Tag: News

• Aegon suffers a pretty bad fall in the latest episode of "House of the Dragon."
• It's unclear if Aegon is alive at the end of season 2, episode 4, but the book gives some clues.
• Here's where Aegon stands in the show, and what happens to him in "Fire in Blood" — spoilers ahead, obviously.

Warning: Spoilers ahead for season two, episode four of "House of the Dragon," and the book "Fire and Blood."

"House of the Dragon" finally stopped pulling its punches in episode four, and it's time for all-out war.

That's right: dragons are finally on the table in the war between Rhaenyra Targaryen and her half-brother, Aegon II, over the Iron Throne. The show reached the Battle of Rook's Rest, an event from source material "Fire and Blood" that exacts a heavy toll. Instead of predictably heading to seize Harrenhal from Prince Daemon, Ser Criston Cole leads his forces instead to Rook's Rest. It's seemingly a ploy to lure one of Rhaenyra's dragons out, and it works: Rhaenyra sends Princess Rhaenys and her dragon Meleys, the "Red Queen."

Unfortunately for Criston Cole and Aemond, his partner in crime, Aegon chooses that moment to take charge, flying into the battle on his dragon Sunfyre. The episode leaves Aegon's fate ambiguous — but we can look to "Fire and Blood" for clues. If you care about book spoilers (and, in turn, potential show spoilers), turn back.

Aegon chooses the wrong moment to play the hero

All in all, Criston and Aemond had a pretty good plan: attack Rook's Rest, a castle close in proximity to Dragonstone, lure one of Rhaenyra's dragons out, and destroy them with Vhagar, Aemond's gigantic mount.

But Aegon is far more spurned, and far more foolish, than either of them planned. And when he arrives on the battlefield with Sunfyre, it's immediately clear that Rhaenys and Meleys have him outmatched. Meleys grievously wounds Sunfyre before Vhagar even enters the battlefield.

But Aemond isn't there to save his brother. In fact, this might even be an opportunity to take him out along with one of Rhaenyra's most powerful allies. While Meleys has Sunfyre pinned in the air, Aemond orders Vhagar to set fire to them all, and Sunfyre and Aegon plummet into the forest.

After the battle's dismal conclusion, Ser Criston seeks Aegon out. Aemond has beat him to the crash site, and what they find isn't pretty: Aegon lies limp on the ground, surrounded by a smoking, groaning Sunfyre.

But in episode three, Aegon dons a set of Valyrian steel armor that he says belonged to Aegon the Conqueror. It's this armor that he appears to wear to the battle.

We know from "Fire and Blood" that "common fire" cannot melt Valyrian steel. In the book, Vhagar lights Aegon the Conqueror's funeral pyre, which incinerates his body but leaves his Valyrian steel blade, Blackfyre, unharmed. In turn, we'll have to see how it holds up to a full-on dragon blast.

Aegon and Sunfyre survive in the book… but they're pretty beat up

In "Fire and Blood," Meleys, Vhagar, and Sunfyre all clash during the battle of Rook's Rest. The dragon fight ends when Vhagar fallls onto Meleys and Sunfyre from above, killing Meleys and Rhaenys. Sunfyre and Aegon, however, survive.

They're not in great shape, though. One of Sunfyre's wings is half-ripped off his body, grounding him near the castle. According to the book, he remains there, consuming the corpses from the battle, and later livestock brought by Ser Criston.

Aegon sustains a broken hip as well as broken ribs. His burns were also severe, and his armor melted into the skin of his left arm.

Martin writes in "Fire and Blood" that Aegon's "burns brought him such pain that some say he prayed for death." His injuries force him into a yearlong bedrest, being attended to by the maesters and sleeping through the pain. Obviously, that means that he's unfit to rule, and Aemond assumes his duties as Prince Regent.

Aegon and Sunfyre do eventually die, though

Later in the war, a small force loyal to Rhaenyra takes back Rook's Rest and attempts to kill Sunfyre. They do not succeed, but shortly after, Sunfyre is nowhere to be found.

When Rhaenyra takes King's Landing, Aegon is gone, as are his remaining children, Jaehara and Maelor. According to one historical record referenced in "Fire and Blood," Larys Strong smuggled them out of the city, setting Aegon aboard a fishing boat bound for Dragonstone.

Aegon hides there until Sunfyre makes his way to the island after disappearing for half a year, his wing healed enough to barely allow him to fly. The two begin to fly together again, and eventually, a force loyal to Aegon takes over the island. Aegon and Sunfyre are forced to fight Baela, Daemon and Laena's daughter, and her dragon Moondancer. The clash leaves Moondancer dead, Sunfyre unable to fly again, Aegon with two broken legs after jumping out of the saddle, and Baela taken prisoner.

But it also leaves Aegon in possession of Dragonstone. When Rhaenyra arrives, he promptly feeds her to his dragon, Sunfyre. Shortly after, Sunfyre dies.

Aegon returns to King's Landing after his mother Alicent strikes an accord with Lord Corlys Velaryon, lifting the Velaryon blockade that prevented his return. There, he sits not on the Iron Throne but on a seat at its steps, as a result of his broken legs.

The King then seeks revenge on those who acted against him during the war, forcing lords in the surrounding crownlands to submit to him. But while Aegon's council frets over how to quell the coming rebellion from across Westeros, Aegon is preoccupied with matters of succession: he wishes to marry Lady Cassandra Baratheon and produce new heirs. (In the book, Aegon's sister-wife Helaena dies by suicide after the death of their son Maelor.) Similarly, he wants to prevent the betrothal of his daughter Jaehaera to Rhaenyra's son, Aegon the younger, so as to finish off Rhaenyra's bloodline.

Eventually, with armies encroaching on King's Landing, Aegon is poisoned while being carried in his litter to the Sept via a cup of laced wine.

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

• Paramount Global's board approved a merger with Skydance on Sunday, multiple outlets reported.
• This marks the end of a tumultuous deal process and a new era for the troubled media giant.
• Paramount earlier this year announced layoffs, signaling troubling times in the media landscape.

Paramount Global, the troubled media giant that owns CBS and Nickelodeon, has agreed to merge with David Ellison's Skydance Media production company, according to multiple reports.

Two people familiar with the deal told The New York Times that Paramount's board agreed to the merger on Sunday.

Spokespeople for Paramount and Skydance did not immediately return a request for comment from Business Insider.

The merger marks the end of a shaky dealmaking process and a new chapter for Paramount, which has faced headwinds amid a shifting media landscape.

Paramount has struggled in recent years to adapt to a generation of viewers going digital, as BI's Peter Kafka previously noted. Even amid the digital shift, Paramount continued to make all of its profit in 2023 solely from traditional TV networks, according to Bloomberg.

In February, the company announced a layoff of 800 employees worldwide despite seeing record-number viewerships during Super Bowl LVIII across its networks and streaming platform, Paramount+.

The layoffs occurred shortly after Paramount became an acquisition target late last year. The company had discussed potential mergers with Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav, producer Byron Allen, and private equity firm Apollo, among others.

But Shari Redstone, the media heiress who owns a controlling stake in Paramount Global through her holding company National Amusements, particularly preferred a deal with Skydance because the merger would keep Paramount intact, CNBC reported.

Talks with the production studio — which helped make blockbuster hits like "Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol" and is owned by the son of Oracle cofounder Larry Ellison — have been ongoing since at least the beginning of the year, according to The Times.

While Redstone was drawn to a merger with Skydance, negotiations took several turns in the following months, with a deal nearly killed in June by Redstone's lawyers, the Times reported.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the deal was revived on Tuesday when the Redstone family made a preliminary agreement to sell National Amusements to Skydance.

• Simen Platou fell in love with Bali, Indonesia, during a 5-day vacation.
• Those days stretched into 6 months, and eventually, he decided the island was where he wanted to live.
• It's been 13 years since he left Norway, and he doesn't think he'll move back anytime soon.

It's been 13 years since Simen Platou moved to Bali from Norway, and he remembers his first visit to the Indonesian island clearly.

Back then, he was doing an internship in Vietnam, and a group of Indonesian couch surfers who were living with him planted the idea of visiting Bali in his head.

Intrigued by their stories, Platou decided he wanted to see the island for himself. A week before he was due to depart for Bali, Platou realized he wasn't enjoying his internship at all.

So he quit, hopped on the flight, and never looked back.

"It was before social media and everything, I didn't know anything about Bali at all. I had never seen a picture of Bali. I didn't know that Westerners even lived here," Platou, 38, told Business Insider. "But when I realized that it was a possibility, it just completely changed my whole outlook."

What was meant to be a five-day vacation stretched into six months. Platou then returned to Norway to start his master's degree in finance, sticking to the original plan he had set for himself.

But after six months in Norway, the allure of Bali was too hard to resist, and Platou never did complete his master's.

"I decided I wanted to be here in Bali instead," he added.

Finding a place in Bali

When Platou first started living in Bali in 2011, he stayed in a communal home in Kuta, a region near the south of the island. Known for its surf scene, Kuta was also one of the first tourist developments in Bali.

"I had a fan and a shared bathroom with four other people," Platou said. He said he paid 1 million Indonesian rupiah, or $60, a month for the room.

In 2014, as other parts of Bali slowly developed, Platou moved further north to Kerobokan — an area sandwiched between Seminyak and Canggu — where he still lives, now with his wife and two kids.

His three-bedroom house is a leasehold property on a 20-year lease.

He first leased it for two years at 170 million Indonesian rupiah, before renewing his lease for another two years at the same amount. He's since extended his lease for another 15 years — until 2034 — at 370 million Indonesian rupiah for every five years.

This averages out to 6.04 million rupiah, or about $370, a month.

Platou's two-story villa is tucked away in a quiet street, next to three other villas owned by the same landlord.

On the first floor, there's an open-plan living and dining area, a kitchen, and a home office. Upstairs, there's a TV room and two bedrooms.

"One is meant to be the kids' bedroom while the other is supposed to be my and my wife's room, but now I'm sleeping with my daughter, and my wife is sleeping with my son," Platou said.

The property was brand new when he moved in, but it's been renovated twice over the past few years in order to accommodate his growing family.

"When I moved in, I never thought that I was going to have a family here and everything, so we kind of done it as we've gone along," he said.

The baby fence around the pool and the new doors that close in their first-floor living space are fairly new additions.

"Before that, we had no AC in here," Platou added.

The house wasn't built with the best materials, which caused things in the house to deteriorate quickly, he said.

Even though he doesn't own the property, Platou says that he's paid for everything that he's changed — from the water pump to the kitchen — out of pocket.

"I am OK with that because I spend so much time here and because I've locked in the rent so early that it's relatively cheap, so it's still worth it," he said.

Although he has another 10 years left on his lease, he's hoping to build a new house elsewhere for his family soon.

Embracing a slower pace of life

Platou's done a lot of different things since he moved to Bali, from starting his own clothing business to doing marketing for insurance companies.

In the past couple of years, Platou's been investing in real estate. He's currently completing two holiday villa rentals in Pererenan, near Canggu.

As an entrepreneur, Platou says he loves the flexibility in Bali.

"I work for myself, and I can work whenever I want to, but the best thing about Bali is that everyone else does it too," Platou said. This is different from what life was like in Norway.

"With my work hours in Norway, I wouldn't have anyone to hang out with," Platou said. "Even when I go there in the summer, the friends that don't have vacation, we can't meet up — it doesn't matter that I have time off. But here, everyone has similar schedules so it's easy to gather."

It's also easy for him to meet new people who have similar interests.

"Moving here as an adult, I think it would be easy as long as you put yourself out there a little bit," Platou said. "I feel like here, if you want to meet people, you'll meet people."

It also helps that the expat community in Bali is large, Platou said that many others he's met along the way have the same attitude toward making friends and letting new people in.

Like many locals, Platou has a motorbike that he uses to get around the island quickly. And it's another contributor to his social life.

"If I'm going to meet up with a friend, it's easy for me to go anywhere. In Norway, it's like I have to check what time the metro runs and how far the walk is on each side," he said.

But the best part of Bali has, by far, been the people, he said.

"I've always experienced people's willingness to help," Platou said. "When I first started my clothing line here, I didn't know anything about production or design. But all the people I met were just so helpful. They took me to factories, showed me how to do it, and let me sell stuff in their stores. I think in other places people would probably be a bit more competitive."

Bali is continuing to change

Platou has a word of caution for those who want to move to Bali. Because of how quickly the island is developing, it may look and feel different from what people expect.

"You have to be a little bit mindful of your long-term plans. So don't build a villa rice field view because it could be gone in six months.

Lastly, the island has more to offer than popular tourist spots such as Canggu and Seminyak, he said.

"I think a lot of people when they come here, expect the tropical life but end up moving to what is now a semi-city," Platou added.

Have you recently built or renovated your dream home? If you've got a story to share, get in touch with me at agoh@businessinsider.com.

• Anthony Mays landed a job at Google in 2013 after a previous failed interview attempt.
• Mays started coding at seven and had a bank programming job in high school and college.
• He now runs a tech career consultancy and advises on impactful résumé writing strategies.

Anthony Mays was first introduced to coding when he was seven, playing with a toy computer.

"I was very attracted to the idea that I could make things and that I could own the things that I make," Mays told Business Insider.

While still in high school, he got his first job as a programmer analyst for a local bank.

He continued to intern at the bank every summer in college and landed his first full time job there after graduating from the University of California, Irvine, in 2006.

Mays worked at the bank for another four years before transitioning to two other companies.

In 2011, Mays interviewed at Google but failed a technical interview round because, he said, he did not prepare for the right topics.

"I ended up trying again a couple of years later after Google reached out three times," he said. "I was able to succeed in 2013."

This is the résumé that Mays used during his successful Google application. BI has verified his employment history.

After an eight-year stint at Google, Mays left the company to start his own tech career consultancy.

Looking back on his 2013 résumé, the career coach said there were three things he likes and three things he would change if he were to re-write the document today.

Here is what he would keep the same:

1. Separate skills section: "One thing that I thought was super useful was having those skills and languages along the right side," he said about the second column of his résumé. "It seems like there's a lot more stuff that I know just because it takes up a lot of vertical real estate." This layout also helped people quickly get to the experience section.
2. Why before the how: Mays liked that the résumé emphasized the impact he created. "If I can convince somebody that what I did was important, then they'll want to know how I did it." For example, he added that his enhancements increased the speed of deployment by 50%. Then, "I tell you how I did it — I did that by using zip compression tools and algorithms."
3. Simplify jargon: For technical jargon like names of software, Mays was careful not to assume that everyone reading his resume would know what some abbreviations mean. Just like formal writing, he uses the full names for each of those software on first mention, and use short forms after that. "You have to know your industry to know when it is appropriate to rely on an abbreviation versus not."

Here are the changes he would make:

1. More numbers: To better show impact, Mays would include more datapoints about the impact of his work. For example, he worked on a project to support a system for an e-commerce platform. For a big sales day like Black Friday, he would have highlighted how many thousands of people used the website per second to show the scale he was working at.
2. Professional summary: Mays said that his 2013 résumé also lacked a professional summary. "Ultimately, a résumé is going to tell a story, and it's your job as the storyteller to make that narrative as easy to understand for someone who's only going to look at your résumé for maybe five seconds." The summary should say why you're the perfect person for the role, he said. In his latest résumé, Mays added three lines summarizing his roles, what he is passionate about and how he wants to add value to businesses.
3. Business impact: Mays recommends his clients follow a "résumé formula" that looks like "I accomplished X as measured by Y, doing Z." But for his own resume, he thinks he could have followed it better. For some of his bullet points, Mays talked about how he achieved something, but left out what impact his technology created on the company. "The business context is missing from that bullet point."

Mays worked at Google's Irvine, California, office as a software engineer until 2022. He left to become an interview coach and public speaker.

Do you work in tech, consulting, or finance and have a story to share about your career journey? Please get in touch: shubhangigoel@insider.com

• The 2024 Senate elections — which will run concurrent with the presidential race — are approaching.
• Democrats will have to defend several vulnerable incumbents in swing and GOP-heavy states.
• However, the party has held their own in the last three cycles in navigating tough Senate races.

In the 2022 midterm elections, Democrats defied political expectations by holding on to their Senate majority, with every incumbent securing reelection and then-Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman flipping the open seat being vacated by retiring Republican Sen. Pat Toomey.

The upper chamber in January 2023 then shifted from its previous 50-50 split — with Senate control in 2021 and 2022 resting on Vice President Kamala Harris' tiebreaking abilities — to a 51-49 majority led by Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York. And despite Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema switching from the Democratic Party to register as an Independent late in 2022, she continues to retain her committee assignments through her former party.

However, the class of senators who were elected and reelected in 2018 — a Democratic wave year that saw several vulnerable red-state members of the party win and lose — will face a challenging map in 2024.

Much of the party's performance will likely be tied to President Joe Biden, who is seeking reelection to a second term but is now facing calls from some Democrats to step aside as the nominee after a widely panned June 2024 debate performance. Biden has said he has no plans to leave the race.

Former President Donald Trump, who will once again be the Republican presidential nominee this year, remains unpopular among moderates and suburban voters who often decide close Senate elections.

A big retirement that boosts the GOP: Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia in November 2023 announced that he wouldn't seek reelection in 2024, a major blow to Democrats as he was not only the lone statewide officeholder from the party but the only Democrat who could conceivably have run a competitive race given its conservative lean. The GOP is now in the driver's seat in the Mountain State, which backed Trump over Biden by 39 points in 2020.

In 2024, 34 seats will be up for grabs, including 20 currently held by Democrats, 11 held by Republicans, and three currently held by Independents.

Here are the key states that both parties are set to target:

Arizona

Sinema's decision to become an Independent gave Democrats jitters while they were still rejoicing Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock's runoff victory in December 2022, but since then, her decision hasn't impaired the party's ability to move legislation and approve judicial nominations.

However, after more than a year of speculation, Sinema announced in March 2024 that she wouldn't seek reelection to a second term, ending fears from some Democrats that her candidacy might aid the GOP in a potential three-way race.

Rep. Ruben Gallego launched his campaign for the Democratic Senate nomination in January 2023 and remains the frontrunner to win the party's primary in July.

Democrats have made major inroads in Arizona in recent years, and the party is aiming to bolster their political ascent in the state by electing Gallego.

On the Republican side, former television journalist Kari Lake and Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb are the leading candidates.

Lake, the 2022 gubernatorial nominee who lost to now-Gov. Katie Hobbs, jumped into the Senate race in October 2023 with the endorsement of Trump. While Lake ran a hard-charging conservative campaign two years ago, she has recalibrated her strategy and has sought to expand the GOP tent this year in anticipation of a competitive general election race in the purple state.

Meanwhile, Lamb, a conservative who has pushed for stronger security measures at the US-Mexico border, was the first major Republican to enter the race.

Blake Masters, the 2022 Republican Senate nominee who lost to Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly, is running for the House seat being vacated by GOP Rep. Debbie Lesko after the 2024 elections.

Abe Hamadeh, who was narrowly defeated in the 2022 race for state attorney general, had been mentioned as a potential contender but in October 2023 threw his support behind Lake. He is also running to succeed Lesko in the House.

Maryland

Former Republican Gov. Larry Hogan will face off against Prince George's County Executive Angela Alsobrooks for the seat being vacated by veteran Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin.

Maryland is one of the most Democratic states in the country. The party has hefty majorities in the state legislature and dominates the state's congressional delegation. In the 2020 election, Biden won the state by 33 points. And Gov. Wes Moore easily won the state's open gubernatorial race in 2022.

Hogan's candidacy presents a unique challenge for Democrats. The former two-term governor, one of the most prominent Republican critics of Trump, left office with high marks from Maryland voters. During his two gubernatorial runs, he won over many moderate Democrats and Independents en route to his victories in a state where Republicans are vastly outnumbered.

And Republicans have the financial means to compete in Maryland as they seek to replicate the coalition that gave Hogan eight years in Annapolis.

But Alsobrooks, a former prosecutor, gained substantial name recognition as she campaigned across the state and won a tough Democratic primary against Rep. David Trone, who spent over $60 million of his own money in his unsuccessful bid to secure the party's nomination.

Alsobrooks also benefits from representing the state's second-most populous county, and in the primary she performed strongly in Trone's suburban Washington backyard and in the Baltimore area.

If elected, Alsobrooks would be Maryland's first Black US senator.

In June 2024, Trump threw his support behind Hogan's candidacy in an attempt to bridge GOP divides ahead of the critical summer stretch.

But Hogan's campaign is maintaining its distance from Trump.

"Governor Hogan has been clear he is not supporting Donald Trump just as he didn't in 2016 and 2020," a Hogan campaign spokesperson said in a statement at the time.

Alsobrooks is using Trump's show of support for Hogan to tie the Senate candidate to conservative efforts to curtail abortion rights.

But Hogan has said that he would not vote for a national abortion ban. It's a stance that Democrats continue to question on the campaign trail.

"Republicans see Hogan as a ticket to a national abortion ban," Alsobrooks said during a Baltimore news conference in May 2024. "They believe that road runs through Larry Hogan and runs through the state of Maryland."

Michigan

Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow, a popular lawmaker now in her fourth term, announced in January 2023 that she would not run for reelection in 2024.

Stabenow, the chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee, was most recently reelected in 2018 by 6.5% against now-GOP Rep. John James. (James, the Republican Senate nominee in both 2018 and 2020, is running for reelection to his House seat anchored in suburban Detroit this fall.)

Republicans would very much like to flip this seat, but Michigan Democrats had a banner year in November 2022 — sweeping the top statewide offices and retaking control of the full legislature. Michigan is a must-win state for Biden this year, but he continues to face significant intraparty pushback over the conflict in Gaza, an issue that will play heavily in the presidential race and the Senate contest given the state's sizable Arab-American population.

Rep. Elissa Slotkin, a moderate Democrat who represents a Lansing-area swing district that stretches to rural and suburban areas northwest of Detroit, announced in February 2023 that she would enter the Senate race.

Slotkin, a former CIA analyst and the acting assistant defense secretary for international security affairs in the administration of President Barack Obama, is the most prominent elected official to seek the Democratic nomination.

The congresswoman, who was first elected in 2018, said in her announcement video that she would focus on bolstering the middle class "in the state that invented the middle class" if voters send her to the Senate.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist II, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, Reps. Debbie Dingell and Haley Stevens, and state Sen. Mallory McMorrow all ruled out Senate campaigns.

The actor Hill Harper, best known for his roles on "CSI: NY" and "The Good Doctor," jumped into the Democratic primary in July 2023.

A number of Republicans are currently in the race, including former Rep. Mike Rogers, Sandy Pensler, a businessman, and Sherry O'Donnell, a physician and former congressional candidate.

Former Rep. Justin Amash, who voted to impeach Trump in 2019, is also running for the GOP nomination.

Rogers, a former chairman of the House Intelligence Committee who served in Congress for 14 years, offers Michigan Republicans their most formidable candidate to date. But his appeal in a Trump-dominated GOP is untested on a statewide level.

Former Rep. Peter Meijer, one of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump for his role on January 6, 2021, entered the race in November 2023 but withdrew in April 2024.

Meijer served for one term in Congress and was ousted in a 2022 GOP primary by Trump-backed challenger John Gibbs. Gibbs eventually lost the general election race to now-Democratic Rep. Hillary Scholten.

Montana

Democratic Sen. Jon Tester is a political survivor, having first won in conservative-leaning Montana in 2006 before winning tough reelection contests in 2012 and 2018.

And Tester hopes to keep the streak going, announcing in February 2023 that he'd seek a fourth Senate term in 2024.

Despite the GOP lean of Montana, Tester has built a solid political brand over the years and has been able to appeal to many of the state's Independents and Republicans in past elections. GOP leaders have long coveted this seat, though.

Former Navy SEAL Tim Sheehy, a favorite of Republican leaders in Washington, was endorsed by Trump and won the June 2024 GOP primary.

Rep. Matt Rosendale, a staunch conservative who lost to Tester in 2018, entered the race in February 2024. But the following week, Rosendale dropped his bid, citing the headwinds he'd likely face after Trump backed Sheehy.

After Rosendale pivoted to running for reelection to the House, he subsequently withdrew from that race as well.

Nevada

Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen is running for a second term in office in one of the most competitive battleground states in the country. In 2018, Rosen, then a first-term congresswoman, ousted then-Republican Sen. Dean Heller by 5 points.

In 2024, Rosen will be running for reelection as Nevada — a perennial swing state — remains a top electoral target for both Biden and Trump.

Army veteran and businessman Sam Brown easily won the June 2024 GOP Senate primary against a slate of candidates that included Jeffrey Gunter, the former US ambassador to Iceland, as well as former state lawmaker Jim Marchant.

Ohio

Sherrod Brown, who was also elected to the Senate in 2006, is running for a fourth term. He has maintained a strong populist connection with his constituents despite the continued reddening of Ohio, which only 20 years ago was widely seen as the nation's premier swing state.

Republicans view the Ohio seat as one of their biggest targets, but Brown has proven to be an effective candidate adept at winning over Independents and even a slice of conservative-leaning voters.

In March 2024, businessman Bernie Moreno defeated state Sen. Matt Dolan and Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose in a hotly-contested GOP primary.

Moreno and Dolan previously ran for Senate in 2022 but fell short in that year's Republican primary to now-Sen. JD Vance.

The general election matchup between Brown and Moreno, which could very well determine the Senate majority, is now set to be one of the most expensive races in the country.

Pennsylvania

Democratic Sen. Bob Casey Jr., who was first elected to the upper chamber in 2006, is seeking a fourth term in 2024.

Casey — a former Pennsylvania auditor general and ex-state treasurer who has won all three of his prior Senate races with relative ease — will likely benefit from running in a presidential year when turnout in the Democratic strongholds of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh is poised to be very high.

However, Casey has also generally done well in many of the state's working-class towns and cities, and he could post an electoral performance similar to Fetterman, who dominated in the vote-rich Philadelphia suburbs in 2022.

David McCormick, a businessman who narrowly lost the 2022 Republican Senate primary to Dr. Mehmet Oz, will be the party's Senate nominee in the fall. McCormick, who grew up in the Pittsburgh area, is viewed as a candidate who can potentially bolster the GOP among Independents and suburban voters.

Texas

The Lone Star State has been firmly in the Republican column since the 1990s.

Democrats have sought to run more competitive Senate and gubernatorial races in recent years but have largely fallen short by sizable margins, with the notable exception being the close 2018 senatorial contest between then-Democratic Rep. Beto O'Rourke and Republican Sen. Ted Cruz. That year, O'Rourke lost to Cruz by 2.6 points, a result that gave Democrats hope that they could once again win the state in the near future.

Cruz has long been a political foil for Democrats; the conservative lawmaker also ran for president in 2016 before his defeat in the GOP primary to Trump.

In March 2024, Rep. Colin Allred, a former NFL player and civil rights attorney, easily won the Democratic primary over candidates that included state Sen. Roland Gutierrez, state Rep. Carl Sherman, and former Nueces County district attorney Mark Gonzalez.

Republicans point to the conservative tilt of the state in projecting confidence in the race, but they are also cognizant of Cruz's narrow 2018 victory.

Trump is favored to carry Texas in 2024, which would likely boost Cruz, but Allred was first elected to office by appealing to moderates and flipping a GOP-held district in the Dallas area. The congressman could potentially build on O'Rourke's success by making further inroads in suburbs across the state, especially if abortion remains as potent an issue in 2024 as it was in the 2022 and 2023 elections.

Wisconsin

Sen. Tammy Baldwin announced in April 2023 that she'd seek a third term in the upper chamber.

While Wisconsin in recent years has been one of the most politically polarized states in the country, Baldwin was able to win over many rural and exurban voters during her 2012 and 2018 campaigns — while also racking up large margins in the Democratic-heavy population centers of Milwaukee and Madison.

Several of the most prominent Republicans who were thought of as potential candidates — including former Gov. Scott Walker, Reps. Bryan Steil and Tom Tiffany, and former Rep. Mike Gallagher — declined to enter the race.

The GOP candidates currently in the race include Eric Hovde, a businessman, and Rejani Raveendran, the chair of the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point College Republicans.

• President Emmanuel Macron took a huge bet by calling for a surprise election in France.
• Macron risked losing what little power he had in the National Assembly to France's far-right bloc.
• Voters rebuked the far-right party on Sunday, but now no political party holds a majority.

French voters are projected to rebuke the country's far-right, anti-immigration National Rally party, but no clear majority emerged on Sunday, leaving President Emmanuel Macron's centrist alliance further weakened and France on a path towards political gridlock.

Macron took a huge bet in June by calling for a surprise snap legislative election soon after the National Rally, France's far-right bloc led by Marine Le Pen, trounced the president's centrist Renaissance party in the European Parliament elections with more than twice the amount of votes for his coalition.

The results pushed Macron's hand to dissolve the National Assembly — France's lower house that holds more prominence in the Parliament due to its ability to pass laws — and make a huge gamble by calling for an early election.

By doing so, Macron hoped the voters would establish a stronger mandate in the lower house and strengthen his influence on the world stage. The president, whose popularity in France was already declining, lost a majority in the National Assembly in 2022, leaving his coalition to push laws without a vote in the lower house using a controversial but legal constitutional tool.

The New York Times reported that Macron, without a majority in the lower house and relegated to political maneuvering, said his decision was inevitable.

But the gamble backfired.

On June 30, the National Rally Party again dealt a huge blow to Macron's Renaissance party and its allies by securing 33% of votes in the first round of voting, which saw a high turnout.

The New Popular Front, a left-wing coalition formed for the snap election, secured 28% of the votes.

Macron's centrist coalition only received 20%.

For a brief moment, France appeared to be looking at the first far-right government to emerge since the Nazi occupation, according to The Associated Press.

However, on Sunday's second round of voting, the Times reported that a boost in support for the leftist New Popular Front was projected in near-final results to give it the most seats in the 577-member lower house but not a majority, citing France's polling institutes.

The leftist alliance is projected to secure between 177 seats, according to The Times.

Macron's centrist coalition, the Ensemble, which includes the Renaissance party, came in second with a projected 148 seats, while the far-right National Rally came in third with 142 seats.

Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of the left-wing alliance, called the results an "immense relief for a majority of people in our country," the AP reported.

Though the results have soothed leftists' and centrists' immediate concerns about a far-right government, France may be headed for political deadlock with no clear majority established in the National Assembly.

Final results are expected to come in late Sunday or Monday.

• Elon Musk's SpaceX is at odds with environmental activists over its Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas.
• Rocket launches have disturbed the local ecosystem, including a migratory bird habitat.
• SpaceX "exploited the limitations" of government agencies to expand, The New York Times reported.

SpaceX is ruffling feathers with its complex in Southern Texas.

A Sunday report by The New York Times said operations at Starbase in Boca Chica — which includes a rocket launchpad and a production facility— have damaged the local environment.

The outlet reported that SpaceX's operations have caused explosions, fires, leaks, and other issues at least 19 times since 2019. One rocket launch in 2023 ended in an explosion, which ignited 3.5 acres of a nearby state park.

The most recent incident occurred in June with the launch of Starship, which flew to space and back.

Although the flight was considered a success, it left behind trails of smeared egg yolk on the ground near the launch site.

The complex neighbors public land like Boca Chica State Park and the area is near the migratory pathway of birds like Piping Plovers. The species is listed as "threatened" by the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

A nonprofit group recorded nine bird nests in the area before June's launch, but none remained intact.

"All 9 shorebird nests monitored following the rocket launch on June 6 were either missing eggs, had damaged eggs, or both," a 2024 Coastal Bend Bays & Estuaries Program report said.

"This damage is not consistent with any predator interactions in our experience," the report added. "Additionally, the strong speed/force of projected debris and wet sand/mud was apparent both in the game camera photographs as well as on the face of the camera bodies themselves — one of which had its lens shattered by a concrete pebble."

The launch sent debris across nearby landscapes and ignited a small fire. Metal sheets and insulation were also found among the debris.

The company's environmental practices have caused friction with government agencies like the National Park Service and the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

However, the Federal Aviation Administration defended SpaceX in a statement to The Times.

"Blowing debris into state parks or national land is not what we prescribed, but the bottom line is no one got hurt, no one got injured," an official said. "We certainly don't want people to feel like they're bulldozed. But it's a really important operation that SpaceX is conducting down there. It is really important to our civilian space program."

Gary Henry, a former SpaceX advisor on Pentagon launch programs, told the outlet that SpaceX is aware of the criticisms surrounding its environmental practices and plans to address them.

The outlet reported that SpaceX hired a consultant to track bird patterns, and its researchers "found little to no evidence" of changes to the local bird population.

However, environmental officials have more grievances with SpaceX.

The Times reported that SpaceX CEO Elon Musk "exploited the limitations and competing missions of the various agencies" that could impose unfavorable regulations. The National Park Service and US Fish and Wildlife offices, which oversee natural and other resources, have "repeatedly" lost to larger agencies like the Federal Aviation Administration.

The outlet also reported that Musk has expanded SpaceX's operations more than he initially promised officials. A former National Park Service official, Mark Spier, said SpaceX "misled" officials.

"They kept saying, 'No, we are not going to do that, we are not going to do that,' and then they came back and said, 'Yes, we are,'" he said. "We were being misled."

The focus around SpaceX and its effect on local environments has continued to gain traction. NASA confirmed in June that a large chunk of debris the size of a car hood from SpaceX's Dragon Capsule crashed in North Carolina.

Representatives from SpaceX, the Federal Aviation Administration, and the US Fish and Wildlife Service did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

• Donald Trump has publicly celebrated growing calls for Joe Biden to end his bid for reelection.
• But some in the GOP are worried that if Biden steps aside, it could make the race harder for Trump.
• Sen. Lindsey Graham on CBS said a new Democratic challenger would make the race "dramatically different."

Donald Trump has gleefully celebrated growing calls for Joe Biden to end his reelection bid, confident that he can defeat any Democrat who challenges him — but some members of the GOP aren't so sure.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican and longtime Trump ally, on CBS' "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" Sunday said a new Democratic challenger would make the race "dramatically different" for Trump.

"President Biden will most likely be replaced, and Kamala Harris is gonna be very vigorous," Graham said, speculating that the vice president would take up Biden's mantle in the race if he stepped aside, as many have suggested. "If Biden steps down, Harris is going to have to pick somebody to help her. If she does become the nominee, this is a dramatically different race than it is right now today. I hope people are thinking about that on our side."

Graham added that Trump's focus now should be on picking a strong running mate to "add value in 2024, expand the map, prosecute the case against the liberals." Trump has not yet announced a vice president pick in his campaign, but Graham noted that South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, and Ohio Sen. JD Vance are among his top choices.

Representatives for Graham did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

While Biden has thus far maintained his intention to stay in the race, it appears Graham is not the only Republican Congressman concerned about what it would mean if he stepped aside.

Fox News reported a House Republican, who spoke to the outlet on the condition of anonymity, said a younger and potentially more popular candidate on the Democratic ticket would spell for "a tougher race" for Trump.

"As a human, it's probably good for Joe Biden that he's now probably not going to have to be subjected to this another four years. But for the party, it's not great. It's not clear to me that it's good for us, either," the GOP lawmaker said.

Trump versus Biden, the House Republican said, was "a very lopsided fight," adding that Democrats "would be insane to run Biden again" — but the idea that the incumbent president could be replaced isn't necessarily a positive for the Republican Party.

"It changes everything," the GOP lawmaker told Fox News. "It's just a completely unknown wild card right now."

A second House Republican and a senior House GOP aide echoed those concerns to Fox News, with the aide saying explicitly that Biden's continued candidacy is Trump's best bet for reelection.

"Virtually any Democrat that potentially replaces Biden has an exponentially better chance of defeating Trump," the senior House GOP aide told Fox News. "Biden staying at the top of the ticket is the best-case scenario for a Republican trifecta."

When Business Insider reached out for comment, representatives for Trump pointed to a recent post on Truth Social in which Trump urged Biden to stay in the race.

"Crooked Joe Biden should ignore his many critics and move forward, with alacrity and strength, with his powerful and far reaching campaign," Trump's post, published Saturday, read. "Yes, Sleepy Joe should continue his campaign of American Destruction and, MAKE CHINA GREAT AGAIN!"

• Independent voters will be a significant force in the 2024 presidential election.
• Both Biden and Trump are competing hard for this highly coveted slice of the electorate.
• But Biden's most pressing challenge right now is convincing Democratic voters to stick with him.

President Joe Biden is working to reassure wary Democrats that he'll be able to reorient his campaign and win the November general election after last month's disastrous debate.

Despite Democratic calls for Biden to reevaluate his candidacy, he received a dose of good news on Saturday in the form of polling conducted by Bloomberg News/Morning Consult.

The swing-state survey showed that the gap between former President Donald Trump and Biden narrowed to just two points — with Trump holding a 47% to 45% lead among registered voters.

Most observers would assume that Biden could overtake Trump by wooing Independents on the fence. But right now, that's not the president's biggest issue regarding the electorate.

The latest Journal poll showed Biden and Trump tied at 40% support among Independents, representing a four-point increase for the president and a four-point decline for the ex-president. According to the latest numbers, this demographic is competitive for both candidates.

However, fueled by renewed concerns over Biden's age, the president's most pertinent challenge will involve getting Democrats back into the fold.

Biden insists he can defeat Trump in the fall, but the latest Wall Street Journal poll shows how the Democratic incumbent's standing has slipped within his own party.

Trump led Biden 48% to 42% among all registered voters questioned in the survey.

But in that same poll, Trump won over 93% of Republicans, a seven-point jump from the February Journal poll.

Meanwhile, Biden's standing among his party slipped, with 86% of Democrats indicating that they'd back him, a 7-point decline from February.

And there's another challenge: The latest Journal survey showed Trump winning 95% of the voters who supported him in 2020.

Biden's number stands at 84%, a sign of erosion among the coalition that sent him to the White House nearly four years ago.

The Journal poll also had a sobering number for Biden.

Among Democrats, 76% of respondents said he was too old to serve as the party's 2024 standard-bearer. So he'll have to convince swaths of Democratic voters who are skeptical of his effectiveness to also cast ballots for him this fall.

For Biden, a pre-existing concern was his struggles in bridging the enthusiasm gap among young and minority voters. Many have registered frustration with the administration over the conflict in Gaza, unresolved issues regarding student loan debt relief, and concerns over the economy.

A CBS News/YouGov poll conducted in June revealed that 66% of registered voters aged 18 to 29 said they would definitely vote in November, a rate lower than every other age group. But when these voters turn out, as they did in key races in 2022, it has been a game-changer for Democratic candidates.

While Independents are poised to play a decisive role in the general election — especially in the seven swing states Biden and Trump are competing in — Biden will have to shore up his support among Democrats. And he'll need to do it quickly.

Business Insider has reached out to the Biden campaign for comment.

• More than 150 activist groups gathered in Barcelona on Saturday to protest overtourism.
• Footage showed protesters squirting water guns at tourists and telling them to "go home."
• Barcelona is combating overtourism, which locals blame for the increased cost of living.

Protesters swarmed the streets of Barcelona to condemn mass tourism, which they blame for skyrocketing rent prices and the city becoming "unliveable."

Multiple outlets reported that thousands of protesters, including more than 150 organizations, marched through Barcelona on Saturday.

Photos showed protesters carrying signs that read, "Barcelona is not for sale" and "Tourists go home."

Footage obtained by BBC showed protesters using water guns against people visiting popular tourist areas while chanting, "Go home!"

Protesters also taped off certain restaurants and hotels as if to symbolically close the establishments.

Barcelona is a top tourist destination that draws millions of travelers annually with its Mediterranean climate and distinct culture. The Barcelona Tourism Observatory said the city welcomed 15.6 million tourists and the region nearly 26 million in 2023.

While the influx of travelers brings money to Barcelona's economy, it can also have adverse affects like increasing the local cost of living.

According to Reuters, rent in Barcelona and other popular cities like Madrid rose by 18% in June compared to the previous year.

One protester told Reuters that "the city has turned completely for tourists and what we want is a city for citizens and not in service of tourists" in recent years.

Another said tourist-heavy venues like restaurants and hotels make good money from tourists, but some locals "are in a very poor situation and they don't have enough money to live. That's a problem."

A resident told AFP that the city is suffering as a result.

"I have nothing against tourism, but here in Barcelona, we are suffering from an excess of tourism that has made our city unliveable," they said.

Representatives for the Mayor of Barcelona, the city's police department, and the tourism office did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

Barcelona officials have taken measures in recent months to address overtourism. It's an issue that several popular tourist hubs are tackling, including Japan and Venice.

The city increased its tourist tax in April, according to USA Today.

According to Bloomberg, they later announced plans to ban all short-term rentals in June.

"More supply of housing is needed, and the measures we're presenting today are to provide more supply so that the working middle class does not have to leave the city because they can't afford housing," Barcelona Mayor Jaume Collboni said. "This measure will not change the situation from one day to the next. These problems take time. But with this measure we are marking a turning point."

Barcelona banned cruise ships from docking at one of its terminals in 2023 to address overcrowding and pollution.