• Following on from "House of the Dragon," there are lots more "Game of Thrones" spinoffs in the works.
• George R. R. Martin revealed that the Princess Nymeria spin-off "Ten Thousand Ships" was still in the works.
• 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.

And 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 that the fantasy author has written, while others would feature characters and locales he has created in brand new stories.

So 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 April 2023 that the tentatively titled "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Night," based on Martin's "Dunk & Egg" stories, was officially moving ahead.

The show — which the author told Entertainment Weekly in 2016 would be the "most natural follow-up" to the much-loved fantasy series — has been given a straight-to-series order. It'll be 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.

It will take place almost a century before the events of "Game of Thrones" and focuses on the future Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, Ser Duncan the Tall, and his diminutive squire, the future King Aegon V Targaryen. In April, Variety reported that the series had cast its leads: Peter Claffey as Ser Duncan ("Dunk"), and Dexter Sol Ansell as Aegon ("Egg"). 

The pair'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."

He added that "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Night" was a working title, and may be changed before the series lands on screens. Martin speculated that the first season of the series will "most likely" consist of six episodes "though that is not set in stone."

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 that 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" season two

"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. So presumably, "House of the Dragon" won't be ending anytime soon.

• Céline Dion spoke with Today's Hoda Kotb about the challenges of living with stiff-person syndrome.
• Before her diagnosis, Dion said she had a sinus infection or other illness when she had to cancel shows.
• But she said that the "burden" of not telling the truth about her condition was "too much."

Céline Dion opened up about the "very difficult" challenges of living with stiff-person syndrome, and said she initially tried to brush off the illness as her body being run down from touring.

Dion spoke in an extensive interview with Today's Hoda Kotb about her condition, and how she's managed it. Dion first announced that she had been diagnosed with stiff-person syndrome in December 2022.

According to NBC News, Dion first started to experience symptoms of the condition 17 years ago.

"I could say that it's like a little cold starting, or just because I pushed too much. It's the third show in a row, you're working too hard," Dion told Kotb. "But the thing is that it was different. I started to feel that the body was like, getting more rigid."

Stiff-person syndrome is a disease that makes a person's muscles involuntarily stiffen and spasm, Business Insider previously reported. It has no cure, but those with the illness can manage it through treatment. Muscle spasms can be triggered by stress or environmental triggers, and can sometimes be strong enough to make bones pop out of their joints. Dion told Kotb that she once had broken ribs as a result of the condition.

Dion said that during a stop in Germany on her 2008 and 2009 "Taking Chances" world tour, she was experiencing symptoms before the show but still went onstage to perform. The symptoms caused her voice to sound more nasal, she said, and she and her team compensated by lowering the key of her songs.

Kotb recounted a moment from Dion's upcoming documentary, "I Am: Celine Dion," in which the singer says that she was forced to tell her audiences that she had a sinus or throat infection when she canceled shows.

As Kotb recounts, Dion says in the documentary that "not telling the truth was too much to carry." Despite her illness, Dion told Kotb she didn't slow down her schedule to rest and seek treatment. But after receiving a diagnosis, she eventually went public.

"Lying for me, was… the burden was like, too much," Dion told Kotb. "Lying to the people who got me where I am today, I could not do it anymore."

In 2022, Dion began to cancel and delay shows. After going public with her diagnosis in December of that year, she canceled her full tour in May 2023. She told Vogue France in April that she was undergoing physical, vocal, and athletic therapy to "live with" the disease.

The singer told Kotb that she is determined to perform again.

"I'm gonna go back on stage, even if I have to crawl, even if I have to talk with my hands, I will," she said. "I am Céline Dion, because today my voice will be heard for the first time, not just because I have to, or because I need to, it's because I want to. And I miss it."

"I Am: Celine Dion" premieres June 25 on Prime Video.

• I tried Gordon Ramsay's 10-minute scampi and angel hair pasta recipe. 
• The dish features shrimp, cherry tomatoes, lemon, and white wine — perfect summer flavors.
• The cooking time was shorter than my skincare routine, but the flavors were complex and delicious. 

Gordon Ramsay may have multiple Michelin stars, but he still loves whipping up simple dishes that require little time in the kitchen. 

And Ramsay's quick pasta recipes haven't let me down yet. His 15-minute Bolognese has become one of my family's favorite dishes, and we also loved his 10-minute turkey and leek pasta — which Ramsay makes for his kids every week. 

So, when I learned he had a 10-minute summer pasta recipe, I knew I had to try it. 

This 10-minute scampi pasta by the "MasterChef" star looks perfect for summer.

Ramsay's shrimp scampi with angel hair pasta is featured in his cookbook "Ramsay in 10," which is full of recipes that can be made in 10 minutes. 

When temperatures spike in the summertime, I never want to stand over a hot stove for too long. So a 10-minute pasta with some refreshing shrimp sounded like the perfect dish. 

Ramsay's 10-minute pasta includes shrimp, cherry tomatoes, and a handful of basil.

To make Ramsay's shrimp scampi with angel hair pasta for two, you'll need: 

• 8 ounces angel hair pasta 
• 5 ½ ounces raw shrimp 
• 2 banana shallots 
• 2 garlic cloves 
• 2 tablespoons small capers 
• 1 lemon (zest and juice) 
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes 
• ¼ cup white wine 
• ¼ cup vegetable or fish stock 
• Large handful of basil leaves 
• Pinch of chili flakes 
• Freshly grated Parmesan cheese for serving 

Ramsay says you can use any very fine pasta for this dish, including vermicelli, tagliolini, or spaghettini. 

I should also note that I couldn't find banana shallots at my local supermarket. Since they're a bit larger than the regular variety, I just added an extra shallot while testing this recipe.

To get started, I brought a pot of water to boil for the pasta.

I made sure to season the water with salt.

I also got my prep out of the way.

As a novice chef, I'm still not very quick when it comes to chopping ingredients. So I opted to prepare everything before I started cooking. 

Per Ramsay's instructions, I halved my cherry tomatoes, zested a lemon, minced my garlic, and peeled and sliced the shallots. 

Don't throw away the rest of your lemon — you'll need its juice later on!

I also tried Ramsay's trick for chopping the basil.

"To chop the basil quickly, gather the small leaves and roll them up in the biggest leaf, like a cigar, then chop with a large knife," Ramsay writes in his cookbook. 

It was time to get cooking, so I placed my nonstick pan over medium heat.

I added one tablespoon of olive oil to the pan and let it heat up.

Then, I added the shallots and garlic.

I threw in the shallots first, seasoning them with salt and pepper. 

After I added the garlic, I seasoned everything with a pinch of chili flakes and let the garlic and shallots cook together for two minutes. 

Once the two minutes were up, I added the cherry tomatoes to the pan.

I let the tomatoes cook for 30 seconds.

Then, I deglazed the pan with white wine.

Ramsay says you should allow the wine to bubble for 30 seconds.

Once those 30 seconds were up, I added the vegetable stock.

I let the vegetable stock reduce in the pan for two minutes.

While the sauce was reducing, I prepped my shrimp.

I peeled the shrimp and seasoned them with salt and pepper.

Then, I added my capers and chopped basil to the sauce.

Per Ramsay's instructions, I removed the pan from the heat.

To cook the shrimp, I placed a second nonstick frying pan over high heat and added a drizzle of olive oil.

Ramsay says the shrimp should cook for about 30 seconds, until they turn golden brown. Keep an eye on the color — it took my shrimp about a minute. 

I also threw my angel hair pasta into the pot of boiling water.

I cooked the pasta until it became al dente, which took about three minutes. 

Once my shrimp had turned golden brown, I removed my second pan from the heat and flipped each shrimp.

This allows the shrimp to finish cooking in the residual heat. 

I drizzled some olive oil and sprinkled lemon zest over the shrimp, then added them to my pan with the sauce.

Ramsay says you should then return the pan to the heat to warm everything up.

Once my pasta was ready, I drained it and returned it to the pan where I had cooked the shrimp.

I added a drizzle of olive oil to the pasta and tossed it to combine. 

Then, I added the pasta back to the pan of sauce.

I topped my finished pasta with Parmesan cheese, a squeeze of lemon juice, and some lemon zest.

The pasta smelled amazing, and I loved the bright pops of color — it looked like the perfect dinner for summer. 

Ramsay's 10-minute pasta tasted delicious, and I couldn't believe it had only taken 10 minutes.

There was a lovely lightness to Ramsay's 10-minute scampi that I always look for in a great summer dish. Even though the overall cooking time was shorter than my nightly skincare routine, the flavors were still complex and interesting. It tasted like an elevated version of Martha Stewart's famous one-pot pasta dish. 

I should note that I found the angel hair was a bit sticky and hard to mix, which means I probably overcooked it a little — so be really careful when you're boiling your thin pasta. And next time, I'll add more chili flakes and tomatoes; they were my favorite part of the dish, and I loved their blistered texture. 

I'll definitely whip up Ramsay's 10-minute scampi again when I need something quick but delicious on a busy summer weeknight. 

• Sam Altman and OpenAI might be the biggest beneficiaries of Apple's WWDC announcements.
• Apple announced an integration with OpenAI that will let iOS 18 users ask ChatGPT questions.
• The partnership makes ChatGPT an option for the billions of prompts that people ask Siri each day.

Forget Tim Cook: OpenAI and Sam Altman might be the biggest winners after Monday's announcements at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference.

While Apple announced Apple Intelligence, its in-house artificial intelligence tool, it also said that Apple users will soon be able to use ChatGPT in Siri through an integration it created with OpenAI. The feature is part of Apple's iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and Sequoia, its computer operating system.

ChatGPT has grabbed the public's attention since its surprise launch in November 2022. And though it's still much smaller than search giant Google, users have been turning to the chatbot to get concise answers to questions instead of having to use the right keywords and sift through search results.

Apple wants its customers "to use these external models without having to jump between different tools," Craig Federighi, Apple's senior vice president, software engineering, said in a presentation during WWDC on Monday. You can currently use ChatGPT on your iPhone, for example, but through its app.

With the integration, Siri will draw on ChatGPT to answer questions beyond Apple Intelligence's capabilities, such as requests for recipes that use certain ingredients, according to Monday's presentation.

Users will have to give permission for Siri to share their prompt with ChatGPT beforehand, one of several nods to privacy that Apple made as it rolled out its AI features at WWDC.

It's a big endorsement for OpenAI and its CEO Altman, especially since Apple was reportedly also considering Google's Gemini earlier this year for the next iPhone release.

It also represents easy access to a massive new user base for ChatGPT. Apple's iOS is installed on about 2.2 billion devices, Wedbush estimated in a note on Monday. And Siri handles 1.5 billion voice requests daily, Kelsey Peterson, Apple's director of machine learning and AI, said at WWDC on Monday.

Apple selected OpenAI because ChatGPT provides "world knowledge" that Apple customers can draw on, Apple CEO Tim Cook told The Washington Post in an interview published Tuesday. He added that OpenAI's refusal to track users' IP addresses was also a factor that led to the partnership.

"We're integrating with other people as well," Cook said, referring to other AI models. "But they're first, and I think today it's because they're best."

Apple and OpenAI haven't revealed the financial details behind the deal. OpenAI said in a statement that "the ChatGPT integration, powered by GPT-4o, will come to iOS, iPadOS, and macOS later this year. Users can access it for free without creating an account, and ChatGPT subscribers can connect their accounts and access paid features right from these experiences."

History shows what Apple can do for the companies it partners with. Google's 2005 agreement with Apple to make its search engine the default on the Safari internet browser, for instance, paid dividends for Google, especially once Apple started selling iPhones that came with Safari a couple of years later.

Today, Google has that pact to thank in part for its dominance of online search. Monday's agreement with OpenAI could be the start of something similar.

• President Joe Biden said he would respect the "outcome" of his son's criminal trial.
• Hunter Biden is the first child of a sitting president to be convicted of a felony.
• Biden's response is starkly different than how Trump responded to his conviction. 

President Joe Biden on Tuesday underlined his belief that can't say the justice system is "rigged" just because you don't like a verdict, offering a starkly different response to a historic trial than former President Donald Trump.

Biden reiterated his respect for the judicial process after a Delaware jury found Hunter Biden guilty of three felony counts of lying on gun purchasing forms and unlawfully owning a firearm.

"I will accept the outcome of this case and will continue to respect the judicial process as Hunter considers an appeal," Biden said in a statement released by the White House.

It's the first time in the nation's history that a sitting president's child has been found guilty of a felony. Based on the case's particulars, Biden's legal team faced a stiff challenge in securing an immediate acquittal. The appeals process could be much more favorable to them.

Biden has also made it clear he won't use his pardon power, one of the few presidential powers that is virtually unquestioned. It is expected that Trump would use his sway over the Justice Department to scuttle the other pending federal prosecutions against him.

In contrast to Biden, Trump lashed out repeatedly before, during, and after his Manhattan criminal trial that resulted in him becoming the first former president to be found guilty of a felony. The former president repeatedly put forward a theory, without evidence, that Biden and the Justice Department were involved in the local case brought against him.

"This was a disgrace. This was a rigged trial by a conflicted judge who was corrupt," Trump told reporters in the Manhattan courtroom hallway after a jury found him guilty on all 34 counts.

After the Trump verdict, Biden said Americans can't say they respect the rule of law only when they agree with a jury's verdict.

"[I']t's reckless, it's dangerous, and it's irresponsible for anyone to say this was rigged just because they don't like the verdict," Biden said. "Our justice system has endured for nearly 250 years, and it literally is the cornerstone of America — our justice system. The justice system should be respected, and we should never allow anyone to tear it down.  It's as simple as that."

Trump and Biden's responses are not the only difference.

Biden's family, led by first lady Jill Biden, surrounded Hunter Biden almost every day the trial was held. In comparison, first lady Melania Trump never appeared in the Manhattan courtroom, despite the swarm of Republican lawmakers and vice presidential hopefuls who showed up to support Trump. Some of Trump's adult children did attend the trial

Trump and Republicans will have to tread carefully going forward.

Trump and Republicans have spent years assailing Hunter Biden. The president's son is central to House Republicans' ongoing impeachment inquiry into President Biden. Despite years of probes, Republicans have yet to produce direct evidence that Biden participated in an alleged influence peddling scheme when he was vice president.

But many Americans have sympathy for Hunter Biden's struggle with his drug addiction. Trump himself experienced this when he went after Biden's son directly during a 2020 presidential debate.

"My son, my son, my son — like a lot people, like a lot of people you know at home — had a drug problem," Biden said in response to Trump needling him about Hunter. "He's overtaken it, he's fixed it, he's worked on it. And I'm proud of him. I'm proud of my son."

Biden's defense of his son was one of the standout moments of the debate.

Ahead of his rematch with Trump, Biden will juggle his defense of Hunter with his normal campaign duties. Just hours after the verdict, Biden was set to give a previously scheduled address that will call for stricter gun laws. Hunter Biden's sentencing is expected to happen in mid-October. He technically faces up to 25 years in prison, but legal experts don't expect him to face time behind bars as a first-time offender. Hunter Biden faces separate federal tax charges in September.

• I spent a night at the JW Marriott in Panama City's richest neighborhood.
• The five-star hotel is in a building formerly known as the Trump Ocean Club.
• Amenities include infinity pools, a spa, a gym, restaurants, and spacious rooms. 

Moises Muñoz, the international sales manager at the JW Marriott Panama, put it perfectly when he said I wouldn't need to leave once I arrived at the five-star hotel.

The JW Marriott Panama is located in The Ocean Club building in the heart of Punta Pacifica, Panama City's richest neighborhood. Between the building's attached businesses and the hotel's amenities, I had everything I needed.

I could access infinity pools, a spa, a gym, and a handful of restaurants without leaving the Marriott property.

Without stepping outside the 70-story building — where the hotel is located — I had even more dining options, salons ready to cut hair, manicurists waiting for clients, cigar shops, and a casino taking up the top two floors of the high rise.

After one night, it was clear that the JW Marriott Panama was unlike any hotel I've visited. Take a look.

The 70-story building is located in Panama's rich Punta Pacifica neighborhood.

When it comes to Panama City and luxury, it's hard not to mention Punta Pacifica.

The neighborhood is home to popular restaurants and luxury condominiums. Duncan McGowan, the president of Punta Pacifica Realty, told Business Insider that Punta Pacifica has the most expensive real estate across Panama City.

A quick search shows single-bedroom apartments costing $200,000 and luxury penthouses for $5 million.

From the skyline, the building is hard to miss.

Punta Pacifica sits on the coast of the Pacific Ocean, and just a few decades ago, the neighborhood's skyline didn't exist.

Originally, the area was marshland, but in the early 2000s, it was developed into the neighborhood it is today.

More than a dozen high-rises line the coast, but one building with its oval-shaped walls stands out: The Ocean Club.

Inside is the JW Marriott Panama, the neighborhood's only five-star hotel.

I told locals I was staying at the JW Marriott, but to them, the building is better known as the Trump Ocean Club.

Before the building was called The Ocean Club, it was the Trump Ocean Club International Hotel and Tower.

As Punta Pacifica was being built in the early 2000s, a developer named Roger Khafif took on the task of building the 70-story high-rise.

To up the building's credibility and notoriety, it licensed the Trump name, the Associated Press reported.

The building made headlines, but not for something positive. Instead, an NBC and Reuters investigation found that many of the property's brokers, customers, and investors were tied to drug trafficking and international crime.

In 2018, Marriott International took over management and renamed it The Ocean Club, the AP reported.

But even with the rebrand, the original name seemed to stick. Everyone I spoke with during my Panama trip knew it as the Trump building or Trump tower.

On my second night in Panama City, I headed to Punta Pacifica for a night at the JW Marriott.

I made it to the entrance of the building, where valet drivers were waiting to whisk away cars, and impressive statues filled a lobby.

While the building is 70 stories, 24 make up the Marriott. The rest are businesses, condominiums, and a casino.

McGowan said that TOC is one of the country's largest mixed-use buildings. The first floor is home to two hallways of businesses. The majority of the floors are condominiums and apartments. Twenty-four floors are the Marriott, and the top two levels house a casino.

I arrived at the building and headed to Marriott's lobby on floor 12.

The hotel lobby is on the 12th floor, where guests can check-in.

There, I was handed a key to my executive suite.

The JW Marriott is home to 320 hotel rooms and suites. For my one-night stay, I was in an executive suite.

According to TripAdvisor, standard rooms typically cost between $193 and $290 for a night. BI received a media rate for the room.

I was taken aback by the suite's size as I stepped inside.

I rarely find hotel rooms this large in major cities.

The open-concept room had an area with a stunning bathroom.

The suite was open concept, with spaces naturally flowing into the next.

A partial wall with a vanity and two sinks separated the bathroom from the rest of the suite.

A tub faced Panama's horizon and sunset.

A bathtub big enough for two was perfectly positioned to look out to Panama's skyline.

The bathroom also had a closed-off area with a toilet and another glass room for the rainfall shower.

Adjacent to the bathroom was a living area with a loveseat and desk.

Here, there was plenty of space to unpack my suitcase, spend an evening writing at the desk, and relax on the loveseat.

Nearby was a table, minibar, and balcony.

While the table was small, it had ocean views, and the minibar was stocked with drinks and snacks.

The balcony offered a bird's-eye view of the neighborhood.

Floors below, there was a bright blue pool, playground, and car garage. Across from me were a handful of condominiums, and I had a partial view of the nearby ocean.

Back inside was a king-sized bed.

The final area of the suite was the bedroom area. A bed faced a television, and two nightstands bookmarked the bed.

I was settling in during golden hour, which meant the entire room was lit in warm sunlight.

The room feels modern with its marble flooring, white interiors, and abstract art. Thanks to an entire wall of windows, the golden sunset warmed up the space.

After dropping off my bags, I joined Muñoz for a property tour. We started by exploring the businesses in the downstairs area of the building.

Muñoz said to fully understand the hotel's appeal, you have to start at the bottom of the building.

Here, two long hallways are filled with businesses of all types. Walking around, I spotted real-estate offices, salons, restaurants, convenience stores, and cigar shops.

Then, we headed back upstairs to the Marriott. Here, a bar is the first thing that greets guests.

Between the first floor and the hotel are condominiums and apartments.

The first thing guests see when they arrive is the hotel bar.

Also on this floor are the hotel's lobby and a speakeasy.

Bold red curtains lead to Cava 15, a speakeasy at the JW Marriott Panama. Muñoz said the bar was designed in conjunction with Louis Vuitton.

I could see the parallels. The room was full of leather and brass embellishments.

A floor away was the hotel's spa and gym, accessed by the entire building.

I typically picture a treadmill or two and a stationary bike when I think of hotel gyms. If I'm lucky, there might also be a weight rack and room for stretching.

But at the JW Marriott, the gym was bigger than the one I go to back in Denver. The only caveat, Muñoz said, is that the building's permanent residents also have access to the space.

From what I could see, that wasn't an issue — the gym had only a few people exercising when I stopped by.

Also on the floor was a spa where guests and residents could book treatments and massages.

The hotel is also home to a few restaurants, including one serving Panamanian cuisine.

The hotel has two restaurants. The first, Masi, is located on the 14th floor. It has an incredible outdoor terrace filled with plants and greenery, and chefs serve Latin American and Panamanian dishes.

A floor below is a poolside restaurant called Azul.

On the 13th floor, guests can take a dip in one of the hotel's two infinity pools.

Muñoz said a visit to the JW Marriott wouldn't be complete without a swim in the hotel's pools.

As soon as the pools came into view, I understood why. The infinity pools seamlessly blended with the Pacific Ocean, and one of them offered stunning views of the city's skyline.

The floor was also home to two smaller pools.

Near the pools, Marriott's elite members can accessive an executive lounge.

Platinum Elite, Titanium Elite, and Ambassador Elite Marriott Bonvoy Members can also visit the hotel's executive lounge, which serves coffee, sodas, and appetizers each evening.

After our tour, I headed back to the infinity pool to catch the last few minutes of the sunset.

The infinity pool was easily one of the most stunning pools I've seen. Before the sun sank beneath the horizon, I hopped in.

It was an ideal lap pool, plus a submerged level had lounge chairs suitable for relaxing and soaking in the pool's warm waters.

Then, I spent the rest of my evening dining at Masi.

Good food is one of the main reasons I love to travel, so when I learned the hotel had a restaurant serving Panamanian food, I took Muñoz's advice and decided not to leave the property for dinner.

At Masi, I dined on three types of ceviche — some of the freshest ceviche I had during my trip. I also enjoyed a pumpkin dish and a mezcal cocktail.

By the time the meal was over, I was stuffed and relieved I had only an elevator ride to my hotel room.

Finally, it was time to sleep. I hopped into the large king-sized bed, and before I knew it, the morning sun was creeping through the room's curtains.

Full of fresh seafood and smelling of chlorine, I hopped in the hotel's bed and quickly drifted off to sleep.

After packing my bags and checking out, I said goodbye to the Marriott and one of the prettiest pools I've swam in.

The infinity pools and ceviche were the highlights of my short stay at the JW Marriott. But even after one night, I understood how the hotel and neighborhood got its reputation for luxury.

• I've been going to Disney World for 30 years, so I know that summers in Orlando can be brutal. 
• I've learned to bring a small handheld fan into the parks to beat the heat.
• I also love to hit the water parks late in the afternoon instead of in the morning.

Disney World is one of the most-visited theme parks in the world, and during the summer, the crowds and heat can both be high.

I love going to the parks to ride my favorite attractions and eat at some of the best restaurants, but the harsh Florida heat can greatly impact a trip.

After visiting Disney World for more than 30 years, I've learned how to survive the dog days of summer. Here are my top tips.

I like to visit the water parks in the afternoon.

One of my favorite things to do at Disney World is visit one of the two water parks, which alternate being open throughout the year. This summer, Typhoon Lagoon is open.

As the days get longer in June and July, there are certain nights when the water park is open until 8 p.m.

I love getting to the park around 5 p.m. when most people are packing up and the heat of the day is starting to cool down. It's a great time to hit some big water slides and the lazy river for a few hours.

Additionally, Typhoon Lagoon hosts H2O Glow After Hours, a separately ticketed event during which the park is open until 11 p.m. on select summer nights.

This is a great way to spend time in the park without the blazing sun making the water feel too hot.

A small handheld fan is a lifesaver while walking through the parks.

Summer temperatures in Florida can reach over 100 degrees, and that's not even factoring in the high humidity.

One of my theme-park essentials is a handheld, rechargeable fan. I like ones that can fold to fit into a small fanny pack or purse, but neck fans are also popular around the parks.

I whip out the fan whenever I start feeling too hot. But I'll also use it in air-conditioned queues since the fan can direct the cold air right to my face.

Skip afternoons at the park and go in the evening to watch the fireworks.

Afternoons are going to be the hottest time at the theme parks. After doing a few things in the morning, I like to head back to my hotel for a few hours before returning to the parks in the evening.

Once the sun starts to go down, the air feels slightly cooler, which makes theme-park activities much more enjoyable.

My general rule of thumb is to get to the park by 5 p.m. to maximize my evening time. I usually hit a few rides and watch any nighttime shows, like Happily Ever After at Magic Kingdom

Finding longer shows or rides is a great way to cool down.

If you plan on being at the parks in the morning or afternoon, I suggest prioritizing longer shows and indoor rides. Sitting for a while can be extremely satisfying on a hot day.

Some of my favorites are Haunted Mansion at Magic Kingdom, "Festival of the Lion King" at Animal Kingdom, and The American Adventure at Epcot.

I like to alternate between one indoor attraction or show and one outdoor activity to avoid getting too hot.

Look for water rides and splash pads.

If you need an instant refresh, water rides are a great option. You may get wet, but the instant cool-off is worth a few wet splotches on a T-shirt. Plus, you'll inevitably dry quickly in the sun.

A few of my favorite water attractions are Kali River Rapids at Animal Kingdom and Journey of Water at Epcot.

There are also some children's splash pads around the parks, like the Casey Jr. Splash 'N' Soak Station at Magic Kingdom.

If you're staying all day, consider making a table-service dining reservation.

I don't recommend staying in the parks all day in the summer, but if you must, consider making a sit-down reservation for lunch.

If you aim for any time between 1 and 2:30 p.m., you should get the opportunity to relax, cool off, and take a break from the crowds while avoiding the big lunch rush.

I've had an easy time grabbing last-minute reservations at places like The Plaza in Magic Kingdom, Via Napoli in Epcot, and Yak & Yeti in Animal Kingdom.

Avoid driving to the parks, if you can.

It may be tempting to drive to the theme park for the day, but if you're staying at a Disney hotel, I think the complimentary transportation is a better option.

The parking lots can be exceptionally hot when the heat starts radiating off the tarmac, and you're car will likely be scorching by the end of the day.

Instead, I prefer to hop on one of the Disney buses, the monorail, or a boat.

• CEO Tim Cook revealed its AI plan, "Apple Intelligence," to kick off WWDC 2024.
• The announcements were impressive, but may not be enough to attract new Apple customers.
• Some of the new features coming to iPhones were already offered on Androids.

Apple made waves in the tech industry on Monday when it unveiled its new artificial intelligence system, Apple Intelligence.

Although the Worldwide Developer Conference keynote revealed some features that have been long-awaited — like AI — and others that came as a surprise, it doesn't mean Apple Intelligence is enough to attract new customers.

In fact, if analysts' predictions are accurate, no one should expect astronomical results from this announcement in 2024.

One of the main reasons is that Apple Intelligence — and the rest of the updates the company announced — will only be available in its next software updates, iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and Sequoia, its operating system for computers. And if you want to use Apple Intelligence on your iPhone, you'll have to have an iPhone 15 Pro or later model.

So, while some see this as an opportunity to supercharge iPhone growth, and while dedicated Apple fans might be especially motivated to upgrade to the newest models if they want the full capabilities of AI, an Android user might not feel the same spark that would make them enter the Apple ecosystem.

Monday's announcements were impressive enough to "stanch some of the device revenue that's been hemorrhaging lately, but there isn't enough to create a new band of followers," Dipanjan Chatterjee, vice president and principal analyst at Forrester, said.

New features in iOS 18, like email summarization and a more customizable home screen, are already offered by Apple's competitors. Meanwhile, existing Apple owners may already be using established chatbots like OpenAI's ChatGPT as apps on their devices. And many of the more advanced AI features will only be available in American English at first, which doesn't bode well for foreign markets, Bloomberg reported.

Apple Intelligence is a multi-year strategy that will likely take time to pay off fully — but the company is "taking the right path," according to a note from Wedbush Securities analysts.

Still, while the note said, "Apple's AI strategy will leverage its golden installed base" of a massive 2.2 billion iOS devices, there's still no clarity on whether anyone will actually ditch their Samsung for an iPhone.

New customers might not be a big deal to all investors, however. Morningstar tech analyst William Kerwin told Business Insider that it's "more about incentivizing existing customers to spend more and upgrade into the new phones" than bringing in new buyers.

"And we think these announcements are enough to drive that. But we don't think it will be seismic, hence our 2-star rating," Kerwin added.

• Plant-based diets have been linked to lower blood pressure and slower aging. 
• But the plant-based ultra-processed food category is growing. 
• Plant-based UPFs increased the risk of heart disease, while whole foods lowered it, in a new study.

Eating a plant-based diet is associated with a lower risk of heart problems and a longer life.

But plant-based foods that are ultra-processed, like vegan nuggets or potato chips, can increase the risk of cardiovascular disease and early death, according to a new study.

There is a simple swap, however, that could boost your health.

People who switch out plant-based processed foods with whole foods, such as fruits and vegetables, have been found to have lower blood pressure and a reduced risk of diabetes. They may also age slower.

In recent years, highly-processed plant-based meat alternatives have become popular. In 2023, the plant-based market was worth $8.1 billion, according to the Good Food Institute.

Ultra-processed foods (UFPs) make up around 73% of the US food supply, according to a 2024 research paper by Northeastern University's Network Science Institute, which hasn't been peer-reviewed. Eating a diet high in UPFs has been linked to health conditions, including cancer, type 2 diabetes, and obesity.

To understand the impact that eating plant-based products and UPFs had on cardiovascular risk, researchers analyzed data from a UK Biobank longitudinal study.

They looked at data from more than 118,000 people between the ages of 40 and 69 who answered questions about their diet. This information was later linked to hospital and mortality records to monitor cardiovascular risk factors.

The study, published Monday in The Lancet Regional Health Europe, found that plant-based UPF consumption was associated with a 5% increased risk of cardiovascular disease and a 12% higher risk of early death.

However, replacing plant-based UPFs with non-UPF plant-based foods was associated with a 7% lower risk of cardiovascular disease and 15% lower risk of dying from cardiovascular disease, the study said.

In light of their findings, the authors recommended that dietary guidelines should emphasize not only limiting meat and animal products, but also the need to avoid UPFs in general.

"A higher intake of plant-sourced foods may only bring about better cardiovascular health outcomes when largely based on minimally processed foods while a higher intake of plant-sourced UPF may have detrimental effects on health," the study said.

Baked goods, snacks, and soda made up the majority of plant-based UPFs

Although meat alternatives were included, processed baked goods were the main foods considered plant-based UPFs, Duane Mellor, dietitian and spokesperson for the British Dietetic Association and Honorary Academic Fellow at Aston University, said.

These included packaged bread, pastries, cake, cookies, potato chips, and sugar-sweetened beverages,

Fake meat made up 0.5% of all ultra-processed foods consumed by participants in the study.

"It is important to emphasize that just because a food or drink is technically plant-based, it does not mean it is healthy," he said.

Tom Sanders, Professor emeritus of Nutrition and Dietetics, King's College London, said: "As a nutritionist, I find the term "plant-based ultra-processed food" confusing and not helpful in formulating dietary advice to the public." Cake, soda, and cookies are unhealthy whether they're made industrially or at home, he added.

• I grew up in the UK and had never been to the US before I visited LA when I was 26.
• Even when I consumed American content, like "Sex and the City," I was shocked by the differences.
• The weather is amazing nearly every day, and people are seemingly more positive. 

There is so much more space in LA.

One of the first things I noticed when driving to the city from the airport was how it feels like LA has way more space than London. I was especially surprised since London technically has more square miles than LA. 

I felt like I could actually take up space in LA, which is the opposite of cramming myself into the tiniest possible corner of the Central line — London's underground rail — for a morning commute.

In the UK, it can be hard to forget that you're living on a small island with millions of people. Here, I could see beaches and skies and roads for miles. 

Plus, almost every house I passed here seemed to have its own garden and tons of space inside. Someone in LA told me they never even realized expensive homes sometimes share walls with neighbors, which blew my mind.

The portions of food are bigger, too.

The cars are larger here, and the portions of food are truly expansive.

I was blown away by the big plates and meals I was served throughout my trip. 

LA lacks good public transportation.

Aside from a few metro lines and buses, there's not much public transport in LA.

This clearly isn't the case for all of the US, but the car is king here in a way it isn't at home.

Although this brings its own problems of pollution and snarled roads, it's pretty nice to commute to work without smelling a stranger's armpit.

There's seemingly a more relaxed pace of life.

This sense of space and privacy perhaps explains why people seem more laid-back here than they are in the UK.

Last-minute plans are no big deal in LA, but in London, I feel like I have to ask to see my friends weeks in advance, like buying a theater ticket. 

The people seem happier.

Seemingly people in LA don't cynically complain all of the time, which is weird to me.

As a Brit, it seems insincere when the person taking your lunch order smiles and wishes you a nice day. I'm sure that sometimes it is, but they often really do seem to mean it.

This positive reinforcement to my day was genuinely pleasant.

People seem more open to having conversations with strangers.

Strangers and acquaintances are more open to chatting, so it's easier to make new friends and connections.

This is a nice change from London, where strangers look at you as if you've grown a second head when you randomly greet them.

The weather really is as great as people say.

In London, I'd often wake up to gray and gloomy clouds, go to lunch while it's drizzling, and stare at the dark sky by 4 p.m. My soul would feel like it's dying.

That experience is practically nonexistent in LA, and the good weather makes everything less of a struggle.

But in the off chance of rain, plans are canceled, traffic grows monstrous, and news anchors report on a mild amount of precipitation like it's a tornado. 

The days seem to start earlier in LA.

The energy of the city skews toward the first half of the day, with most of the latest bars closing at a very polite 2 a.m.

But if you want to grab breakfast at 6 a.m., there are plenty of spots open.

Activities and amenities are geared toward convenience.

In London, many shops close early, but in this part of the US, grocery stores are often open all day and offer two-hour delivery.

And, if you don't have time to wait for a prescription, you can go to a drive-thru pharmacy.

It's usually easy to customize your order at restaurants.

I've found that if I ever want my meal with extra sauce or without a certain ingredient, most servers will not bat an eye, even at the fanciest restaurants.

You'll be accommodated if you're cutting out alcohol, trying a gluten-free diet, or following Whole30.

In London, this request will often earn you a dirty look and mutterings from the staff.

The food scene is pretty diverse and interesting.

At restaurants, the produce is impressive, with some unique fruits and vegetables.

Try jicama, which looks like a potato but is eaten raw as a crispy, refreshing snack and tastes like something between an apple and a water chestnut.

Also, there are all kinds of snack foods to grab that I haven't seen back in London. You haven't lived until you've tried Flamin' Hot Cheetos. 

Tipping is a common practice in the US.

Be prepared to ask what the accepted tipping rate is.

While out at a bar, I genuinely forgot about the custom and signed my bill without adding a tip. The bartender rightly pushed the receipt back toward me with a raised eyebrow. 

Weed is seemingly much more common.

People appear to generally drink less in LA than they do in Britain, but more seemingly smoke weed or take CBD oil. After all, cannabis is legal in California but not in the UK. 

Here, I also quickly learned the difference between indica and sativa. And an 80-year-old gave me a great recommendation for a cannabis ointment to help sore muscles.

Overall, I loved how different it all felt.

The TV shows and songs I loved growing up featured American accents, and after a lifetime of consuming all of that content, I naively thought I wouldn't feel such a culture shock. 

As expected, there were palm trees everywhere, but I was still surprised by how much different LA felt compared to the UK. Even though both places primarily speak English, Los Angeles seemed foreign to me. 

From the warm night air to the amazing neon signs everywhere, it was beautifully obvious that I was in a very different part of the world — and I loved it.

This story was originally published on January 30, 2020, and most recently updated on June 11, 2024.