assembled a "terrific" group of writers and showrunners, although he declined to share their names.

As audiences will remember, in the eighth and final season of "Game of Thrones," Jon discovered that he was not in fact the bastard son of Eddard "Ned" Stark (Sean Bean), but a potential heir to the Iron Throne as the secret child of Ned's sister Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen. 

He also found himself exiled beyond the Wall to live out his days with the Free Folk after committing regicide by killing the crazed Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke).

According to Entertainment Weekly, speaking during a panel at a "Game of Thrones" convention in 2020, Harington himself said of Jon's future: "The fact he goes to the Wall is the greatest gift and also the greatest curse."

He continued: "He's gotta go back up to the place with all this history and live out his life thinking about how he killed Dany, and live out his life thinking about Ygritte dying in his arms, and live out his life thinking about how he hung Olly, and live out his life thinking about all of this trauma, and that, that's interesting." 

"So I think where we leave him at the end of the show, there's always this feeling of like… I think we wanted some kind of little smile that things are okay. He's not okay."

"Nine Voyages" 

Deadline was the first to report in early 2021 that a spinoff series about the adventures of Corlys Velaryon, also known as "The Sea Snake," was being developed at HBO with a script from "The Mentalist" creator Bruno Heller and support from Martin himself.

Although an older version of the character was introduced in the first season of "House of the Dragon," (played by Steve Toussaint), it's expected he will be recast for the stand-alone series, as it follows a much younger version of the character on his sea-faring journeys to Pentos, Dragonstone and around the bottom of Westeros.

However, speaking to Entertainment Weekly in 2022, Toussaint said he would love to be involved, even if it's just for a brief scene."

"If I'm lucky, I might say to them, 'Let me just be at the beginning [of the show] sitting with a book saying, 'Let me talk about my life,'" he said. "That'll be me petitioning."

However, at the end of 2023, Martin announced that "Nine Voyages" would be moving from live-action to animation, and explained why.

In a blog entry on December 31, he wrote: "Budgetary constraints would likely have made a live action version prohibitively expensive, what with half the show taking place at sea, and the necessity of creating a different port every week, from Driftmark to Lys to the Basilisk Isles to Volantis to Qarth to… well, on and on and on."

"There's a whole world out there.  And we have a lot better chance of showing it all with animation," he added.

"Ten Thousand Ships" and "Flea Bottom"

At the same time that Deadline dropped the news about "Nine Voyages," it was also announced that another spinoff series titled "Ten Thousand Ships" was being considered at HBO too, alongside another project, "Flea Bottom," which would be set in the poorest slum district in King's Landing.

While "Flea Bottom" has since been shelved, it appears that "Ten Thousand Ships" is still going ahead. In an August 2022 interview with The New York Times, Martin stated that the series is set "like a thousand years before" the flagship series and described it as "an 'Odyssey'-like epic." 

Martin gave a progress update on the series in a June 2024 blog post, announcing that Pulitzer-winning playwright Eboni Booth was writing a new pilot for "Ten Thousand Ships." Booth isn't the first writer to reportedly take a stab at the series: Deadline reported in 2021 that Amanda Segel ("Person of Interest") was attached to the project, and screenwriter Brian Helgeland told Inverse that he had pitched a script but the series wasn't picked up at the time. 

"We're all very excited about this one," Martin wrote in the June blog post. "Though we're still trying to figure out how we're going to pay for ten thousand ships, three hundred dragons, and those giant turtles."

If it goes ahead, the series will tell the story of warrior queen Princess Nymeria (the namesake of Arya Stark's direwolf) and the surviving Rhoynars who traveled from Essos to Dorne following their defeat by Valyria and their dragons.

"The Golden Empire"

"The Golden Empire" is the working title for the animated series about Yi-Ti, Martin's own fantasy version of Imperial China, which has only been briefly mentioned in the "A Song of Ice and Fire" books.

Like "Nine Voyages," the series will be animated, and according to the author, the early concept art and script for the series are shaping up quite nicely — but caveated that it could potentially be shelved.

Writing on his blog in March 2022, Martin stated that they had "a great young writer" working on the show and described the art and animation he had seen as "beautiful."

In the same 2022 New York Times interview where he spoke about "10,000 Ships," Martin shared more. "We got a terrific script on that," he said of "The Golden Empire."

However, he added: "Obviously, not all these shows we're developing are going to make it to air, but I hope that several of them do."

Untitled Aegon's Conquest series

Almost a year after Variety reported that a show focusing on Aegon Targaryen and his conquest of Westeros was in early development at HBO, The Hollywood Reporter shared some new details about the series which appears to be actively now heating up.

According to the outlet "The Batman II," screenwriter Mattson Tomlin is working on the treatment for the series, which does not yet have a title. 

Tomlin will adapt the story of Aegon's bloody and brutal conquest of the Seven Kingdoms, which Martin wrote about in the first half of "Fire & Blood," the same book that "House of Dragon" is adapted from.

The story is essentially a prequel to the events of "HoD," as it details how Aegon successfully unified six of the Seven Kingdoms with his sister wives, Rhaenys and Visenya, and their dragons in just two years.

"House of the Dragon"

"House of the Dragon" was the first "Game of Thrones" spinoff series to air, after an untitled prequel series starring Naomi Watts, co-written by Jane Goldman and directed by S.J. Clarkson, was dropped in 2019. 

Its first season hit screens in 2022 and was a huge success. Its premiere episode broke viewership records at HBO and it went on to earn eight Emmy nominations.

Unsurprisingly, a second season was quickly confirmed by the network and will be premiering on June 16, 2024.

In a December 2023 blog entry, Martin stated that while visiting the set of "House of the Dragon" season two, he had discussed the third and fourth seasons of the show with showrunner Ryan Condal and the writing staff. Sure enough, the network ordered a third season before the second had even premiered.

• Season three of "Bridgerton" features Lady Danbury's brother, Lord Marcus Anderson.
• He won't be familiar to fans of the "Bridgerton" book series.
• Lord Anderson was created just for the TV show, but he'll probably be back in season four.

Warning: There are major spoilers ahead for season three of "Bridgerton."

Season three of "Bridgerton" delivers plenty of romance — not just for Colin Bridgerton and Penelope Featherington, but also for other members of the ton.

Season three premiered on Netflix in May and concluded on Thursday. Among the returning faces were a handful of new characters, including Lord Marcus Anderson (Daniel Francis), the brother of Lady Agatha Danbury (Adjoa Andoh).

Here's everything to know about Lord Anderson and his blossoming romance with another "Bridgerton" character, which seems likely to continue into season four.

Lord Marcus Anderson doesn't exist in Julia Quinn's 'Bridgerton' novels

In Quinn's romance novels, Lady Danbury doesn't have a brother. Like newcomer Lord Debling (Sam Phillips), Lord Anderson is an original character created specifically for the TV series.

When filming for season three began in 2022, Lord Anderson was described as "a charismatic presence who lights up any room he enters, attracting the notice of certain matriarchs in the town — and the ire of others."

Some fans suspected that he'd be a potential suitor for Penelope, but when promotional materials for season three were released, it became clear that his storyline would be intertwined with Lady Danbury and Lady Violet Bridgerton (Ruth Gemmell).

In one teaser, Lord Anderson and Lady Bridgerton were seen exchanging glances — with the matriarch biting her lip — as Lady Danbury observed with dissatisfaction.

Fans who watched the "Bridgerton" spinoff series "Queen Charlotte" will recall Violet telling Lady Danbury that she was considering opening herself up to romance again. So, it made sense that Violet's season three storyline would involve the possibility of love.

Lord Anderson and Lady Violet Bridgerton have a slow-burn flirtation in 'Bridgerton' season 3

Marcus and Violet first meet outside the Hawkins' Innovations Ball of 1815 during episode three, as he helps her pick her glove off the ground. Marcus approaches her later that night at the ball and Lady Danbury interrupts to reveal that he's her brother who's just visiting town. Even though Violet and Lady Danbury have been friends for years, Violet isn't aware that she has a brother.

Marcus isn't seen again until episode four, when he dines with Lady Danbury. When asked why he returned to London, Marcus says that his lack of company — and ladies — at his country estate brought him back to town.

Marcus and Violet talk at another ball, where he tells her that he hasn't been to Mayfair since the early days of marriage. When Marcus asks how she passes time in the city, Violet says that she and Lady Danbury enjoy meddling in the lives of the young people. She adds that Lady Danbury "molds society to her will." This is surprising to Marcus, who says that they're becoming "reacquainted," hinting at some tension between him and his sister.

As Marcus and Violet observe Francesca Bridgerton (Hannah Dodd) on the dance floor, they talk about their past relationships. Marcus says that his marriage wasn't a love match or even passionate at the onset, but he became fond of her and they were happy until her death.

Violet then mentions that she had a love match with her late husband, Edmund Bridgerton. In response, Marcus says he's envious, but hopeful of finding a love match in his "second act."

Lady Danbury leaves the party early but is stopped by Marcus, who asks her to put her molding skills to use in his quest for love. Lady Danbury dismisses him, saying that she's not interested in aiding his raking. But he claims he has pure intentions.

Season 3 ends on a promising note for Marcus and Violet

During season three, part two, Marcus pursues Violet as Lady Danbury tries to intervene and set him up with other eligible women in the ton. Lady Danbury's hostility toward her brother isn't explained until episode six, when it's revealed that he prevented her from escaping town and took away her chance at freedom the night before her wedding to Lord Danbury.

Lady Danbury and Marcus hash out their childhood grievance during episode seven, with Marcus explaining that he snitched on her to their father because he thought he was protecting her from the dangers of the outside world.

He said that he was always in awe of Lady Danbury's courage but was also afraid of her — hence why he never told her any of this before. Lady Danbury, in response, explains that her life has been so full of joy lately, and she was concerned that he'd take it away from her.

In the season three finale, Violet asks for Lady Danbury's blessing to see where her feelings for Marcus take her. Lady Danbury tells her that they're adults who are free to do as they please, but if the relationship sours, she's taking Violet's side over her brother's.

Violet and Marcus are then seen having their first dance together at the Dankworth-Finch ball as Lady Danbury smiles at them in support.

With a fourth season already in the works, showrunner Jess Brownell teased that fans haven't seen the last of Violet and Marcus' blossoming romance.

"I love that relationship," she told Entertainment Weekly. "I love what a slow burn it is. For Violet, who hasn't dipped her toes in the dating pool for so long, she needs a very slow burn."

Season three of "Bridgerton" is streaming on Netflix.

• The next US stealth fighter hangs in the balance as the Air Force weighs modernization costs.
• Officials suggest AI-enabled drone wingmen have a clearer future than the next-gen fighter jet.
• The drones could end up flying with the upcoming F-35 fleet and other modernized-but-older jets.

America's next stealth fighter, slated to replace the F-22 Raptor by the close of this decade, may no longer be a sure thing as Air Force officials struggle to balance the ledger amid a long list of high-profile modernization programs.

This new fighter, being developed within the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program, has long been touted as the centerpiece of a new "family of systems" meant to fly alongside a constellation of AI-enabled drone wingmen. Yet recent remarks from Air Force officials suggest those wingmen have a more certain place within America's future airpower apparatus than the NGAD fighter itself.

When asked directly about the future of the NGAD program, which was supposed to have a contract announced this year, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin made it clear that the 6th generation fighter's future may be far from certain.

"The deliberations are still underway, there's been no decision made. We're looking at a lot of very difficult options that we have to consider," Allvin told reporters last week.

In what could mark an even more dramatic shift away from the status quo, Air Force officials have also hinted at a potential return to a fighter development model proposed by Air Force Acquisition Chief Will Roper back in 2019, in which smaller batches of fighters would be designed to operate with shorter lifespans, allowing for rapid design and technology changes as the threat landscape evolves.

This concept was dubbed the "digital century series" approach at the time, thanks to its emphasis on modern all-digital aircraft design and its similarities to the rapidly changing fighter designs of the 1950s and '60s — ranging from the North American F-100 Super Sabre to the Convair F-106 Delta Dart. Most modern fighter designs, like Lockheed Martin's F-35, for example, are meant to fly for a half-century or more, with long service lives seen as justification for their massive developmental budgets. Nevertheless, the F-35's model comes with at least two significant drawbacks.

The first is technological, as purchasing a new fighter today that can remain dominant into the 2070s is all but impossible without adapting to or adopting a variety of new technologies along the way. Being married to a single air superiority fighter design until what could conceivably fly until the close of this century, the Air Force may not be able to rapidly adjust to counter new threats as they emerge.

"We cannot pursue a lot of eggs in one basket and then find that the threat has advanced," Allvin explained.

The second drawback is economic, with lifespan sustainment representing a huge portion of a fighter program's overall cost. To use the F-35 as an example again, its overall program cost is now estimated to exceed $2 trillion over the jet's lifetime, but some $1.6 trillion of that — a whopping 80% of the total cost — comes from maintenance and sustainment over its decadeslong lifespan.

Roper's Digital Century Series model aimed to curtail these costs by instead leaning into agile software development, digital engineering, and open-system modular architecture to allow the Air Force and its prime contractors to rapidly develop and field new fighter designs with enough regularity to limit the lifespan of each to just a decade or two. This would allow the Air Force to continuously field the most advanced airpower assets on the planet while also eliminating the most expensive (later) years of the sustainment cycle.

"'Built to last' is a tremendous 20th-century bumper sticker, and the assumption then was, whatever you had was relevant as long as it lasts," Allvin said. "I'm not sure that's true anymore."

There are indeed several good reasons to transition to a model that could produce a new fighter design every decade or two. Not only would such a model mean cutting out the most expensive decades of a fighter's lifespan, but it would also allow for the rapid adoption of emerging technologies in the steady flow of new fighters maturing toward service. That steady flow of new designs could be a boon unto itself, as it could potentially make fighter designs a truly competitive industry once again.

Today, there are really only three American firms left in the fighter business, all of whom trade largely on other types of military and commercial technologies across their portfolio, as fighter contracts have been few and far between in the modern era. With Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works winning both 1991's Advanced Tactical Fighter competition and 2001's Joint Strike Fighter Competition, it's been 49 years since any company other than Lockheed Martin has won the right to field a new clean-sheet fighter.

But the Digital Century Series model would see new fighter designs being fielded every five to 10 years, which would mean the development cycle for the next new fighter would likely begin almost immediately after a contract is awarded for the current one. This could create the necessary incentive for a wider variety of firms to compete in the fighter design space, and that competition could be made even greater by separating design and production contracts into separate awards. This could allow newer or smaller firms that lack the production infrastructure required to mass produce new stealth fighters to compete in the design space, with production contracts potentially still awarded to long-standing primes like Lockheed Martin, Boeing, or Northrop Grumman.

But, there are also some glaring issues with the Air Force potentially reverting to Roper's concept for fighter production this late in the game for NGAD, which has been in active development since 2014.

"We've already built and flown a full-scale flight demonstrator in the real world, and we broke records in doing it," Roper told Defense News at the Air Force Association's Air, Space and Cyber Conference in 2020. "We are ready to go and build the next-generation aircraft in a way that has never happened before."

These aircraft designs, as well as the more powerful and efficient engines being developed to power them, have continued to mature since, with Northrop Grumman bowing out of the competition in early 2024 and Lockheed Martin and Boeing seemingly competing for the contract award. This could spell a significant cost problem: With this effort maturing for about a decade now, transitioning away from a traditional fighter acquisition model at this stage would force a revision of the designs in testing to embrace lower costs and shorter operational lifespans — which is why Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall described such a change as "far too expensive" in 2022 when the concept of the Digital Century Series lost favor.

The Air Force now appears to be coming around to Roper's way of thinking but now must weigh the costs of changing the requirements of a program that's already seen well over a billion dollars and several years' worth of investment. The stakes of these deliberations are already high, but they're made even higher because of the tight timetable created by what some might call short-sighted decision-making around the branch's last air superiority fighter program, the F-22 Raptor.

Despite first taking flight in 1997, the F-22 Raptor is still broadly considered to be the most capable air superiority fighter on the planet thanks to an awe-inspiring combination of stealth, sensor fusion, and good old-fashioned power. But, because the F-22 entered service after the collapse of the Soviet Union and well before Xi Jinping's rise to power, its production run was cut short after just 186 airframes were produced, only around 150 of which were combat coded (or equipped with all the necessary systems for combat).

With much of its production infrastructure then cannibalized by the F-35 program, it became all but impossible to produce more Raptors. With each F-22 airframe rated for around 6,000 flight hours, these aircraft can undergo expensive service-life extension programs, but eventually, they will simply wear out. And without a new air superiority fighter in production to replace them, the US runs the risk of leaving the air superiority mission gapped for some time as the new Digital Century Series fighters take shape.

However, Allvin's comments may have come with something of an ulterior motive. With competition for the NGAD contract underway and the Air Force clearly recognizing how the future of fighter acquisitions may be in flux, these statements may be a means of placing public pressure on Lockheed and Boeing to revise their proposals, particularly in terms of cost. In other words, the Air Force may intend to transition toward the Digital Century Series acquisition model moving forward but may be using the public groundwork for that transition to create negotiating leverage with Lockheed Martin and Boeing today.

It's also possible that the Air Force has made these announcements to sound the alarm among the lawmaker class, which could potentially bolster the branch's buying power in the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act to ensure NGAD continues unfettered despite the Air Force's pressing need to also fund the production of new B-21 Raider stealth bombers and the already well-over-budget Sentinel ICBM meant to replace America's aging Minuteman III missiles.

Whether or not either of the above two possibilities is the case won't likely be clear until well after the NGAD contract — in whatever form it may ultimately manifest — has been awarded.

But while the future of the NGAD fighter itself may now be in question, the AI-enabled drones meant to fly alongside it, being developed within the Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program, seem to be progressing at full steam ahead, with Allvin pointing to similar 10-year acquisition timelines for new CCA drones as well.

This would similarly allow the branch to rapidly field new technologies and capabilities as they emerge while keeping costs relatively low for each iteration of these drones — with modular systems shared across platforms to keep prices down. These drones are already expected to fly alongside the forthcoming Block 4 F-35 and could certainly end up accompanying other modernized-but-older jets like the F-22 and F-15EX a bit further down the road.

The question, however, will soon become whether it makes more sense to extend the lifespan of the F-22 long enough to compensate for delays in fielding its replacement or fielding a new high-end fighter that might not have what it takes to remain competitive into the 2070s.

Regardless of which path the Air Force ultimately chooses, that choice will only get pricier the longer the branch waits to decide.

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Joe Biden announced his policy shielding 500,000 immigrants from deportation on the 12th anniversary of the DACA program. The protection is for migrants who are married to US citizens.

• Katy Perry announced her new single, "Woman's World," will be released on July 11.
• Perry also shared a short snippet of the song on TikTok, teasing a female empowerment theme.
• The production and lyrics have already been criticized as "dated" and "cliché" on social media.

Katy Perry's new song won't be released until next month, but the pop star's much-hyped comeback may already be in jeopardy.

On Monday, Perry unveiled the cover art and title for her forthcoming single, "Woman's World," out July 11, which will serve as the lead single for Perry's seventh album.

"Get ready to pop off," Perry wrote.

The as-yet-unnamed album will be Perry's first full-length release since 2020's "Smile," which drew an underwhelming response from critics and fans alike. (Business Insider's music team gave the album a score of 4.6 out of 10.)

At the time, "Smile" was similarly marketed as a rebirth following backlash to Perry's previous album, 2017's "Witness."

Since then, Perry has laid relatively low for a chart-topping, record-breaking superstar. She gave birth to her first child with Orlando Bloom, a daughter named Daisy Dove, in August 2020. The following year, she launched "Play," an 80-show Las Vegas residency. Perry has also served as a judge on "American Idol" for seven seasons, wrapping her final episode in May.

As these endeavors neared their ends, Perry began dropping hints about a big pop comeback — and the timing has not gone unnoticed.

Over a decade has elapsed since Perry released a celebrated album (2013's "Prism"). Her most recent charting hit was "Daisies," which peaked at No. 40 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2020.

In the words of @mazzypopstar, a pop music commentary account on X: "Last two albums flopped, no hits since bon appetit and swish swish, harleys in hawaii streams aren't paying the bills anymore, landlord knocking on the door, she has ONE chance…"

When Perry finally kicked off her new era this week, she paired the announcement with a short snippet of "Woman's World" on TikTok. The lyrics seem to focus on female empowerment, individuality, and strength, themes Perry has explored many times in songs like "Firework" (2010), "Roar" (2013), and "Resilient" (2020).

"Sexy, confident / So intelligent," Perry sings. "She is heaven-sent / So soft, so strong."

However, Perry's retreat to a familiar formula has not inspired faith in the masses — at least not judging by the reactions on social media.

"I was rooting for Katy but these lyrics are so dated," one skeptic wrote on X. "It's giving 2016 Hillary Clinton presidential campaign material."

Some people mocked the song's production and overall sound, leaving harsh comments across TikTok.

At the time of writing, the top comment on Perry's own video reads, "Get in the studio right now and re-record this song." Another says, "Are these AI lyrics??"

In separate videos, various creators said the snippet sounds like "cliché drivel" and "an ARTPOP reject track," referring to Lady Gaga's 2013 album.

Many others criticized Perry's new visual direction, accusing her of cribbing aesthetics from niche pop musicians like Charli XCX — who's enjoying a wave of positive reviews for her new album "Brat" — and the Venezuelan producer Arca.

One disapproving post on X, which has racked up over 57,000 likes, accuses Perry of manufacturing a certain look in order to appeal to "the lowest common denominator gay guys."

Another significant chunk of the critiques on social media stems from a rumor that "Woman's World" is produced by Dr. Luke, whom Kesha publicly accused of emotional and sexual abuse.

Kesha herself added fuel to the fire, simply writing "lol" on X shortly after Perry shared her announcement.

However, Business Insider could not verify the production credits for "Woman's World." A representative for Perry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.