• South by Southwest will cut US Army and arms manufacturer sponsors for its 2025 festival.
• The decision follows over 80 artists pulling out in opposition to Army sponsorship this year.
• Artists cited anti-war sentiment as a reason for withdrawal.

South by Southwest plans to cut US Army and weapon manufacturer sponsors for its 2025 festival after dozens of artists pulled out this year.

"After careful consideration, we are revising our sponsorship model," the organization said in a statement on its website. "As a result, the US Army, and companies who engage in weapons manufacturing, will not be sponsors of SXSW 2025."

South by Southwest did not disclose its reasoning for the removal of these sponsors, but events at this year's festival were likely drivers.

Over 80 artists and speakers dropped out in opposition to SXSW's Army sponsorship of the nine-day festival earlier this year.

Artists who withdrew from the festival shared statements expressing anti-war sentiment and mentioned the United States' contribution to Palestinian casualties in Gaza as a result of providing weapons to Israel.

Some artists also decided to put on local, unofficial performances in Austin, Texas instead of performing at the festival.

Although SXSW acknowledged the artists who backed out, the organization moved forward with the Army sponsorship this year and said in March that its decision to work with the Army was made as a "commitment to bring forward ideas that shape our world."

Army spokesperson, Ellen Lovett, said the Army's involvement in the festival was an opportunity to "meet technology innovators and leaders, explore new ideas and insights, and create dynamic industry partnerships as we modernize for the future."

In addition to the Army, major weapons manufacturers such as BAE Systems, Collins Aerospace, and the RTX Corporation participated in the festival this year.

• Putin and Kim deepened their arms deal and defense partnership at a summit last week.
• North Korea could demand a range of capabilities in exchange for sending Russia weapons for its war.
• Nuclear and missile technologies are at the top of the list, but Kim may also want fighter jets and satellite tech.

North Korea fueled Russia's war in Ukraine when it needed it most with substantial shipments of ammunition, but North Korean leader Kim Jong Un isn't doing this out of the kindness of his heart.

What Moscow is offering Pyongyang in exchange is a mystery, but Korea experts say that some of the possibilities are deeply concerning.

Since September 2022, when the US first accused North Korea of providing ammunition to Russia to address shortages, there has been widespread speculation on how Kim is being repaid for this partnership.

When Putin and Kim met last fall for a summit that resulted in Russia getting the ammo it needed to replenish strained stockpiles at a critical moment, there were questions about what North Korea wants out of this. Those have resurfaced with Putin and Kim's historic meeting in Pyongyang last week, which saw the leaders reaffirm their strategic alignment and sign a major defense pact.

"I think this is the biggest threat emanating from the Korean Peninsula since the Korean War," Victor Cha, the senior vice president for Asia and the Korea chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said.

He added that the "widespread ripple effects" will not only be felt by the Ukrainians on the battlefield but also throughout East Asia and by the US due to potential for North Korea to receive technologies to improve its nuclear program, missiles, submarines, and more.

Putin and Kim's deepening partnership comes as Russian forces are on the offensive in Ukraine, Russian glide-bomb attacks are causing significant destruction, and Ukraine is facing frustrating limitations on how it can use long-range fires to strike targets in Russian territory.

Support from North Korea — in the form of weapons and ammunition — helps Russia keep up the pressure. Suspected 152mm shells, 122mm rockets, and KN-23 ballistic missiles have fueled Russia's war effort.

Western and South Korean estimates on just how much ammo North Korea has sent vary, but the total is believed to be in the millions.

Putin's reliance puts Kim in a place where he can drive a hard bargain to get what he really wants. According to Cha, Kim's red carpet treatment of Putin last week, as well as the mutual defense pact they signed, indicates much more is likely at work here.

Nuclear-powered submarines

One of the biggest asks from Kim could be technology for nuclear-powered submarines, which North Korea is trying to build. Its submarines, including one launched last fall that looked heavily modified to carry more missiles, are conventionally powered, meaning they need to resurface to refuel. That makes them easy to spot and track.

North Korea currently maintains one of the world's largest fleets, with estimates ranging from 64 to 86 total subs. That includes mostly coastal, conventional, and mini-subs, but in January 2021, Kim announced plans to develop nuclear-powered subs, noting that design research had already been completed.

Nuclear-powered subs would give North Korea a major capability upgrade. The vessels would potentially be quieter, faster, more survivable in a conflict, and harder to locate, allowing North Korea to travel farther, potentially closer to the US or its allies, and launch missiles without detection.

It's unclear what specific aspects North Korea needs to build the vessels, but Kim could ask Putin for acoustic technologies to keep the subs quiet or help with any kinks in the nuclear propulsion process. Kim could also request financial assistance to build the subs, as some indicators suggest that North Korea may be unable to sufficiently fund the development of a fleet of nuclear-powered subs.

Kim may want to learn from Russia's experience with the vessels, which could help him avoid trials and errors in the building process. Russia is one of only a handful of countries that operate nuclear-powered subs, and it's fleet is quite capable.

Nuclear weapons

Another point of concern is that North Korea could get technology it wants for its nuclear weapons program and intercontinental ballistic missiles.

On Monday, US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said discussions about what North Korea gets from Russia likely involve "nuclear or long-range missile-development plans, perhaps other things in energy and the like."

Over the past decade, North Korea has domestically produced a missile force, from short- and intermediate-range weapons to ICBMs and submarine-launched missiles. Most recently, it has shown off its development of what it says are hypersonic missiles.

The North is working to field a force of missiles that could overwhelm adversary defenses. Help with this process, as well as assistance developing countermeasures to defeat enemy missile defenses, could be a priority.

Satellite technology

Advanced satellite technologies would go hand-and-hand with North Korean ambitions. In September 2023, Putin actually promised Russia would help North Korea build satellites; Kim has repeatedly tried and often failed to launch satellites into space, with the most recent May 2024 test failing when the rocket exploded during the first stage of flight.

With a satellite network, North Korea could rapidly identify targets to strike with its missiles. That would bolster its capabilities for a preemptive strike against the US or its allies, giving them only a few minutes to respond before airfields, ports, and command and control facilities on and around the Korean Peninsula are struck.

Fighter jets, manufacturing, and more

There have also been suggestions that what North Korea might want from Russia includes fighter aircraft, which Cha said were not entirely concerning given the robust capabilities of South Korea's Air Force, as well as US airpower in the region.

North Korea's ammo production capabilities, too, could see improvements thanks to Russian involvement. Much of the country's stockpiles date back decades, and US and South Korean officials have raised doubts about the effectiveness of these weapons.

If Russia were to collaborate with North Korea on ammo production, or at the very least give it better capabilities, then North Korea could find itself with larger, more effective stockpiles for a potential conflict on the peninsula.

But how this plays out is not all about what North Korea wants. There's also the question of what Putin is willing to provide. Further support could depend on how the war in Ukraine goes or whether South Korea decides to directly provide lethal aid to Ukraine, as opposed to its current policy of sending it via the US.

During CSIS' The Impossible State panel discussion on Monday, Scott Snyder, the president and chief executive officer of the Korea Economic Institute of America, said that the dynamic between Moscow and Seoul could determine what Putin decides to give North Korea.

After South Korea threatened to provide lethal aid to Ukraine directly in light of last week's summit, Putin suggested the possibility of giving North Korea the military capabilities it wants. Cha said that "in a sense, he's got leverage that he didn't have before."

• Lyft CEO David Risher regularly posts on LinkedIn about the opportunity to earn money on the app.
• But one Pennsylvania-based Lyft driver BI spoke with pushed back on Risher's claims.
• Ridershare drivers contend with challenges including falling pay and covering their own expenses.

Lyft CEO David Risher regularly talks about his own positive experiences driving for the rideshare service.

Take one of Risher's latest LinkedIn posts, which details driving Lyft riders around Napa Valley on a Sunday in early summer. The CEO says he made about $28 an hour, including tips, from three rides in a 90-minute period. The $28 did not include his expenses, such as gas.

"Obviously I drive to learn, not to earn, and your mileage may vary," he wrote. "But I came away with even more appreciation for the driving experience."

But one Pennsylvania-based Lyft driver told Business Insider that the reality is far different than what Risher describes. The driver asked not to be identified by name in this article, citing fear of having his account deactivated by Lyft. BI has verified his work for Lyft and other details.

During one recent week driving in Pennsylvania, the driver told BI that he completed eight rides over about three hours and drove 85 miles. After accounting for his expenses, he estimates that he earned a total of $35 in pre-tax profit for his work.

"They're not even paying us minimum wage after those expenses are taken off of that," the driver said. "But they're portraying out there that we're making $20 or $30 an hour, and that is not true."

"It's misrepresentation," the driver said about Risher's latest post.

Lyft drivers — and many other gig workers, such as those who deliver for services like DoorDash and Instacart — aren't compensated in most places for the time spent driving to a location to pick someone up. Nor are they paid for time spent waiting for the app to serve them a ride offer.

Unless you have the good luck that Risher did in Napa lining up nearly back-to-back-to-back rides, that unpaid time can eat deep into the money drivers earn while completing a job, the Lyft driver told BI.

In some smaller Pennsylvania cities, for example, "the traffic is so congested that you pick somebody up for a $3 ride, and it'll take you 20 minutes to get there."

"You subtract your mileage, and you're in the hole," he added.

Lyft did not respond to a request for comment from BI.

Gig workers across the board have faced lower pay for their work in recent years thanks to a greater number of contractors competing for orders.

Uber and Lyft workers say they're regularly offered rides that pay $3 or less each.

This month, the Pennsylvania driver said a new challenge hit his earning potential: A Lyft support representative told him via chat that he was suddenly unable to accept rides in the county next to where he usually works. The driver shared screenshots of the chat with BI.

So far, that's led to fewer ride offers and less income, the driver said. Previously, he worked across county lines in Pennsylvania to take the most lucrative rides.

"I have to work 12 hours now to make what I used to make in eight hours," he told BI.

Do you work for Lyft, Uber, DoorDash, or another gig rideshare or delivery service and have a story idea to share? Reach out to this reporter at abitter@businessinsider.com.

• When I was younger, I was competitive and ran marathons. I also cycled and enjoyed rock climbing.
• As I've gotten older, I've let go of the need to prove myself. 
• Now, I focus on getting movement in different ways, including paddleboarding and yoga. 

In 1987, I ran the Big Sur Marathon, whose inspired pitch, "Run Along the Edge of the Western World," was irresistible. It was my personal best of the three marathons I had run at the time, clocking in at 3:56.

Running races was typical for me in my 30s when I was highly competitive, achievement-oriented, and needed to prove myself.

I focused on running, cycling, and rock climbing when I was younger

My husband Barry and I also bicycle-toured for years in Europe. I remember how fun it was one year in the Pyrenees, cycling in and out of France and Spain, climbing up to one pass, enjoying the breathtaking views, then zipping down to a charming village. The only trouble was that after our glorious descent, we'd face yet another hill to climb. We cycled uphill and down for two weeks straight. I'm glad that era is over!

Same with climbing Mt. Shasta in northern California, where, as I trudged up the intimidatingly steep icy slope in ill-fitting borrowed crampons, I seriously wondered if I might fall off the face of the earth. "I think I'll pass on Everest," I said to the other hikers when I reached the summit. Their laughter was the best part of the whole climb.

And I'll never forget the women's rock climbing class taught by a lithe, silver-haired woman named Annie. We were climbing a rock face above McCabe's Beach in Marin County. About halfway up the rock, I glanced behind and noticed we were the only clothed humans in sight. A bunch of nude men were playing volleyball and waving at us. Later, we realized it was not only a nude beach, but a gay hangout, because we couldn't see any other women besides ourselves.

Now I have a very different approach to fitness

During my 60s and 70s, I developed a radically different set of priorities. First, I do whatever I can to avoid falling. Three broken joints are more than enough. The first is a seriously compromised ankle from an excruciating landing while skydiving near Mt. Rainier 40 years ago. After my surgery, the orthopedist told me, "I put together everything I could recognize."

Thirty years later, another surgeon said that based on my X-rays, he assumed I'd be on crutches, but because I was so active, my ankle was pretty healthy, despite virtually no cartilage. "But no more running!" he added.

The other two falls were less traumatic. I fractured my pinky when I fell while running down a trail and my wrist when my Teva sandal got caught in a sidewalk crack.

Despite my active lifestyle, I have osteopenia, so I do strengthening yoga, weight-bearing exercises, and the Alexander technique, a mind-body modality that promotes good posture.

I still do hard things

The fact that I'm no longer competitive doesn't mean I'm just lying around. I subscribe to the message of a popular book titled "Do Hard Things." If I'm cycling up a hill, I tell myself, "Don't give up til your legs do!" Or if I feel like heading home while on my stand-up paddleboard, I'll say, "Come on, girl! You're not done yet!"

I spend more time in the water

I used to do most of my movement on land. But in recent years, I switched from running to open-water swimming, which morphed into paddleboarding, now one of my favorite fitness activities. It feels more like a spiritual practice than a form of conditioning, though.

I wander around Humboldt Bay, two blocks from our apartment in Eureka, California, and greet the seals (who look skeptically at this strange vertical being), admire herons, and, during high tide, paddle through an otherworldly slough with tiny crisscrossing waterways. Water is the ideal place to be when "the world is too much with us," as Wordsworth said.

Above all, I keep moving

If I had any advice to offer, it's this: do whatever it takes to keep moving. For myself, I increasingly want to be active outside, preferably in places of natural beauty. One exception is wandering for hours (alright, an hour!) along the over 3,000 windy, souk-like alleys in Guanajuato, the Mexican city where Barry and I live part time. I love these streets so much that I take people on tours.

Like the centenarians whose lifestyle I emulate, I avoid "exercise," which is a modern concept: artificial, timed, and structured. Instead I do what the body longs to do, which is navigate my environment on foot. Heading to the library, the bank, or yoga class, I stride along, singing childhood songs like "I Am A Poor Wayfaring Stranger" and "I Love to Go A-Wandering." Walking relaxes me when I'm tense, focuses me when distracted, and wakes me up when lethargic.

After all, what is a brisk walk but following in the steps of the ancients, joining the long line of bipeds before us, who headed outside, putting one foot in front of the other? The timeless practice of walking steadies and sustains me.

• Jason and Travis Kelce discussed their recent attendance at the Eras Tour on their podcast.
• They revealed that they both met the royal family at Friday's show in London.
• Jason said Princess Charlotte was "the highlight" of the interaction.

Jason Kelce has a new favorite royal: Princess Charlotte.

Over the weekend, Taylor Swift continued her European leg of the Eras Tour with three shows at Wembley Stadium in London. The London Authority estimated that Swift's shows boosted the city's economy by about $379 million.

The weekend was filled with fun moments, including Swift bringing her boyfriend, Travis Kelce, who attended all three shows in London, onstage for a surprise appearance on Sunday.

The Friday and Saturday shows also marked Travis' brother and sister-in-law Jason and Kylie Kelce's first stops on Swift's Eras Tour.

The couple were just two of several celebrities who attended the London shows. At one of the performances, they met three of the most famous people to ever come to a Swift show: Prince William, Prince George, and Princess Charlotte.

Prince William brought his kids to the Eras Tour

William attended the concert on Friday with George, 10, and Charlotte, 9. Kate Middleton and Prince Louis, 6, did not join them.

In addition to watching the show from a private suite, the trio visited Swift and Travis backstage before she performed.

The Prince of Wales and Swift posted about their meetup on Instagram.

Swift's interactions with the Waleses bolstered positive attention for the royals, as did a video of Prince William dancing gleefully to "Shake It Off" during the concert.

The Kelce brothers shared new details of the meeting on Wednesday's episode of their podcast "New Heights," during which they revealed Jason and Kylie also met the royals.

Travis and Jason said they were impressed by the family.

"They were an absolute delight to meet," Travis said on the podcast of the royals. "I wasn't sure if I was supposed to like bow to them, curtsy, just be an American idiot and shake their hands."

"They said because we weren't at like an official royal event, we didn't need to bow or curtsy," Jason said. "I did still address them as Your Royal Highness."

"I've never seen you give someone that much respect," Travis told Jason. "You put your beer like 10 feet away from them."

"They were wonderful people," Jason said, adding that they seemed "down to earth."

The brothers also said they were fans of William, with Jason saying he is "a good dude."

"He was the coolest motherfucker," Travis said of the heir to the British throne. "He was so cool."

Princess Charlotte left an impression

Jason said that meeting Princess Charlotte, who was grinning from ear to ear in her photos with Swift, was "the highlight" of his interaction with the royals.

"I gotta say, Prince William was fantastic, but the highlight was Princess Charlotte," Jason said. "Prince George was great, too."

"She was so fucking adorable," Jason went on to say of Charlotte. "Maybe it's because I have three girls now."

Jason and Kylie have three daughters: Wyatt, 4, Elliotte, 3, and Bennett, 1.

"She was a superstar," Travis agreed of Charlotte.

"She had fire to her," Jason added of the princess. "She was asking questions. That was the most electric part."

Charlotte also stood out at Trooping the Colour on June 15, where she was spotted looking like the spitting image of her father.

• Scientists want $60 million to try trapping carbon dioxide in the sea floor off the coast of Canada.
• They say reactive basalt rock across the planet could turn CO2 into rock at the bottom of the ocean.
• Offshore carbon-capturing factories may help fight climate change in the future — for a steep price.

A major solution to the climate crisis may lie at the bottom of the ocean.

Across the planet, basalt rock deposits on the sea floor have the potential to trap carbon dioxide, removing the heat-trapping gas from our atmosphere.

That's why a team of scientists wants to build floating rigs at strategic offshore locations. Rather than extracting oil from the ocean floor — as offshore rigs currently do — these futuristic platforms would be injecting CO2 into it.

Powered by their own wind turbines, the floating stations would suck carbon dioxide out of the sky (or even out of seawater) and pump it into holes in the sea bed.

The scientists call their project Solid Carbon because, if it works as they expect, the CO2 they inject will forever be rock at the bottom of the ocean.

"That makes carbon storage very durable and very safe," Martin Scherwath, a geophysicist working on the project and a staff scientist at Ocean Networks Canada, told Business Insider.

Unlike other storage techniques, we wouldn't have to worry about carbon returning to the atmosphere and raising global temperatures.

It's not yet certain whether these oceanic carbon-removal factories would work as expected. First, the scientists need about $60 million to test a prototype at sea.

How the bottom of the ocean could remove carbon from the sky

The scientists estimate that, worldwide, basalt rock could permanently store more carbon than all of Earth's fossil fuels can emit. Just look at this map of potential sites across the planet, marked in yellow.

That doesn't mean it's safe to keep burning fossil fuels indiscriminately. This strategy is unlikely to be technologically, politically, and economically feasible in every location on the map. It will also be slow and expensive to scale up.

Still, the scientists say just a few rigs could make a big difference. In the Cascadia Basin off Canada's west coast, near Vancouver Island, there's room for about 20 years' worth of global carbon emissions, according to Scherwath. That's where they hope to conduct a field test.

"The reason that that location is so appealing, is that it's probably the spot on the globe where we know the most, have the most data, the most scientific expeditions, the most studies about the nature of the ocean crust," David Goldberg, a geophysicist and professor of climate science and carbon management at Columbia University, who's been developing this idea since 1997, told BI.

The plan rests on a chemical reaction that already occurs naturally. Basalt rock is highly reactive, full of metals that readily grab CO2 and chemically combine with it to form carbonate minerals.

The basalt also tends to be broken up and porous, leaving plenty of room for new carbonates to fill in.

In Iceland, a project called CarbFix has proven a small-scale version of this process, dissolving CO2 in water (yes, that's sparkling water) and injecting it into underground basalt.

Within two years, the CO2 gas mineralizes, becoming rock deep underground.

The final stretch of reversing climate change

These oceanic carbon-storing factories would be a giant and costly undertaking — exactly the kind of mega-project we may eventually have to resort to if we want to cool the planet back to pre-industrial temperatures.

"We have to come up with the money. I don't think there's a way around it," Scherwath said.

That said, Solid Carbon is no substitute for the basic, immediate measures that climate experts worldwide are calling for, including swapping fossil fuels for renewable energy and reducing the carbon emissions of our food systems.

Rather, Scherwath says this is one of our later carbon-capture options, decades from now, to shave off the last few tenths of a degree of global warming. To have the option, though, we need to start developing it now.

According to one report from the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine, the world may need to draw down 10 billion tons of CO2 each year in order to reach net zero emissions by 2050 and have any chance of restricting global warming to the targets set forth in the Paris Agreement.

To reach that goal, "you're gonna need every last drop," Goldberg said.

That can include restoring ecosystems that naturally store carbon, like forests and wetlands, as well as capturing CO2 straight from the atmosphere and storing the gas underground in depleted oil and gas reservoirs.

The trouble with those methods is the carbon could escape, via forest fires or seeping up through abandoned oil wells.

Solid Carbon scientists say carbon rock is stuck on the sea floor for thousands of years. They also argue that in the ocean, there's plenty of room to scale up and little risk of disgruntled neighbors fighting the project.

"This is a good compliment to the other methods, but it's also the most expensive one," Scherwath said.

Seeking $60 million

The Solid Carbon demo would send out a ship with pre-captured CO2, drill a hole in the sea floor, and inject it there. They would use an existing cable network to monitor the site and check for any escaping gas.

The trouble is funding. The group has applied for federal grants in the US and Canada, as well as foundations, according to Goldberg. So far they've been unable to secure the $60 million they need to run the pilot.

Goldberg suspects that's partly because there's no clear way to make money from capturing carbon and shooting it into the bottom of the sea.

"I mean, climate change is so expensive," Scherwath said. "The way to think about it might be similar to sewage treatment in cities, like it has to be done."

If they had the money, Goldberg thinks they could start running the pilot in a year or two.

• Business Insider asked jewelers and stylists which jewelry trends are in and out this summer.  
• Colorful gemstones and chunky chains are both on the rise for the warmer season.
• On the other hand, monochrome and shell jewelry are both fading in popularity.

The international jewelry market is estimated to generate over $310 billion in revenue this year.

If you're looking to get in on the action and spruce up your collection this summer, look no further. Business Insider asked jewelers and stylists which jewelry trends are in and out right now.

Here's what the experts said.

Charm jewelry is making a big comeback.

According to Kendra Sharpe, wardrobe stylist and creative director of Kendra Sharpe Styling, the charm renaissance is upon us.

The stylist recommended choosing charms that speak to you to make them more personable.

"The bigger the better, and the more unique the better," she told BI.

Colorful gemstones can add a pop of color to any outfit.

According to Joseph Denaburg, fourth-generation jeweler at Levy's Fine Jewelry, vibrant gemstone jewelry is on the rise this summer.

"Think of rings adorned with sapphires, earrings set with emeralds, and bracelets featuring amethysts," he said. "These colorful pieces are perfect for adding a pop of color to any ensemble."

The jeweler also said you can opt for multicolored gemstones. These can be mixed and matched with various outfits, making them a dynamic choice.

Small watches are winning people over this summer.

According to Sharpe, delicate watches are in this season — the smaller the better.

"Add some stackable bracelets around it, or wear it by itself for a sophisticated look," she told BI.

The stylist recommended opting for gold, silver, or a mix of both.

Bold, chunky chains are all the rage right now.

According to Denaburg, chunky chains are making a strong comeback.

"These statement pieces are highly versatile, allowing them to be styled with both casual and formal outfits," he told BI. "Fashion enthusiasts love them for their ability to transform a simple outfit into something eye-catching and sophisticated."

Whether worn as a standalone piece or layered with other necklaces, the stylist said, they add an instant edge to any look.

Mismatched earrings can add a bold touch to your look.

Mismatched earrings are breaking onto the summer scene, according to Sharpe.

She recommended investing in a pair with a similar design but different lengths to add a touch of boldness to any outfit.

On the other hand, minimalist necklaces are fading out of style.

This season, the focus is on bold impressions rather than understated elegance.

"One tiny, dainty necklace is just not enough right now," Jane Winchester Paradis, jeweler and founder of Jane Win Jewelry, told BI.

Denaburg recommended making room in your closet for more prominent and eye-catching designs.

Bright-colored, plastic jewelry can come across as juvenile.

Though often a favorite at festivals, brightly-colored necklaces — often made of plastic or resin — can seem a little juvenile and cheap in other environments, according to Patrick Kenger, personal and celebrity stylist and image consultant at Pivot.

"To elevate your look, opt for elegant bead designs in muted colors or possibly chic and thin metal chains," he told BI.

Monochrome or single-tone jewelry is becoming less popular.

According to Denaburg and Winchester Paradis, this summer is all about embracing multicolored jewelry.

Denaburg explained that mixed metals bring vibrancy and versatility to any wardrobe. And Winchester Paradis said layering silver and gold necklaces is especially popular right now.

Put away your shell necklaces.

"Jewelry incorporating natural shells is fun and certainly gives off a beach-like vibe, but it can come across as too casual," Kenger told BI.

The stylist said it also lacks versatility because transferring the look to non-summer months is harder.

As a replacement, consider pieces featuring pearls. They can still achieve an understated look but with more polish.

• Warning: spoilers ahead for "Perfect Match" season two.
• Netflix finally revealed that Harry Jowsey did kiss Melinda Berry behind his partner's back in the season two finale.
• Micah Lussier told "The Viall Files" that the cast wasn't shown footage proving the kiss happened before it aired. 

"Perfect Match" star Micah Lussier said the cast found out the truth about whether Harry Jowsey and Melinda Berry kissed at the season two finale last week — just like viewers.

Season two lovebirds Harry and Jessica were caught up in the biggest scandal of the season after Melinda Berry said she and Harry kissed in episode nine.

The kiss was said to have happened at a party where the men could interact with women away from their partners on the show.

Harry adamantly denied the kiss on the show, but after hearing Melinda's story, Jessica decided to break things off with Harry in episode 10.

Hype around the scandal built because Netflix didn't provide proof of whether the kiss happened. Instead, in the final moments of the season finale, it showed a supercut of clips showing Melinda and Harry conspiring to kiss off-camera and Harry feeling guilty afterward. In one of the clips, Harry asked if the producers caught the kiss on camera when he thought he wasn't being recorded.

Micah told Wednesday's episode of "The Viall Files" podcast that the cast, including Jessica, weren't shown the clips in the finale before it aired last week.

"We saw it with the rest of the world. Had no idea there was any audio, any footage, anything like that," Micah said.

Harry apologized for his behavior in the series without mentioning the kiss during the cast reunion in the finale but Micah told the podcast that he never admitted to the kiss on the main show. Micah, who is now Jessica's friend, also suggested that Harry never told Jessica the truth.

"Knowing how strong of a woman Jess is, she probably would not have ever given Harry any sort of chance if she knew the full truth," Micah said. "I don't think he ever admitted it to her until he was caught red-handed."

Micah added that Harry may not have needed to tell Jessica the truth because they broke up a month after filming the series.

A representative for Harry and Jessica did not respond to a comment request from Business Insider.

On Tuesday, Harry finally admitted he lied about the kiss on his podcast, "Boyfriend Material," and apologized to the cast, Jessica, Melinda, and his fans.

Before the finale last week, Jessica said in an Instagram reel that she was "anxiously waiting to see the verdict of the kiss," corroborating Micah's claim that the cast weren't shown any clips before they aired.

"I appreciate your patience as I process new information I've learned through watching the show with all of you," she said.

• President Biden has long depicted Trump as a major threat to democracy in the US.
• Biden used the argument against the GOP in 2022, with many Democrats later praising the strategy.
• But a new WaPo-George Mason Univ. poll shows that swing-state voters are giving Trump an edge on the issue.

President Joe Biden has staked a major tenet of his reelection campaign on painting former President Donald Trump as one of the biggest political threats to democracy in the US.

It was an issue that Biden played up heavily against the GOP in the 2022 midterms, issuing a stern warning a week before the election where he argued that "democracy is at risk."

"We're often not faced with questions of whether the vote we cast will preserve democracy," he said at the time. "But this year we are."

Democrats ended up retaining control of the Senate and losing their House majority by a much narrower margin than predicted, with many in the party arguing that Biden's messaging had been a success.

But ahead of the November election, voters in six key swing states gave Trump an advantage on who would be better suited at handling threats to democracy, a reflection of the continued challenges that Biden faces as he seeks a second term in office.

In a survey conducted by The Washington Post and the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University among registered voters from mid-April to late May, Trump led Biden 44 percent to 33 percent on the democracy issue. Sixteen percent of respondents indicated that neither candidate had an advantage on defending democracy, and seven percent said that both men were equally able to handle the issue.

Among "deciders," which includes voters that only voted in one of the past two White House contests, are aged 18 to 25, have been registered voters since 2022, or aren't planning to back Biden or Trump in the upcoming election — Trump has a nine-point edge (38% to 29%) over Biden on democracy issues. Nearly a quarter (23%) of "deciders" said that neither candidate was adept at handling the issue, while 10% indicated that both candidates could effectively tackle the issue.

The findings come at a critical stage for the Biden campaign, shortly before a Thursday debate that has the potential to reshape what has been a tight presidential contest between the incumbent and the ex-president.

Biden came into office pledging to be an effective steward of the federal government just days after the riot at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021 — where pro-Trump supporters attempted to stop the certification of the 2020 presidential election.

But Republicans have remained overwhelmingly behind Trump since then, with many GOP lawmakers downplaying the January 6 riot and arguing that the ex-president would be a better leader on the world stage.

• Another US Navy carrier strike group is headed to the Middle East.
• The USS Theodore Roosevelt and its escort warships will take over counter-Houthi operations.
• It will be the Pentagon's third strike group to enter the region since the fall. 

Two US Navy carrier strike groups have come and gone as conflicts in the Middle East — from Gaza to the Red Sea — continue with no immediate end in sight. A third carrier strike group is working its way toward the region.

The USS Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group is currently in South Korea, but it will soon depart for the US Central Command area of responsibility. Its arrival will make it the third CSG to enter the Middle East's turbulent waters over the past nine months.

Beyond Israel's war in Gaza and Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, there are growing concerns over the possibility of more violence in Israel and Lebanon as tensions flare.

Ford strike group

Hamas' Oct. 7 massacre in southern Israel, followed by the latter's retaliatory war in Gaza, triggered an outburst of violence across the Middle East and quickly prompted the US to move additional military assets — like aircraft and warships — into the region.

In a move aimed at preventing the conflict from widening and signaling its support to Israel, the Pentagon directed the USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group to the Eastern Mediterranean Sea.

A carrier strike group is a naval formation that includes a carrier, its air wing, and several other warships such as cruisers and destroyers. It's a very flexible — and powerful — show of force with a tremendous capacity for both defense and offense.

Alongside the carrier Ford, the other ships in the group included the Ticonderoga-class cruiser USS Normandy and the Arleigh Burke-class destroyers USS Thomas Hudner, USS Ramage, USS Carney, and USS Roosevelt.

The Ford carrier strike group was already several months into its first full deployment when it made the pivot, but it had its time at sea extended nearly 80 days before returning to the US in January. In the meantime, other Iran-backed actors across the region stepped up their attacks on Israel, the US military, and civilian mariners, causing new problems.

USS Carney was the first American warship to engage Houthi attacks in October, and it later, alongside another warship, helped shoot down ballistic missiles during Iran's unprecedented mid-April attack on Israel.

Eisenhower strike group

The Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group first deployed to the Eastern Mediterranean in October, bringing in more firepower alongside the Ford. The flagship carrier then moved into the Persian Gulf, sending a deterrence message to Iran as other CSG elements responded to the Iran-backed Houthis as they started attacking commercial vessels in what the rebels characterized as a response to the Israel-Hamas war. As this fight ramped up, the Eisenhower would sail back into the Red Sea.

The strike group was tasked with defending shipping lanes in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden from the unrelenting Houthi attacks, intercepting scores of missiles and drones in a high-tempo operating environment.

The strike group also targeted the Houthis directly in Yemen, hitting rebel facilities, weapons, launchers, and other assets that support their campaign. The vast majority of these airstrikes were carried out unilaterally, though several rounds were conducted alongside British military forces.

Alongside the carrier Ike, the strike group consisted of the guided-missile cruiser USS Philippine Sea and guided-missile destroyers USS Mason and USS Gravely.

After a seven-month-long run in the Middle East, which included two deployment extensions and a resupply and rearmament, the Eisenhower strike group finally departed the Red Sea this past weekend. The group is operating in the Eastern Mediterranean before heading back to the US.

Roosevelt strike group

Slated to replace the Eisenhower is the USS Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group.

The Roosevelt strike group is set to depart the Indo-Pacific region in the coming days, upon completion of a scheduled exercise, and sail to the Middle East.

There, the strike group "will continue to promote regional stability, deter aggression, and protect the free flow of commerce in the region," Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon spokesperson, said this week.

With the Eisenhower strike group back in the Mediterranean and the Roosevelt still in the Indo-Pacific, the US is left without an aircraft carrier in the Middle East region for the first time in a while.

It's a development that is taking shape amid a particularly active stretch for the Houthis, who have struck multiple commercial vessels this month alone, including one with an explosive-laden drone boat for the first time since they started attacking ships in the fall.

However, Ryder said the US still has "capability in the region" to counter the rebels, including destroyers in the US Central Command and European Command areas of responsibility that are equipped for intercepting enemy threats.

These warships, the destroyers in particular, "have been very active in providing those kinds of defenses, as well as other capabilities to include aircraft and ISR capabilities," he said, referring to intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.

The movement of American forces in the region comes amid heightened fears that Israel and Hezbollah could clash in an all-out war that officials warn could be highly devastating for civilians. The two sides have exchanged tit-for-tat strikes since Oct. 7, but recent weeks have seen increasingly escalatory rhetoric between them. The US and others have urged restraint.

As for the other crises, the incoming Roosevelt carrier strike group has its work cut out for it. Houthi attacks show no signs of slowing down, and the cost of the US naval presence continues to rise.

By late May, the Eisenhower carrier strike group had already fired off more than 500 munitions, amounting to some $1 billion in spent weaponry and raising questions about the long-term sustainability of the mission.