Category: Business

• People often say that women will regret the choice not to have kids, but I don't.
• I'm fine with the decision I made.
• However, it was an important one, and I wish my husband and I had marked it with a ritual. 

"You'll regret it if you don't have kids," my friend's mom warned her in her 20s. Back then, in the 50s and 60s, it was assumed that everyone would have kids after they got married. Marriage itself was a foregone conclusion.

Surprisingly for that era, my parents didn't pressure me. The closest either of them came was my mother once saying, "I hope you have children, because it's one of life's most beautiful experiences." She never brought it up again.

In the end, I didn't have kids. I'm sure having children can indeed be one of life's most beautiful experiences, but I have no regrets.

The decision we made was an important one

Looking back, 45 years later, on the decision that my husband Barry and I made, I think what happens after a woman decides not to have kids is crucial. In my case, despite the fact that I never experienced any pressure to have children, it took me a while to fully inhabit my new identity as a woman without biological kids.

This was partly because I never experienced a clear, decisive moment when I woke up and said to myself, "I don't want children." Unlike me, Barry did experience such a moment of clarity. Lucky him! Even after 15 years of marriage, I hesitated to finalize the decision.

Looking back, I'm puzzled that I never really honored my decision. While I wasn't remorseful or even ambivalent, neither did I rejoice. I don't mean we should've thrown a party, but rather, I wish now that we had done something simple to mark the transition. After all, this was a huge decision — the biggest in our married life.

I wish we had marked it with a ritual

When we got home from the hospital after Barry's vasectomy, we lay together on a futon on our patio tiles, looking up at the clouds and not saying much. That was a good start, but in my ideal world, I would have lit a candle or looked at each other and "gassho"ed, a Buddhist term meaning to bow with hands in a prayer position to acknowledge closure, gratitude, or regret. Performing a ritual has always been a profound way for me to acknowledge a transition and move forward.

On the other hand, something that did help enormously was the unexpected gift I received from my younger sister, who loves children and already had two at the time. After I told her our news, without a moment's hesitation, she cried, "Oh, great!" Later, she explained that it wasn't that she didn't want us to have kids but rather that she was delighted we'd made the decision so we could embrace the next chapter in our lives. What a difference her affirmation made.

I know several women today who are on the fence about having a child, and I can imagine how tough the decision is, especially in the complex world we're in nowadays. If I were to give them advice, I'd say this: whatever choice you make, pay close attention to what happens before and after. Consider creating a ritual, and find someone you trust outside your relationship to help you affirm the decision you made, so you can claim it with all your heart.

• The IDF knew about Hamas' plans to attack just weeks before October 7, Israeli broadcaster Kan reported.
• The IDF's Gaza Division had intel on Hamas' training and hostage-taking strategies, Kan reported.
• According to Kan, IDF intelligence officials even predicted Hamas would take 200-250 hostages.

The Israeli military knew about Hamas' plans to attack southern Israel weeks before October 7 — even how many hostages the militant group planned to capture, according to a report from Israeli public broadcaster Kan.

The Israel Defense Force's Gaza Division reportedly distributed an internal intelligence document on September 19, 2023, outlining the details of Hamas' planned raid, according to Kan.

The document, which Kan reportedly saw, states that the IDF had observed Hamas conducting a series of trainings where militant fighters practiced attacking both Israeli military stations and civilian kibbutzim communities.

The IDF also knew, according to the document viewed by Kan, that Hamas trained its units on how to capture hostages and how to guard them once they were taken back to the Gaza Strip.

The IDF's Southern Command and Gaza Division also wrote in the document, according to Kan, that they expected Hamas to take between 200 and 250 hostages. The officials even had intel on how Hamas intended to treat the hostages in certain extreme circumstances and what rules Hamas set for executing hostages, Kan reported.

Israel mistakenly believed, the Times of Israel reported, that Hamas would never be able to get past its high-tech border security — an "Iron Wall" composed of concrete, tunnels, and razor wire, complete with remote-controlled machine guns, that was installed two years before the attack.

That oversight prevented top Israeli intelligence leaders from doing anything about the internal report detailing Hamas' plans, Kan News reported.

And it wasn't just a few weeks before October 7 that Israel reportedly knew about Hamas' plans.

More than a year before the attack, Israel had a 40-page document detailing, play-by-play, exactly how Hamas would attack the southern border, The New York Times reported last year. But, Israel never took Hamas' plans seriously, assuming the militant group would never get past Israel's defenses, the Times reported.

Hamas militants attacked southern Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people and taking hundreds hostage, many of whom are still being held in captivity.

The exact number of hostages Hamas took is unclear, but Israel has estimated it was around 240, with about 116 still in Gaza, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Israel's subsequent airstrikes and war against Hamas in Gaza have killed more than 37,000 Palestinians, many of whom are women and children, according to Palestinian health authorities.

• Francesca Bridgerton's love story begins in season three of "Bridgerton."
• However, it doesn't unfold until the sixth novel in Julia Quinn's "Bridgerton" book series.
• Here's what to know about her love interest John Stirling — and Francesca's eventual love story.

Warning: Major spoilers ahead for season three, part two of "Bridgerton," and "When He Was Wicked," the sixth Bridgerton book.

One romantic subplot in "Bridgerton" season three is almost as compelling as its main storyline.

While season leads Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton) and Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan) get their act together, another character also makes romantic inroads: Francesca (Hannah Dodd), the sixth Bridgerton sibling. After making her debut in society at the beginning of the season, she catches Queen Charlotte's eye and becomes a highly desired marriage prospect.

On the show, Francesca's approach to marriage is relatively utilitarian: While she hopes to find a compatible match, she doesn't want to put pressure on herself to find love, as her mother and siblings did. But it's not Lord Samadani, the Queen's pick for Francesca, who ultimately catches her eye. It's the Earl of Kilmartin, John Stirling (Victor Alli), a man whose reservedness matches Francesca's own.

They get married during a low-key ceremony at the Bridgerton house during the season three finale and prepare to move to John's primary estate in Scotland.

Here's what you need to know about Lord Kilmartin — and what to expect for Francesca's romantic future on Netflix's "Bridgerton."

Francesca and John marry in the 'Bridgerton' books too, but they're not married for long

In Julia Quinn's "Bridgerton" books, Francesca marries John. However, he suddenly dies two years into their marriage, when Francesca is 22 years old.

Though she's pregnant with John's child at the time of his death, she miscarries — meaning that John's cousin, Michael Stirling, becomes the new Earl of Kilmartin. After John's death, Francesca splits her time between London with her family and Scotland with John's family.

In the books, Michael actually falls in love with Francesca at first sight. Unfortunately for him, they meet just days before her wedding to John. After the marriage, they became close friends, but Michael becomes more reserved after John's death — and eventually, traveles to India.

Given that Michael doesn't marry after assuming his cousin's title, Francesca retains hers as the Countess of Kilmartin, managing the estate while Michael travels to India. But four years after John's death, Francesca wants to have a baby and seeks out another husband. Coincidentally, Michael has returned to London by then.

The tension simmers between the two, eventually tipping over into a proposal. Though reluctant, Francesca eventually agrees.

While the events of "When He Was Wicked" overlap somewhat with Colin and Penelope's story in "Romancing Mr. Bridgerton" in terms of in-universe chronology, the show has moved around some timelines from the books.

The 'Bridgerton' season three finale introduces John's cousin — with a major twist that will play out as the show continues

In the finale, Francesca is introduced to John's cousin Michaela (Masali Baduza), who will be traveling with them to Scotland. Immediately after meeting Michaela, Francesca becomes nervous and stutters while introducing herself. The scene, although brief, is a teaser for Francesca's next big romance with a gender-swapped version of John's cousin.

In finale interviews, showrunner Jess Brownell said that she had been pitching a queer storyline for Francesca since season one.

"I want to tell a story that accurately reflects a queer experience, and the first time I read Francesca's book, I really identified with it as a queer woman," Brownell told Teen Vogue. "Maybe not in the way Julia Quinn intended."

The show has yet to officially announce which Bridgerton's love story will be the focus of next season — though the finale heavily implies that it's Benedict — but Brownell told Decider that it was necessary to start planting the seeds for Francesca's trajectory during season three.

"Francesca's book, for those who are familiar, it takes place over a longer amount of years and it has more twists and turns," she said. "And so we felt like we wanted to start that story earlier so that we could play out more chapters of her book."

It's unclear when or how the TV show plans on handling John's death, but Brownell told The Hollywood Reporter that there will be a time jump at some point to give Francesca's relationships with John and Michaela adequate space.

"We're absolutely not denying the connection that Fran and John have, and when we tell the Francesca and Michaela story, we would definitely want there to be a time jump to give Francesca some time to earnestly mourn what she had with John," Brownell said.

• The Hyundai Santa Fe is a three-row mid-size family SUV that's all-new 2024.
• I enjoyed its rugged looks, strong tech content, and functional interior. 
• I was disappointed by its laggy power delivery, excessive road noise, and intrusive safety tech.

Hyundai's lineup of crossovers and SUVs is pretty extensive these days, running from the subcompact Venue and Kona at the bottom to the range-topping Palisade, with the top-selling Tuscon sitting squarely in the middle.

But that's not all.

Squeezed in between the compact Tucson and the midsize Palisade is the Santa Fe.

In years past, the SUV offered consumers a stylish midsize crossover for those who wanted something bigger than the Tucson but without the Palisade's third-row (or higher price tag.)

In 2024, however, it got a major makeover featuring rugged looks, new tech, and room for seven passengers. The new model bears zero resemblance to its predecessor. If this were an episode of the Maury Show, there would have to be a paternity test.

I recently spent a week behind the wheel of a 2024 Hyundai Santa Fe in the new rugged XRT trim.

I was impressed by the new Korean-Land Rover aesthetic, strong suite of tech and safety features, and a roomy and easy-to-use interior.

However, I was let down by its powertrain's lack of responsiveness off the line, louder-than-ideal road noise, and an annoying attention-alert system.

My test car clocked in at $42,205.

The base front-wheel-drive Santa Fe SE starts at $33,950, while the fully loaded all-wheel-drive Santa Fe Calligraphy Hybrid starts at $48,800.

My all-wheel-drive Hyundai Santa Fe XRT test car starts at $40,600. However, freight fees and a set of floor mats pushed the SUV's as-tested price a bit higher.

The new Santa Fe makes functionality stylish.

Gone are the car-based crossover looks. In their place is a square-jawed SUV ready to tackle the outdoors. In fact, it looks more like a Land Rover than anything else in the Hyundai product range.

Designing a family SUV is usually a tug of war between form and function. For example, sloping rooflines give SUVs a sleek, coupe-like look but compromise passenger headroom and cargo space.

Both inside and out, it feels like Hyundai's design team chose to let form support function. The Santa Fe's square edges and rectangular body not only maximize its interior passenger and cargo room but also give it a rugged, truck-like presence.

Hyundai's then added styling touches like H-shaped lights and various front grille designs to give the boxy SUV a bit of flair.

The Santa Fe looks like Hyundai's take on a no-nonsense outdoor lifestyle vehicle for the family, with a heavy dose of Land Rover Defender and a dash of Ford Flex thrown in.

Up front, the Santa Fe's is equipped with H-shaped LED daytime running lights.

The dark green paint easily camouflages the blacked-out Hyundai logo on the hood.

The running lights are coupled with LED headlights and a lightbar across the front grille.

The front bumper is equipped with a set of active air flaps.

The active air flaps automatically open and close to help optimize fuel efficiency and engine cooling.

The H-shape theme extends to the back with liftgate-mounted tail lights.

The Santa Fe XRT can tow up to 4,500 lbs.

In addition to blacked-out trim, front grille, and wheels, XRT-grade Santa Fes also get 18-inch Continental all-terrain tires.

While the tires that come with the XRT trim are certainly more capable of handling rough terrain, they produce an appreciable amount of excess road noise, especially at highway speeds, compared to traditional road tires.

Other trims have 18, 20, or 21-inch all-season tires as standard.

The new Santa Fe is 6 inches shorter than the Palisade.

The increased length comes in handy now that the Santa Fe has a third row of seats. My test car also had a robust 8.3 inches of ground clearance.

Under the hood, it has a 2.5-liter, turbocharged four-cylinder engine.

The 2.5-liter turbo four, also found on the Sonata sedan and Santa Cruz pickup, produces a strong 277 horsepower and 311 lb.-ft. of torque. It is paired with an 8-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission.

Due to its off-road tires and standard AWD, the XRT boasts lower fuel economy figures than other trims, at 19 mpg city, 26 mpg highway, and 22 combined.

The XRT and other ICE variants of the Santa Fe are equipped with automatic start/stop, a common fuel-saving tool that shuts off the engine when the vehicle is stationary.

I appreciate that the Santa Fe's start/stop function is smart enough to stand down when systems such as climate control require extra juice from the engine. However, I found it slow to react and abrupt when it did kick in.

A button on the center console temporarily defeats the system, but it will reset after the vehicle is turned off.

All-wheel-drive is useful for poor road conditions or off-roading.

Hyundai's HTRAC all-wheel drive operates in front-wheel drive when cruising around but can send up to 50% of the engine's power to the back wheels when needed. At low speeds, the driver can activate an AWD Lock function that forces the system to send at least 20% of the power to the back wheels.

The Santa Fe was pleasant to drive but needs work to correct its lackadaisical power delivery.

The Santa Fe handled solidly. Its steering was relatively quick but numb, which is the standard for a big family SUV.

The engine and gearbox were more than capable of handling the 4,400-pound SUV's heft in most situations, but dull power delivery off of the line let it down a bit.

The slow power delivery could be due to tip-in lag, which is a delay in throttle response programmed into the vehicle for better fuel economy and a smooth driving experience. It could also be turbo lag, the delay caused by the exhaust gases that drive the turbocharger needing to build up pressure before they can produce power.

Regardless, the lag was considerably more pronounced than I've experienced in other SUVs of its type, making acceleration from a standstill more of a chore than it should be.

The delay is even more pronounced when the start-stop system turns the engine off at an intersection or when waiting to make a left turn, at which point the engine has to restart and spool up the turbo before you feel the acceleration.

However, things change quickly once the vehicle is underway. Engine power becomes plentiful, and the Santa Fe quickly powers its way through the gears to highway speeds. I did not experience any power delivery issues while changing lanes or merging on the highway.

According to Car and Driver, the 2024 Santa Fe can accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in 6.3 seconds.

Inside the cabin, the Santa Fe XRT is all business.

As a mid-tier model geared toward the outdoorsy types, the XRT isn't equipped with all the luxury bells and whistles of the top-spec Calligraphy trim like a head-up display or quilted Nappa leather seats.

Instead, functionality reigns supreme.

The cabin is roomy and well-designed, with good material quality. It also has a wide array of useful storage nooks for the whole family.

In front of the driver is a new leather-wrapped steering wheel unique to the Santa Fe.

Instead of using the corporate steering wheel design like those found on other SUVs in Hyundai's lineup, the Santa Fe evokes the look and feel of the British SUV-brand that also inspired its exterior design.

In front of the driver is a configurable 12.3-inch digital instrument display.

The driver attention alert system's sensor juts out from atop the steering column and can sometimes block the bottom of the instrument display.

It's great this potentially lifesaving system exists, but in everyday use it's finicky. If you drive with your hand at the top of the wheel, the system will flash warning messages at you because it can't see your face. It won't be happy until you're back at 10-and-2 or 9-and-3 again.

The shifter is weird but oddly intuitive.

The shifter is located on the right side of the steering column where the ignition key lived once upon a time.

To shift into drive, twist the silver part forward. Twist backward to shift into reverse, and press the "P" button at the end of the stalk to put it into park.

Moving the shifter to the steering column opens up the center console.

The Santa Fe's center console is massive, with giant cup holders and space for two smartphones lying side-by-side. The smartphone spot closest to the driver offers wireless charging, while the other phone can be plugged into one of the nearby USB-C sockets.

There's also a storage area with a power plug underneath the Santa Fe's center console that is perfect for small bags or purses.

Under the armrest at the back of the center console is a drawer that pulls out for rear cabin storage.

The center console armrest opens forward and backward, allowing the rear cabin access to its contents as well.

Like in other Hyundai products these days, the focal point of the front dash is a 12.3-inch touchscreen.

Unlike the Palisade and Tucson, the Santa Fe boasts a newer version of the Hyundai user interface. The system was fairly intuitive to understand and looked great, with both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto included.

Below the infotainment screen on the dash in a small touchscreen for the climate control.

Like in the Palisade, I found this setup to be terrific. It offered a great balance between digital readouts and physical control for on-the-fly use when driving.

The power sunroof was a nice touch.

Pricier trims get a fancy dual sunroof that adds a second, non-opening glass panel over the rear cabin.

The seats are trimmed in faux leather.

Most versions of the Santa Fe come standard with a 60/40 folding second-row bench seat.

The Santa Fe offers more second-row legroom than the Subaru Ascent, Honda Pilot, and Toyota Highlander.

Behind the rear doors are a pair of concealed grab handles, which are very handy when you need to reach items stored on the roof rack.

When not in use, these handles can be flipped closed and physically locked.

The Santa Fe's third-row bench seat has space for two.

As with most other offerings in this segment, the third row should be reserved for children, small adults, or short trips around town. With only 30 inches of legroom, roughly what you have in coach on some airlines, the Santa Fe offers a couple of inches more space than the Highlanders but falls about an inch and a half short of the Palisade.

The Santa Fe's second-row seats slide forward with the push of a button, allowing for somewhat easy access to the third row.

On the plus side, the rear cabin climate controls are in the third row instead of the more traditional second-row placement.

Third-row passengers also get access to a 115-volt power outlet.

Open up the hands-free liftgate, and you'll find 14.6 cubic feet of cargo room behind the third row.

This is where the Santa Fe shorter length comes into play. If the third row is up, you'd be hard-pressed to fit more than one or two carry-on suitcases back there. Its 14.6 cu. ft. of cargo room falls well short of the Palisade's 18 cu. ft., and the smallish Highlander's 16 cubic feet.

If you plan to consistently carry seven passengers and their stuff, a larger three-row SUV like the Palisade or Pilot is probably the better choice.

Flip down the third row, and you'll gain more cargo room.

The expansion makes it roughly 6 cubic feet smaller than the Palisade. Plus, the smaller Santa Fe's square shape maximizes the usability of the cargo room.

With everything down, the Santa Fe offers a total of 79.6 cubic feet of cargo room.

That's about seven cubic feet less than the Palisade.

Underneath the cargo area is the Santa Fe's spare tire.

It's an increasingly rare feature these days. The spare tire is standard on all ICE variants of the Santa Fe but not available on the Hybrid.

The Santa Fe is packed with safety tech.

The Santa Fe comes standard with blind-spot collision warning, rear cross-traffic collision avoidance assist, park distance warning, ultrasonic rear occupant sensor, forward collision avoidance assist, lane keeping assist, driver monitoring system, highway driving assist, and lane following assist.

The verdict: It's a cool, distinctive-looking family SUV with great functionality, but still a little rough around the edges.

What an about-turn Hyundai has made with the 2024 Santa Fe.

In one fell swoop, the Santa Fe has gone from anonymous to one of the most eye-catching SUVs on the market.

Hyundai knocked it out of the park with rugged looks, usable cabin, and a comprehensive suite of tech and safety features.

Even though some work is needed to fine-tune its driving dynamics, the Santa Fe is a terrific choice for a family searching for a smaller three-row SUV that stands out from the crowd.

• Aemond Targaryen starts "House of the Dragon" season two fresh off the murder of his nephew. 
• In "Fire and Blood," the show's source material, he eventually meets his own end. 
• Here's what happens to him in the book — and potentially the show, though that's not confirmed.

Warning: Major spoilers for the season two premiere of "House of the Dragon," the book "Fire and Blood," and potential spoilers for future episodes of "House of the Dragon."

Aemond Targaryen is off to a rough — or excellent, depending on how you look at it — start on "House of the Dragon" season two.

Fresh off accidentally killing his nephew Lucerys Velaryon on dragonback, Aemond is one of the most powerful assets on the Green side of the impending war. While he's a skilled fighter in his own right, that's mostly due to the fact that he's bonded to Vhagar, the largest of the active dragons. And his brother, King Aegon II, is champing at the bit to send him into war.

In the season two premiere, Aemond escapes assassination through sheer ineptitude. His uncle, Daemon Targaryen, contracts two would-be assassins — known to book readers as Blood and Cheese — to kill Aemond in retaliation for Lucerys' murder. Blood and Cheese, however, aren't very good at their jobs, and end up brutally murdering Aegon's young son Jaehaerys instead.

But Aemond, like all of us, will eventually die. While there's always the chance that "House of the Dragon" will make changes from its source material, here's what happens to him in the book "Fire and Blood."

One last warning for good measure: major spoilers ahead for "Fire and Blood," and potentially "House of the Dragon."

Aemond dies during a battle with Daemon on dragonback

During one battle in the war, Aegon II is severely wounded. Aemond takes over his ruling duties as Prince Regent in his stead.

However, he's more concerned with his uncle Daemon than Rhaenyra, his sister.

"The whore on Dragonstone is not the threat," the book quotes Aemond saying. "No more than Rowan and these traitors in the Reach. The danger is my uncle. Once Daemon is dead, all these fools flying our sister's banners will run back to their castles and trouble us no more."

After Daemon takes control of Harrenhal, the seat of House Strong, Aemond resolves to march upon it and kill his uncle. However, Daemon learns of Aemond's plans and flies instead to King's Landing. There, he rendezvouses with Rhaenyra, and they take the city.

Aemond takes Harrenhal but is furious to learn of King's Landing. He ends the Strong line, but takes the Strong bastard Alys Rivers as a lover. Aemond decides to strike out on his own in the war, laying siege to the Riverlands in the hopes of baiting Rhaenyra to send a dragon after him.

Eventually, Daemon and another dragonrider called Nettles set out on Caraxes and Sheepstealer to kill Daemon and Vhagar. After fruitless searching, Daemon reclaims Harrenhal, challenging Aemond to face him there.

Aemond answers, and the two take to the skies. While the dragons grappled and wounded each other, Daemon, per the stories, leaped from his saddle to stab Aemond through his injured eye with his blade, Dark Sister. Both of them plunged into the Gods Eye lake, and Daemon is presumed dead as a result of the impact.

Martin writes in "Fire and Blood" that Aemond's remains, clad in armor, remained chained to Vhagar's carcass at the bottom of the lake.

"House of the Dragon" season two airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and is streaming on Max.

• The Washington Post reported some patients of Amazon's One Medical struggle to get adequate care.
• The Post reported call center employees have missed major patient concerns like blood clots.
• One Medical has struggled with patient privacy and care issues since Amazon's acquisition in 2022.

Some elderly patients of Amazon's subscription-based primary care service, One Medical, are struggling to get adequate care, according to a new report from The Washington Post.

The Post reported that the call center is staffed by contractors who receive about two weeks of medical training before responding to patient concerns. They have missed urgent issues like blood pressure spikes and sudden stomach pain with blood in one patient's stool.

Instead of referring patients to urgent or emergency care after receiving reports of chest tightness or a "blood clot, pain, and swelling," the call center staff instead scheduled future appointments — a potentially life-threatening oversight, the outlet reported.

According to records reviewed by The Post, medical staff at the company flagged more than a dozen such incidents internally as requiring more immediate escalation. A former employee told the outlet that "a lot of things" were "slipping through the cracks."

It is unclear whether any patients have been harmed due to how calls were handled by the call center contractors.

A representative for Amazon told BI in a statement that the company developed a centralized team to respond to One Medical's senior patients in January, which has resulted in a 40% increase in answered phone calls and "a more than 20% increase in access to appointments."

"Patient care decisions are made by One Medical clinical and operational leadership, with quality of care and positive health outcomes being their number one priority," Amazon's spokesperson said. "We will continue to further invest in providing high-quality care across all ages through One Medical and One Medical Seniors."

Since Amazon acquired One Medical for $3.9 billion in 2022, reports of concerns over patient privacy, care, and insurance have plagued the company.

Business Insider reported that this year, amid major cost cuts at the company, One Medical has made significant job cuts and closed several corporate offices.

The tech titan's bet on healthcare, one of Amazon's biggest acquisitions ever, has floundered since the deal closed. In the years since, One Medical has reported hundreds of millions of dollars in losses, mass layoffs, and corporate restructuring.

• Pixar's "Inside Out 2" opened to the biggest three-day weekend of 2024, grossing $155 million domestically.
• It's the second-biggest domestic opening ever for an animated movie, behind "Incredibles 2."
• A large screen count and playing it safe in the film's themes and content helped it succeed.

Disney proved it still has some box-office firepower this weekend with Pixar's "Inside Out 2." The film had the biggest three-day opening weekend of the year, grossing $155 million domestically and $295 million worldwide.

That's also the second-biggest domestic opening ever for an animated movie, behind another Pixar title, 2018's "Incredibles 2" ($182.6 million). For reference, the "Inside Out 2" gross is so good that it's only just behind last summer's domestic opening of "Barbie" ($162 million).

The 2024 summer movie season is gradually becoming the season of comebacks. Last weekend, audiences showed they were ready to forgive Will Smith for the Oscars slap and showed up to theaters in droves for "Bad Boys: Ride or Die," which topped the box office with an impressive $100 million-plus global opening.

This weekend's impressive box-office numbers for "Inside Out 2" prove that audiences want to see Pixar titles on the big screen despite years of self-inflicted mishaps, like releasing "Luca" and "Turning Red" straight to Disney+ in the pandemic and the botched marketing campaign for "Elemental."

Here are the three reasons "Inside Out 2" was a box-office success.

"Inside Out 2" is a sequel to a beloved Oscar-winning original

2015's "Inside Out" was a story about the warring emotions inside a girl named Riley. We watched Joy, Sadness, Fear, Disgust, and Anger navigate her mind, leading to a hugely entertaining and emotional story (RIP, Bing Bong) that went on to win a Best Animated Feature Oscar.

Releasing a sequel to such an acclaimed original — even though it's been nine years since the first film — is a pretty safe bet for success. Hollywood loves to replicate a winning formula ad nauseam, and that's exactly what Pixar leaned on heavily here. In the sequel, Riley, now a teen, has additional emotions like Anxiety, Boredom, Envy, and Embarrassment. The core emotions from the first movie clash with the new ones, leading to more clever laughs that work for both kids and adults.

It's far from the first time that a sequel to an established Pixar title led to paydirt: "Incredibles 2" holds the record for the biggest domestic opening for an animated title ever with $182.6 million, and went on to earn over $1 billion worldwide for its theatrical run.

It's still too soon to say if "Inside Out 2" will reach the $1 billion mark, but its weekend success proves that familiarity is key in getting people to theaters.

After diverse stories in other Disney films sparked backlash, "Inside Out 2" plays it safe

From a same-sex kiss in "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker" to casting a Black lead in the live-action remake of "The Little Mermaid," Disney has spent the past few years showcasing LGBTQ+ characters and telling diverse stories.

That strategy shift wasn't received without controversy, as some accused the studio of pushing a political agenda. Pixar wasn't immune to the criticism: A same-sex kiss in 2022's "Lightyear" led a movie theater in Oklahoma to post a letter to its patrons saying it would attempt to "fast-forward" through the scene.

Whether it was a conscious decision or not, "Inside Out 2" doesn't feature anything overtly "woke." In fact, Disney CEO Bob Iger said in an April shareholder meeting that the company is focused on entertaining, not advancing "any kind of agenda."

Audiences are starving for good children's titles in theaters

Titles geared toward kids continue to be immune to any kind of box-office slump. Films like "The Croods: A New Age" and Disney's "Raya and the Last Dragon" were big earners during the pandemic; John Krasinski's imaginary friend movie "IF" has steadily been earning bank since opening in early May, recently crossing the $100 million mark domestically.

Since so few of these kid-friendly titles hit theaters each year, parents flock to them when they open. Combine that with Pixar's fan loyalty, and you have a hit.

"Inside Out 2" also opened at the perfect time — in many parts of the country, kids are out of school for summer break.

If you dig deep into the numbers this weekend, you'll find Disney's Mea culpa to Pixar: The studio released "Inside Out 2" on a whopping 4,440 screens, the most for any movie released this year to date and the most since last summer's "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny," which was released on 4,600 screens.

Clearly, now that Pixar movies are back in theaters, they're going to be playing everywhere — and that strategy is working.

• Yelp listed Gypsea Crepes in Panama City Beach as the "best cheap eats" in Florida last year. 
• I recently visited Gypsea Crepes and was blown away by both the crepes and the crowds.
• My $9 breakfast crepe was so good I haven't stopped thinking about it.

According to Yelp's 2023 report, the "best cheap eats" in Florida come from Gypsea Crepes, a restaurant located in a beachside strip mall in Panama City Beach (PCB).

To find the "best cheap eats," Yelp studied all single-dollar-sign restaurants in every US state and ranked them based on criteria like total volume and number of reviews.

Here's what it was like to visit Florida's "best cheap eats" winner, Gypsea Crepes — and why I'd make the long trip back to the panhandle to do it again.

Gypsea Crepes is a surf-style eatery located in a strip mall.

Gypsea Crepes is in PCB, a city in Florida's panhandle, is a popular travel destination with powdery white beaches and an impressive food scene.

The small eatery is located close to the beach in a strip mall alongside other businesses, though its kitschy surf decor — like surfboards and beach art — stand out.

I've been obsessed with food and restaurants for all of my adult life, and often say there are no better restaurants than those tucked away within strip malls.

The family-owned eatery was packed with tourists and locals when I visited.

When I arrived at Gypsea Crepes around 9 a.m. on a Friday morning, the dining room was standing-room-only, and there were so many people in line to order that I nearly had to wait outside the door.

As I stood in line, I listened to the conversations around me and discovered there was a pretty even mix of locals and tourists lined up for their crepe fix from the family-owned spot.

I overheard one out-of-town guest say her family rents a beach house in PCB each spring, and it's become a tradition for them to come to Gypsea Crepes for breakfast one morning during their trip.

I saw sweet and savory crepes on the Gypsea Crepes menu.

Gypsea Crepes has an impressive menu of crepe options, from The Sunny ($12), a crepe stuffed with eggs and breakfast meat, to The Moniz ($10), a turkey and provolone crepe with basil pesto.

The eatery offers a wide array of savory crepes with fresh ingredients, as well as sweet crepes with staples like nut butter, whipped cream, and berries.

My $9 sweet breakfast crepe was full of peanut butter, berries, and whipped cream.

Since I visited Gypsea Crepes at breakfast, I got a simple-but-classic sweet crepe.

My $9 crepe was filled with peanut butter, whipped cream, and strawberries. It was incredibly tasty. Not only was the crepe itself light and perfectly fluffy, but also the ingredients carefully tucked inside tasted super fresh and flavorful.

I've eaten crepes everywhere, from trendy Baltimore eateries to the streets of Cannes, but I can honestly say none have been as delicious as the one I ordered at Gypsea Crepes.

The prices seem to have gone up in recent years, but my breakfast was totally worth it.

In the 2016 feature on Gypsea Crepes in Panama City News Herald, crepe prices at Gypsea Crepes were a bit lower. Back then, savory crepes ranged from $7 to $8, and sweet ones fell into the $5 to $7 range.

Prices have gone up a bit in 2024, with sweet crepes averaging around $10 each and savory crepes about $11.

Still, my sweet breakfast crepe was well worth its $9 price tag.

I'd make the long trip back across the state for more Gypsea Crepes.

The tiny beach eatery is totally deserving of its title of "best cheap eats" in the Sunshine State.

There was something uniquely special about Gypsea Crepes and its surf-town vibe, and I've yet to stop daydreaming about how delicious my breakfast there was.

PCB is a seven-hour drive from my own Florida beach town, but I'd plan a vacation back to the area again, both to enjoy its powdery beaches and to grab a bite at Gypsea Crepes.

• The Houthis last week used a naval drone to hit a commercial vessel in the Red Sea.
• New footage circulating on social media appears to show the moments leading up to the attack.
• The naval drone, likely packed with explosives, appears to be a crude-looking fishing vessel.

New video footage appears to show the moments before a Houthi naval drone — seemingly disguised as a slow-moving fishing boat — struck a commercial vessel in the Red Sea last week.

The Iran-backed rebels on Wednesday scored a hit on the M/V Tutor with an uncrewed surface vessel, causing severe flooding and damage to the engine room of the bulk cargo carrier, and forcing the crew to abandon the ship.

A video purporting to show the attack began circulating around social media on Sunday. In it, armed security guards aboard what was identified as the Liberian-flagged, Greek-owned Tutor can be seen observing what seems to be the crude-looking naval drone — likely packed with explosives — as it slowly approaches the ship unobstructed.

Shortly after the attack was first reported, United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, an element of the British Royal Navy, described the USV as a "small craft" that was white in color and between 5-7 meters (16-23 feet) in length, matching the description of the drone in the videos.

Open-source intelligence accounts also shared photos of the apparent damage caused to the Tutor, revealing a clear puncture in the wall and water inside the vessel. US Central Command said the ship "remains in the Red Sea and is slowly taking on water."

Business Insider was unable to immediately verify the footage or images.

With the Tutor effectively stranded at sea, the crew was forced to evacuate. On Saturday, a US Navy helicopter airlifted 24 mariners to the guided-missile cruiser USS Philippine Sea. From there, the individuals were then transported to the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, where they were medically checked before being flown to shore.

One crew member is still missing, the Navy disclosed on Sunday.

"We are always prepared to help; it is the right thing to do," said Rear Adm. Marc Miguez, the commander of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group, a warship that has been at the forefront of the fight against the Houthis.

Last week's attack marked the Houthis' first successful USV strike since they began targeting shipping lanes in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden last fall. Previous attempts either saw the naval drones destroyed by Western forces, or they detonated in the water without hitting anything.

The Tutor was not the only commercial shipping vessel struck last week. The Iran-backed rebels also hit the M/V Verbena with multiple anti-ship missiles as the bulk cargo carrier was sailing through the Gulf of Aden. The crew eventually abandoned their vessel due to the damage sustained, marking the second time that's happened in the area in just a matter of days.

"This continued malign and reckless behavior by the Iranian-backed Houthis threatens regional stability and endangers the lives of mariners across the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden," the US military said on Saturday, adding that it "will continue to act with partners to hold the Houthis accountable and degrade their military capabilities."

• ISIS staged attacks that killed scores of Syrian government soldiers in June.
• The ISIS attacks are a sign of the weakness of the Assad regime and the factions fighting it.
• "I do not see ISIS making an important comeback in the near future," a Syria expert said.

The Islamic State terror group may have lost its territorial caliphate, once equal in size to the United Kingdom, years ago, but its militants are still killing soldiers and civilians in the Syrian desert.

In two attacks on Wednesday, ISIS militants reportedly killed a total of 19 Syrian government troops in the Homs desert in central Syria, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor. Wednesday's attacks followed another attack on a Syrian army convoy in Homs' eastern countryside, killing five soldiers on Monday.

ISIS killed an estimated 84 Syrian soldiers and 44 civilians in central Syria in March, making it the most violent month in the ISIS desert campaign since late 2017. Another attack on May 3 killed an estimated 15 pro-government fighters. Another four Syrian troops were killed in another desert attack in late April.

Coupled with the latest attacks, 2024 has already seen the deadliest violence perpetrated by ISIS in Syria so far this decade. ISIS lost the territory it declared a decade ago in Iraq in 2017 and Syria in 2019 and it now lacks the fighters and revenue it had then. But it still has enough armed adherents to attack opponents in the splintered Syria civil war in an attempt to recruit more to its cause of holy war.

The attacks aren't a sign of growing ISIS strength, said Joshua Landis, director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma.

"Over the past several years, ISIS has been able to make regular attacks in the desert," Landis told Business Insider. "In particular, it has had success in killing Syrian soldiers on buses as they travel between Deir ez-Zor and Syria's major western cities."

"All the same, the frequency of its attack has decreased, particularly in Iraq but also in Syria," Landis said. "It has been active in killing Syrians who venture into the desert to hunt for truffles."

The Badia desert in Homs is known for its high-quality truffles that poor Syrians often venture in search of in February-April each year, many of them risking death at the hands of ISIS or the various landmines and explosives strewn across the area. In early March, ISIS murdered 14 civilians collecting truffles in the area.

Landis noted that the Syrian military is picking up its efforts to attack ISIS in the Homs-Palmyra region. He speculates this might be the reason for these latest attacks and subsequent deaths, which he describes as "a sign of the Syrian military's engagement with the problem" rather than of state weakness.

"I do not see ISIS making an important comeback in the near future," Landis said. "ISIS is a product of state weakness and the strength of opposition forces more generally."

While President Bashar al-Assad's government remains weak compared to before the civil war began in 2011, the opposition is also much weaker than at any time since then.

"The comparative advantage of the Syrian military is growing stronger every year," Landis said.

The ISIS attacks are one of many crises in Syria and are a sign of the weakness of the regime and the factions fighting it, another Syria expert said.

"The group's ability to recover depends on how the conflict evolves and on future choices by other actors, including foreign governments," Aron Lund, a fellow with Century International, told BI. "Even if it's killing more people, the Islamic State is still a very minor threat compared to what it used to be. They don't hold significant territory, they have no meaningful population centers under their control, and they keep losing top leadership figures."

Aside from a "weak and disjointed opposition," Lund noted ISIS remnants are fighting the Assad government and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces while "playing cat and mouse" with rebels backed by Turkey elsewhere.

For ISIS, increasing the level of violence is important as it creates both "a perception of threat and momentum," Lund explained, which can influence local populations while simultaneously maintaining the morale of its foot soldiers.

"All-out religious war is their raison d'être, after all," Lund said.

Syria is still riven by internal tensions ISIS would love to exploit, and their hand could be strengthened if the US follows through on a complete troop withdrawal from northeast Syria. That could give them an opportunity to reorganize against a weaker Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces administration, especially since thousands of ISIS militants remain in SDF-run prisons and detention centers, where they're often being held indefinitely. ISIS already attempted a well-planned, coordinated prison break in northeast Syria's Hasakah in January 2022, which took the SDF, with US support, almost two weeks to suppress.

Professor Landis noted what's left of the opposition forces receive little foreign funding compared to the height of the Syrian war in the 2010s, and any remaining funding they can get isn't "at a level" to undermine the Syrian military.

"The intent of Western governments in extending sanctions on Syria is to prevent the Syrian military and state from rebuilding," Landis said. "All the same, the Arab governments have normalized relations with Damascus, which will help it to rebuild its forces and better police the desert."

While the Syrian military does carry out combing operations in the Homs desert, ISIS remnants are far from Damascus's top priority.

"The Syrian government seems more focused on the Turkey-backed rebels and on the SDF, but that's just common sense from Damascus's point of view," Lund said. "These groups are a much bigger political problem, and they represent a bigger potential threat to Assad's rule, even if there's currently little fighting along those frontlines."

The Century fellow believes ISIS remains a "serious nuisance" that will continually prove difficult to eradicate but only has "limited current power" and future potential. Even if the group does manage to pose a "serious menace again," regional and international powers will likely intervene.

"All things considered, I would not expect Damascus to prioritize a terrorist-listed rural insurgency over these other two hostile actors, both of which govern large chunks of territory in a state-like fashion and enjoy significant foreign support," Lund said.

"That doesn't mean the Islamic State is an insignificant problem for Assad, but let's keep things in perspective."