Tag: News

• President Joe Biden crashed a Zoom call with his staffers to shore up morale, per Politico.
• On the call, he told staffers that no one is pushing him out, and that he plans to stay the course.
• His comments come as he faces mounting pressure to quit the 2024 race for a younger replacement.

President Joe Biden crashed a Zoom call with staffers on Wednesday to shore up morale and convince them that he's not dropping out, per Politico.

The president hopped on a Wednesday call with his campaign and Democratic National Convention staff, citing anonymous staffers in the call.

Seated beside Vice President Kamala Harris, he told staffers that no one is "pushing him out" of the reelection bid.

"Let me say this as clearly as I possibly can — as simply and straightforward as I can: I am running," he said on the call, per Politico.

He added: "I'm not leaving. I'm in this race to the end, and we're going to win."

Harris echoed his sentiments, saying their team will not back down, and will "follow our president's lead."

"We will fight, and we will win," she said, per Politico.

Biden's efforts to consolidate support from his team come as he faces mounting pressure to step away from the race following his disastrous debate performance on June 27.

On Wednesday, a second Democratic lawmaker, Rep. Raúl Grijalva of Arizona, publicly called for Biden to quit. Rep. Lloyd Doggett of Texas was the first, calling on the president to step down on Tuesday.

A House Democratic aide told Reuters on Tuesday that 25 Democrats are preparing to call Biden to quit the race.

Biden's debate performance has also spooked donors. A longtime Democratic donor, Whitney Tilson, wrote on X on Saturday that he felt "deceived" by Biden's poor showing.

"If the man I saw at the debate is the real Joe Biden right now, then it would be a waste of my time and money to support him because he has almost no chance of beating Trump," Tilson wrote.

Representatives for Biden didn't immediately respond to requests for comment from Business Insider sent outside regular business hours.

• A new company, hoper, offers scheduled helicopter flights to 11 Greek destinations.
• Flights drastically cut travel time compared to traditional ferries, which can up to take six hours.
• More companies are offering premium travel options, like Blade and Uber's helicopter services.

Greece's island-goers can now fly to some of the country's most remote destinations in under 45 minutes.

Athens-based helicopter company hoper, which launched this summer, is the first that lets customers book scheduled flights to and from 11 destinations. Visitors can fly from Athens, Mykonos, and Santorini to other islands like Antiparos, Spetses, and Tinos.

One-way fares start at $195 and can go up to about $380, depending on location. A 48-minute flight from Athens to Mykonos, without any luggage, costs nearly $440 for the end of August, according to hoper's website.

"With hoper, we turn hours into minutes, and travelers earn up to a full day of vacation," said hoper CEO Demitris Memos in a press release last month.

Ferry services in Greece tend to stop at multiple islands, adding to travel time. For instance, ferry trips from Athens to Mykonos start at $46 and can take up to six hours.

Hoper also offers chartered helicopter flights for the same routes.

Helicopter companies globally are increasingly offering flights — chartered or scheduled — for people willing to pay a premium to slash time spent traveling. Locals don't always love the extra noise, though. New York City is eyeing regulations for helicopters after noise complaints soared in 2023, compared to the prior year.

Earlier this week, six of Marriott's most luxurious hotels in New York City said they are offering free helicopter airport transfers to some of their top-paying guests.

The flights will be operated by Blade, a private helicopter services company that launched in 2014. Operating in New York, Southern California, and the Bay Area, Blade sells private or shared rides to airports and places like the Hamptons.

Blade competes with Uber's helicopter services and newer players like Archer and Volocopter, part of a booming industry betting on air taxis becoming more mainstream.

• Donors are concerned about Joe Biden's ability to beat Donald Trump since his debate performance.
• Some donors told WaPo that the night reflected how the president performed at recent donor events.
• Netflix cofounder Reed Hastings told The New York Times that another candidate needs to step in to beat Trump.

Netflix cofounder Reed Hastings, one of the largest Democratic donors, has called on President Joe Biden to step down from his campaign to give another candidate a shot to beat former President Donald Trump, The New York Times reported.

"Biden needs to step aside to allow a vigorous Democratic leader to beat Trump and keep us safe and prosperous," Hastings said in an email to the Times.

A spokesperson for Netflix did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider. Hastings did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

While he's the first to call for Biden to step aside, he's not the first big Democratic donor from Hollywood to express concern.

Ari Emmanuel, CEO of Endeavor, expressed frustration at a recent talk with Tina Brown at the Aspen Ideas Festival about the ability of a president as old as Biden, who is 81, to run for president. Trump is 78.

"Well, I'm pissed off at the Founding Fathers. They had the start date of 35. They just didn't give us the end date," he said.

Hollywood supporters have been important to the Biden campaign. The Biden campaign said it raised more than $30 million at a star-studded Los Angeles fundraiser in June which was spearheaded by former President Barack Obama, George Clooney, and Julia Roberts. It's unclear if more Hollywood donors will follow Hastings and call for Biden to step aside.

Hastings is one of the first to publicly express the private concerns of some major Democratic donors since Biden's disastrous debate performance against Trump on June 27, during which the president stumbled on his words and, at times, struggled to complete his thoughts.

Multiple donors who remained anonymous told The Washington Post that Biden's debate performance reflected his interactions in small group settings at donor events, telling the newspaper that the president struggled to communicate.

One unnamed business executive who helped organize a fundraiser last year in Chicago told the Post he was shocked when Biden's team refused to let donors ask the president questions.

"I told them my donors don't care about a photo. They want to talk to him. The Biden people just wouldn't let them," the business executive told the Post. "It was clear they were managing him in a way I've never experienced before. Donors expect to get to talk to the president if you're writing a big check and having an event with him."

Biden's campaign team has been undertaking major damage control to convince donors and voters that the president is still fit for the job.

On Tuesday, the campaign flouted a $127 million windfall in June, including $38 million within four days of Biden's debate against Trump.

In an email to BI, a spokesperson for the Biden campaign highlighted statements reported by various outlets coming from those inside the administration, including Vice President Kamala Harris and Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, that emphasized Biden's commitment to the race.

"We will not back down. We will follow our president's lead. We will fight, and we will win," Harris told Biden's campaign staff in a call, according to The Times.

Not every donor agrees with Hastings. Noah Mamet, a former abassador to Argentina during the second Obama administration and a major donor to Biden's campaign, told BI in a text message that he maintains steadfast support for the president and described the attacks against Biden as "self-destructive."

"President Biden has reinforced he's running for reelection. He knows the stakes. He knows the existential threat that Trump is to the country," Mamet wrote. "Until he says he's not the candidate, we Democrats need to rally around him and work even harder to make sure we win, keep Trump out, and continue to have a democracy after November."

He pointed to a recent Supreme Court decision that gave the US president the presumption of immunity on "official" actions as an example of what's at stake in this year's election.

Still, some major donors remain unconvinced that Biden is the best nominee.

In phone conversations with Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, multiple top Democratic party donors have urged for Biden to step aside for another candidate, people familiar with the call told the Post, according to the Wednesday report.

Hastings has been a major supporter of the Democratic Party in recent years, donating millions to the party during the Trump era.

According to The Times, he and his wife, Patty Quillin, have donated more than $20 million to the party in the last few years.

The couple donated at least $1.5 million to support Biden during the 2020 race and $100,000 last year for the 2024 campaign, The Times reported.

A Biden campaign spokesperson did not address Hastings's public call in their statement to BI.

• I made both Gordon Ramsay's and Guy Fieri's 10-minute burger recipes. 
• Fieri's is simpler than Ramsay's recipe, which features way more ingredients and steps. 
• I loved both burgers, but Fieri's burger took the top spot in my celebrity-chef showdown.

Guy Fieri and Gordon Ramsay both have 10-minute burger recipes, so I decided it was time for a little showdown in honor of the holiday weekend. 

I discovered Ramsay's bacon cheeseburger recipe in his cookbook "Ramsay in 10," which includes 100 recipes that only take 10 minutes. And it was Fieri himself who gave me his burger recipe when I asked for his top burger tips. 

"This may be a more complicated answer than you bargained for, because it's not just about a burger recipe," Fieri told me. "It's about the execution of the whole deal. You can get down with whatever toppings you want, but the basics have to be covered." 

I whipped up both Ramsay and Fieri's recipes at home to decide who truly had the best — and quickest — burger. Here's how it all went down.

Fieri's burger is all about the classic ingredients.

To make Fieri's perfect burger at home, you'll need: 

• Ground beef (Fieri recommends 80% lean, 20% fat)
• American cheese slices 
• Brioche buns 
• Lettuce
• Tomato 
• Onion 
• Pickles

And there's very little prep.

All you have to do is get the veggies ready. Fieri told me it's important to shred the lettuce, slice your tomato, and "cut those white onions so thin that they only have one side." 

Per Fieri's recommendation, I also buttered the buns and popped them into the oven so they could get nice and toasty. 

Then I made my patties.

I seasoned my ground beef with salt and pepper, then shaped it into balls. 

Once my patties were ready, I threw one on the griddle and smashed it with a spatula.

Fieri said it was essential that I cook my burgers "on the hottest griddle or cast iron pan you can get." 

"You smash it down hard, we're talking a half-inch thick," he added.

The Mayor of Flavortown also told me it was important to let my patty crisp up to "get all that delicious caramelization going." I waited until the sides of my patty got crunchy before I flipped it over.

After flipping my patty, I added the cheese.

Fieri loves using American cheese slices on burgers because "they melt really well," he told me. 

Then it was time for Fieri's special cheese-melting trick.

First, I sprayed some water around my burger. Then, per Fieri's instructions, I had to place "some sort of dome or metal bowl" over my patty. 

"That steam will melt your cheese before you overcook your burger," he told me. 

I didn't have a metal bowl on hand, so I used an old Marie Callender's pie tin I found in my parents' kitchen. 

My cheese looked perfect.

Less than 10 minutes had gone by and it was already time to build my burger. 

Constructing my burger was super easy.

I placed my patty on the bottom bun, then added the tomato, onion slices, and pickles. I placed the shredded lettuce on the top bun and voilà — I was done! 

Fieri's burger tasted just as good as it looked.

What impressed me most about Fieri's burger was how juicy it tasted, even without a single condiment. The patty — which was perfectly cooked — truly stood on its own. It had just the right amount of crispiness and was packed with flavor. 

The brioche bun added a nice hint of sweetness to the overall taste, and the beautifully-melted cheese tasted almost buttery. The burger was pure perfection. 

Read my full review of Guy Fieri's perfect burger here. 

Ramsay's burger has quite a few more ingredients than Fieri's.

To make Ramsay's cheeseburgers at home, you'll need: 

• Ground beef
• Brioche buns 
• Bacon 
• Cheddar cheese 
• Egg yolks 
• Frozen red chili 
• Tomato 
• Onion 
• Little Gem lettuce 
• Mayonnaise 
• Sriracha 

First I prepped my burgers.

I added 16 ounces of ground beef into a bowl — enough to make four burgers — along with two egg yolks. I then sprinkled salt and freshly ground black pepper on top, along with one grated frozen chili. 

I used my hands to mix everything together and made four patties that were each around 1-inch thick. 

"Remember that the thicker you make the patties, the longer they will take to cook," Ramsay writes in his book. "So if you want these on the table in under 10, press your burgers until they are a little thinner for a quicker cooking time."

I drizzled some vegetable oil on my griddle and threw my patties on top.

I let my patties cook for four minutes over medium-high heat, seasoning them with some more salt and pepper.  

Then I added my bacon and onion slices, increased the heat to high, and let everything cook together.  

As my burgers cooked, I prepped Ramsay's special sauce.

I mixed four tablespoons of mayonnaise with two teaspoons of sriracha in a small bowl, along with some salt and pepper. 

I also toasted my buns and prepped my veggies.

I sliced one tomato and washed some Gem Lettuce leaves for the bottom of my burgers. I also toasted my buns in the oven for about two minutes. 

Then I flipped the burgers, bacon, and onions.

I let them cook for another five minutes. Since my bacon and onion slices were ready before my burgers, I took them off the griddle and placed them on a plate lined with a paper towel. 

It was time to add the cheese — and Ramsay uses the same trick as Fieri.

Ramsay also recommends covering the patties with something to help the cheese melt. But, unlike the Mayor of Flavortown, he doesn't spray the burger with water first. 

Instead, Ramsay's recipe instructed me to first add some butter to the griddle and place the cheese slices on top of my burgers. Then he recommends covering the patties with a lid or upturned saucepan. I used a metal bowl, which perfectly covered two of my patties. 

The cheese looked absolutely beautiful.

This is such an easy trick, and clearly worked really well for both Fieri and Ramsay's burgers. I now consider it an essential part of making a great cheeseburger at home. 

Once my patties were ready, I built my burgers.

First I spread some of Ramsay's sriracha mayonnaise on my bottom buns. Then I added the Gem Lettuce, tomato, and onion slices, plus my cheeseburger and bacon. 

After I threw a few more onion slices on top and spread more sauce on my top buns, my burger was ready to go. 

Ramsay's burger looked straight out of a restaurant.

There's no denying how impressive this burger looks, and it tasted great, too. The patty was plump and juicy, and I loved the kick of heat from the sriracha mayonnaise and grated chili. 

The bacon and onion also gave some nice crunch and savoriness, while the tomato and lettuce added a dose of freshness. 

Read my full review of Gordon Ramsay's perfect burger here.

Both Fieri and Ramsay have fantastic burgers, but it's the Mayor of Flavortown who takes my top spot.

Fieri pulls off his incredible flavor with far less work and prep than Ramsay's recipe. While you've got to keep track of quite a few different steps to make Ramsay's burger happen in 10 minutes, Fieri's recipe is far simpler — and still delivers fantastic results. 

Plus, I couldn't believe Fieri's burger tasted so good without any sauce or condiments. I've found his burger to outshine those I've had from places like Five Guys, and it's comparable to the gourmet burgers I've tried all over New York — for a fraction of the cost. 

But at the end of the day, you really can't go wrong with Ramsay or Fieri. Either way, you're going to have one very delicious burger. 

• Butcher expert Pat LaFrieda told Business Insider how to make the perfect burger at home. 
• LaFrieda never adds lettuce to his burger, and he loves using halved grape tomatoes for flavor. 
• He prefers brioche buns and only adds a small dollop of mayonnaise for the sauce. 

Pat LaFrieda is behind some of the most famous burgers in the world. But when he's whipping up burgers at home, he likes to keep things simple. 

Business Insider sat down with LaFrieda to talk about everything from how to buy the best meat to why he only uses American cheese on burgers. And the butcher expert was happy to share his top tips for making the perfect burger. 

Pat LaFrieda always makes his burgers medium rare 

The perfect burger requires getting both the meat and temperature right. LaFrieda told BI you should always ask for domestic product, and he recommends buying grass-fed, grain-finished meat. 

"There's nothing better," LaFrieda said. "It's a lot sweeter, and now it looks like it winds up to be better for the environment than just corn." 

LaFrieda also believes six to eight ounces is the perfect size for a homemade burger. 

"Personally, I like a six-ounce burger if I'm cooking at home — especially on the grill — because I know I'll finish it, and maybe even have half of another," he said. "It's thick enough where I can still cook it the way I like it, which is medium rare." 

LaFrieda keeps his toppings and sauce simple — and he always skips the lettuce

LaFrieda usually pairs his meat with just a small dollop of mayonnaise and some halved grape tomatoes. 

"There's nothing worse than a big tomato that's almost like a watermelon and has no flavor in it," he said. "Whereas tiny grape tomatoes, all you do is cut them in half, and that's where you get bursts of flavor." 

LaFrieda said he prefers to have a Caesar salad on the side instead of adding lettuce to his burger, and he usually skips onions because they can "overpower the flavor" and "linger around well after." 

And when it comes to the buns, LaFrieda always loves brioche 

LaFrieda said the bun is often overlooked, but it's crucial to a perfect burger. 

"It's the first thing you're touching, it's the first thing you're tasting," he continued. "It can't overpower the burger, it can't be too bready." 

Brioche buns are LaFrieda's favorite, and he recommends slightly warming them to "bring magic to a burger." 

He's also a fan of King's Hawaiian buns, which he said are great when "you want something a little bit different." 

LaFrieda doesn't have any special tricks or tips to make the perfect burger, but he says that's the whole point. 

"It sounds simple, and it is simple, but it's overlooked," he added. "Really, that's the best burger you can get right there."

• Saks Fifth Avenue is purchasing Neiman Marcus for $2.65 billion amid luxury retail challenges.
• Amazon and Salesforce are taking minority stakes in Saks Global, the new company.
• The news shows how hard it is for department stores today — particularly compared to luxury giants.

In a deal that shows just how hard things are getting in the luxury retail space, Saks Fifth Avenue's parent is purchasing rival department store company Neiman Marcus for $2.65 billion, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Amazon — which has long tried to boost its luxury offerings as part of its "everything store" concept — and Salesforce are getting in on it, too, with both taking minority stakes in the new company, Saks Global. The pair will provide technology and logistics support to the latest luxury giant, the Journal said.

As e-commerce and the power of luxury conglomerates like LVMH and Kering have grown, department stores are facing diminishing returns. In 2020, Lord & Taylor filed for bankruptcy. Macy's announced in February that it would be closing 150 stores over the next three years.

In a way, the old palaces of retail are becoming places to browse, perhaps, but not purchase.

Take somebody looking to buy a new luxury bag. They may visit Bergdorf Goodman, a Neiman Marcus-owned store in New York, to try on a few for size before setting their sights on the Loewe Flamenco bag, an it bag from an it brand.

Rather than shell out $2,600 on the spot, they may go home and give it a think — and a Google. Maybe there's a discount code available on e-commerce retailer like Net-a-Porter or Moda Operandi, known for their sales. If not, rather than schlep back to the department store, why not go straight to the source, the Loewe boutique? Like many LVMH brands, Loewe's stores have gotten upgrades in recent years and will surely roll out the royal treatment to those willing to drop a couple of grand. (And you get some nice branded packaging for any unboxing TikToks you want to do, of course.)

The above situation is playing out more and more often, making the consolidation and synergies that a Saks-Neimans merger, which has been in talks for months, all the more appealing. It also makes the new company's leader — Marc Metrick, who runs Saks' e-commerce business — a natural choice.

But it is worth noting that, even together, the brand is a fraction of the size of other luxury powerhouses. The Journal estimated the combined business would have about $10 million in retail sales — just over 10% of the $94 billion LVMH brought in last year.

It may be those conglomerates, which own top brands like Louis Vuitton and Dior (LVMH) and Gucci and Saint Laurent (Kering), that the new Saks is trying most fervently to fend off, especially since many have their own stores or e-commerce operations.

Combined, Saks and Neimans will have more negotiating power with designers, forcing them to loosen their tight control on retail channels, and be able to cut certain logistics costs. The new company can use those savings to boost marketing or the in-store experience to rival those of branded boutiques.

They've got something else in the back pocket of their designer jeans. No matter how mighty Bernard Arnault's LVMH is, there will always be people who do want to browse that curated selection of handbags or outfits — and at least a few of those people will splurge on the spot.

• President Joe Biden vowed again on Wednesday that he is not dropping out of the race.
• If he does, Vice President Kamala Harris would start out as his best-positioned replacement.
• Harris has both practical and political benefits in her favor.

Democrats would have a practical and political nightmare on their hands if President Joe Biden drops out and they decide to push Vice President Kamala Harris to the sidelines instead of the top of the ticket.

On Wednesday, Biden and Harris jointly proclaimed to campaign aides that they would press on in the face of growing criticism following Biden's disastrous debate, according to the Associated Press.

"I am running. I am the leader of the Democratic Party. No one is pushing me out," he said, according to the AP.

No one, least of all Biden's running mate, can be seen publicly pressuring Biden to give up now.

Harris gets the money — probably.

In the event that Biden does call it quits, the focus will quickly turn to Harris. She is by far the best-positioned of Biden's potential successors to take over. Most importantly, according to campaign finance experts, she would have the easiest path to accessing the Biden campaign's $240 million war chest.

While nobody is quite sure what would happen to the millions should Biden step aside, Harris would probably control the cash — but only if she became the nominee.

"If Harris succeeded Biden as the presidential nominee, she would maintain access to all the funds in the campaign committee and could use them to advance her presidential candidacy," Saurav Ghosh, the director for federal campaign finance reform at the Campaign Legal Center, told Business Insider in an email.

That's because she shares a campaign committee with Biden, Ghosh said. Given her initial involvement with the Biden money — and the presence of her name on FEC filings related to his candidacy — she is likely the only one who could use the money without much issue.

Yet the same rules wouldn't apply if Harris remained the vice presidential candidate or dropped off the ticket altogether.

According to Ghosh, federal contribution limits stipulate that candidate-to-candidate transfers don't exceed $2,000 per election. While the Biden camp could convert the money into a political action committee if someone else was the nominee, there's a catch — PACs can only donate a maximum of $3,300 per election to a different candidate.

"So in either case, there's no legal way for Biden to transfer to a new candidate the $90 million dollars that his campaign currently has on hand," Ghosh told Business Insider.

In a massive return-to-sender effort, the Biden campaign could also refund donations and donors could redirect their money toward the new candidate, campaign finance experts told NBC. Or, in yet another version of the future, the Biden campaign could transfer the funds to the national party.

All things considered, Harris soaring to the top of the ticket if Biden steps aside seems like the simplest solution with regards to the cold hard cash.

But money, of course, is not the only question — though many heads are turning in Harris' direction, longstanding questions about her viability as a candidate remain.

Harris has major support among the Democratic Party's core.

Pushing Harris aside could risk a firestorm. The vice president has repeatedly declared that she's standing behind Biden, but already, influential voices in the party are lining up behind her. Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina, whose backing helped Biden win the state's 2020 primary, has said he would want Harris if Biden drops out.

"We should do everything we can to bolster her, whether it's in second place or the top of the ticket," Clyburn said on MSNBC on Tuesday.

In Washington, where the optics are never far out of sight, it would be impossible to ignore passing over the first female vice president for a man, or the first Black vice president for a white candidate.

Black voters remain the core of the modern Democratic Party. No single group is a monolith, but none of the major Biden challengers come close to Harris' support in the Black community. According to a recent Economist-YouGov poll, 66% of Black voters view Harris favorably. In comparison, only 47% of Black voters view California Gov. Gavin Newsom favorably; slightly fewer view Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in the same light.

The same survey found that voters still don't know enough about Whitmer to have an opinion about her, underlining another potential headache. Harris is one of the most-known politicians in the country. Any potential replacement will likely need to introduce themselves to the American people and on the national stage.

This doesn't mean Harris has every advantage. Her notoriety comes with the White House's baggage. Republicans would likely tag her with the same attacks on the economy and immigration that they've used against Biden. Unlike a potential replacement outside the beltway, Harris would struggle to show any major daylight with the president.

Already, Republicans are preparing for a potential Harris bid should she get the nomination and, with it, the campaign money. On Wednesday, the Republican National Committee released a digital ad calling her the "enabler in chief" and blaming her for chaos at the border.

Against ominous music, the ad asks, "Is this who we want to be president?" It seems the Democratic Party, and its donors, have to answer that question, too.

• A new strain of monkeypox virus is "the most dangerous" yet and could be a global threat, experts say.
• The new clade Ib virus emerged in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and spread to Rwanda's border.
• Experts say this mpox strain spreads in "worrying" ways and could end up on an airplane.

A deadly and fast-spreading new strain of mpox, the disease caused by the monkeypox virus, has global health officials ringing alarm bells.

The new virus is "undoubtedly the most dangerous of all the known strains of mpox," John Claude Udahemuka, a lecturer at the University of Rwanda, said in a press briefing on June 25. He said the virus has caused miscarriages and blindness.

An earlier, milder form of mpox — called clade IIb — circulated worldwide in 2022, ultimately infecting more than 32,000 people in the US and killing 58 of them. It prompted the World Health Organization to declare a public health emergency, which ended last year.

The new virus is called clade Ib, since it's a mutation of an even earlier form of mpox. It first appeared in a remote region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in September and has spread to towns along the Rwanda border, near Burundi and Uganda.

The new clade Ib virus could cause a global outbreak, experts fear, though they stopped short of warning of a pandemic.

"The pandemic question is difficult," Trudie Lang, director of the Global Health Network at Oxford University, said in the briefing.

"I think we need to be really vigilant now and move to try and contain this as quickly as possible in this region," she added. "There's definitely the opportunity for this to get on an airplane."

The new mpox strain spreads easily

Mpox spreads through close contact, especially skin-to-skin contact. It can cause flu-like symptoms and a painful or itchy rash that develops into puss-filled blisters, lesions, and eventually scabs.

Previous strains of the virus have had limited transmission abilities. The clade I virus that's long circulated in the DRC has been mostly associated with spread through families and within households, Land said. The clade IIb virus that went global was mostly sexually transmitted and mostly affected men who have sex with men.

The new clade Ib strain seems to do it all.

It began spreading through sexual transmission, via the local sex work industry, according to the researchers. However, they said the new virus has also spread within households, between mothers and their children, and there have even been cases of person-to-person spread outside households and without sexual contact.

That's "incredibly worrying," Lang said. That's because it has more opportunities to spread than previous strains did.

The clade I form of the virus, from which the new strain has emerged, is also more deadly than clade II. According to WHO, some outbreaks have killed up to 10% of sick people.

Researchers only see 'the tip of the iceberg'

It's not yet clear just how deadly the new clade Ib virus is, because researchers aren't sure how many cases there are.

Leandre Murhula Masirika, a research coordinator in the local DRC health department, said in the briefing that they had identified more than 600 cases so far.

"These are the severe cases that make it to hospital, so this will be the tip of the iceberg," Lang said.

The WHO's technical lead for mpox, Rosamund Lewis, also raised the alarm last week, saying "There is a critical need to address the recent surge in mpox cases in Africa," according to Reuters.

The researchers said they need to better understand the virus to identify the right safety measures and vaccines to contain its spread.

"We need to first carry out studies of serology and immunology in order to see what kind of vaccination we can propose," Murhula Masirika said.

He added that, in the meantime, he wants to give the smallpox vaccine to local sex workers and healthcare workers in hopes that it will confer some immunity to mpox.

Since launching its war on Ukraine, Russia has seen a boost in its GDP large enough that the World Bank reclassified Russia from an upper-middle-income to a high-income country.

• My family reviewed and ranked 15 prepared Kirkland Signature meals from Costco.
• Surprisingly, we weren't huge fans of the super-loaded chicken pot pie because it was too rich.
• The comforting and flavorful meatloaf and mashed Yukon potatoes with glaze came out on top.

As a busy dad, finding the time to prepare, cook, and clean up dinner can be challenging. So when I saw how many prepared Kirkland Signature meals were available at Costco on my most recent trip, I figured it might be time to see how good they actually are.

My family ate and ranked 15 Kirkland Signature meals to see which was the tastiest and easiest to prepare.

Here's how they stacked up, from our least favorite to our top pick. 

The Kirkland Signature mac and cheese looked promising.

I figured the macaroni and cheese would be the safest bet of the meals I took home, and nothing about how it looked changed my mind.

It was bright yellow and seemed amply portioned. My kids usually love mac and cheese.

The prep was straightforward, as I covered the tray in foil and threw it in the oven for 45 minutes.

However, the mac and cheese disappointed us all.

In my opinion, the mac and cheese was way too rich. There was a lot of cheese and a lot of sauce, and it was unpleasantly gooey and thick.

I ate a few bites before the grease started working on my stomach. Even my kids turned it away, deeming it "too cheesy."

It was the only Kirkland Signature meal we didn't eat to completion, and the sauce was so thick that I practically had to chisel out the refrigerated leftovers to recycle the tray. 

The bright-yellow tortillas and sun-dried-tomato spread made the Tuscan chicken wraps with sauce look exciting.

The Tuscan chicken wraps with sauce looked like something I might pack for an on-the-go lunch. The wraps, which came with a sun-dried-tomato spread, seemed like reasonably sized alternatives to similar options at a deli.  

There were a lot of different elements inside the yellow tortillas — Kirkland Signature rotisserie chicken, spinach, bell peppers, olives, cream cheese, and red-pepper pesto — but I was disappointed in how little chicken I found in the wraps I brought home.

I didn't love the meal's strong flavors, though the sun-dried-tomato spread was a hit.

The most prominent flavors in this wrap were the salty olives and oily red peppers. My first bite contained almost entirely olives, which turned me off slightly.

I thought the cream cheese and red-pepper pesto made the wrap a bit too soggy on the outside and goopy on the inside. The spinach inside the wrap was also wilted, so it didn't offer any crunch.

Though I ate the wraps the day I bought them, I thought they tasted like the flavors had started to meld together — like a meal that had been sitting in the refrigerator for a while. 

Still, I liked that the wrap was pleasantly sweet and didn't fall apart under the weight of its ingredients. The sun-dried-tomato spread also had a nice, almost cheesy tang and worked well when I repurposed it for other sandwiches. But overall, I'd skip this meal the next time I'm at Costco.

We figured we'd enjoy the shepherd's pie.

The shepherd's pie was filled with meat and vegetables and topped with mashed potatoes. My family already loves pie, so the novelty of mashed potatoes and pastry immediately appealed to my kids.

I removed the pie from its plastic container, placed it onto a baking sheet, and put it in the oven for about 45 minutes until golden. Individual pieces of pie fell apart as I served them, which wasn't surprising.

We weren't fans of the shepherd's pie.

I thought the mashed potatoes were mealy and dry, the vegetables were mushy, and the filling was overseasoned and too sweet.

The filling was stew-like, but the ground beef was dry and crumbly. I thought I noticed pieces of steak, but these were just hunks of ground beef resembling burger meat.

Overall, my family wasn't a fan of the meal.

The Kirkland Signature Southwest wrap with rotisserie chicken seemed like a good on-the-go option.

The Kirkland Signature Southwest wraps were the only meal that required no prep whatsoever, making it a good option for on-the-go eating.

They came with a pinkish chipotle sauce. When I unwrapped a wrap to put the sauce inside, I saw that the employee who made the meal sealed the wrap with a tangy, creamy spread.

The Southwest wraps were moist and flavorful.

I thought the wraps were good because they tasted fresh, and the spread that glued them together helped prevent dryness.

There was ample chicken, and the seasoned mix of corn and beans reminded me of a burrito from Chipotle. The pinkish chipotle sauce tasted like a Buffalo sauce to me, but that's not something I'd ever complain about.

Each wrap made for a viable lunch, and at less than $4 each, they're way less expensive than takeout. I could imagine buying them again when I need a lunch that saves time and money.

The chicken pot pie was huge.

At nearly 6 pounds, I thought the Kirkland Signature chicken pot pie was huge and surprisingly heavy.

Some of the latticework on top of the pie broke in transit, but it was only cosmetic damage.

The instructions called for at least an hour of baking time, which I thought sort of defeated the purpose of making it as a quick weeknight meal.

Nevertheless, I baked the pie until it was golden brown, which took about an hour and 10 minutes.

The chicken pot pie felt a little too heavy after a few bites.

The first bite of the pie was great.

The pie crust was sweet, flaky, and crisp, the hunks of rotisserie chicken were huge, and the pea-heavy cream and vegetables were rich and salty without being mushy or overcooked, as they sometimes are in pot pie.

But in subsequent bites, the initial richness became a goopy sort of heaviness that didn't sit well, and the whole pot pie started to taste a little too salty.

At the very least, the crust was good enough to make me want to try one of Costco's dessert pies.

The Kirkland Signature beef bulgogi Korean BBQ seemed like a meal my kids would enjoy.

The Kirkland Signature beef bulgogi Korean BBQ is one of the more bare-bones options among the meal selections at my local Costco. The container had a large portion of thinly sliced raw beef and white onions drenched in brown bulgogi sauce.

My kids don't have much experience with Korean-inspired food, but I thought the meal would appeal to them because it's sweet, tender, and gooey.

The meal was too sweet, and the beef fell apart while cooking.

I figured I'd cook the meal in a skillet over medium-high heat until the beef was browned. However, I quickly realized it was difficult to tell when the beef was cooked through because all sides of the meat were covered in a dark-brown sauce.

I went by instinct, stirring frequently to make sure it cooked evenly. Some slices fell apart due to the constant stirring, but the dish seemed fully cooked after five minutes.

Unfortunately, the small pieces of meat made the bulgogi look more like a stew, and its appearance alone turned off my kids.

We thought the meal was tasty but too sweet, as the sauce's flavor overwhelmed the beef. I'd prefer this dish if the beef came in thicker pieces that I could remove from the sauce before cooking.

I was impressed with the portion size of the Kirkland Signature meatballs with rigatoni.

This meal, which included rigatoni and six enormous meatballs, cost $20 and was enough to feed my entire family twice.

Unfortunately, we thought the meatballs and rigatoni were underwhelming.

The meatballs were a little spongy in texture, and something about how the ground-beef-and-pork mixture was seasoned tasted more like sausage than I expected (though that's hardly a bad thing).

The rigatoni held up surprisingly well after 50 minutes in the oven — not quite al dente but not at all mushy. However, the sauce was a bit too sweet and seasoned for me.

My kids liked the pasta but not the meatballs. I also thought the shredded cheese on top seemed like an afterthought, and I could've gone for more.

The Kirkland Signature udon-noodle salad with dressing and peanuts came together easily.

The Kirkland Signature udon-noodle salad was extremely easy to assemble — it already came with a shredded-vegetable slaw, peanuts, lime wedges, and a miso sauce.

I tossed all the ingredients into a bowl and served the finished salad alongside some chicken wings. 

The salad was fine, but I probably wouldn't buy it again.

The dressing was sweet and tangy with a strong miso flavor, but I thought the udon noodles were a bit mushy. I also wished the vegetable mix of shredded bok choy, broccoli, cabbage, and carrots was crisper to balance out the noodles' softness.

Overall, the salad wasn't too heavy or saucy, so it would likely be a nice, no-cook option for a quick meal or picnic.

The Kirkland Signature chicken quesadillas looked pretty large.

The Kirkland Signature quesadillas came with salsa, sour cream, and guacamole.

The instructions on the packaging called for heating them up in a frying pan with some oil, so my first batch got a chimichanga-esque crunchiness I don't always expect from quesadillas.

I thought it was a big portion, as there were eight wedges, and two of them felt like more than enough for an adult-sized meal.

The chicken quesadillas were quite satisfying.

It was sort of the perfect meal to suit my family's quesadilla needs.

The chicken was seasoned but not spicy, and there was tons of cheese without being too greasy.

The salsa, a sweet, fresh, restaurant-style dip with jalapeño, was the surprise star for me. The Kirkland Signature quesadillas were my wife's favorite of all the meals. 

The yakisoba stir fry with seasoned chicken was actually packed with veggies.

The Kirkland Signature yakisoba stir fry was a fun and easy-to-prepare dinner.

I heated the meal in a Dutch oven because I didn't have a wok or a large enough frying pan. Per the instructions, I heated up oil and first added the vegetables, then chicken, then noodles, and then sauce.

It was ready in less than 10 minutes. And because there were plenty of vegetables, including broccoli, carrots, onions, peppers, and snow peas, I didn't have to prep a side or a salad.

The yakisoba stir fry with chicken was really tasty.

We thought the yakisoba noodles were warm, comforting, and satisfying, with tender hunks of chicken and some nice texture from the fresh vegetables.

It was a bit sweeter than I usually like, but a hit of hot sauce helped balance out the sweetness.

If I bought this again (and I would buy this again) I'd use only one container of sauce. My kids liked the noodles, and we finished most of the portion in a single sitting.

My kids were excited about the ravioli lasagna with beef and pork Bolognese sauce.

I figured — correctly — that something called ravioli lasagna would appeal to my kids, who love a novelty.

The ravioli were stacked in twos and topped with a meaty Bolognese sauce and mozzarella. It was easy to prepare, as all I needed to do was cover it with foil and bake it for an hour.

At the end of the hour, I deviated from the instructions and gave it five more minutes uncovered in the oven to get the cheese nice and bubbly on top.

The ravioli lasagna was a pretty tasty, easy pasta dish.

The lasagna was good. The Bolognese sauce was hearty and sweet and my kids appreciated that the ravioli were glued together with melted mozzarella.

It was about a dinner and a half's worth of food for my family, though it felt like a smaller portion than a traditional lasagna made in an equivalent pan size.

The Kirkland Signature gyros came with a lot of ingredients, which impressed me.

This dish came with many components, which made me appreciate Costco's attention to detail and how much goes into prepping a gyro.

Only the gyro meat and the pitas needed to be heated, but the meal also came with a cucumber and tomato salad, red onions, feta cheese, and tzatziki.

Unfortunately, I needed to find my own hot sauce.

The finished gyros were delicious.

I thought the gyros were delicious. If there was a weak link in the sandwich, it was probably the gyro meat itself, which was a little heavy on the onion powder and heated up to a scrapple-like consistency.

That being said, the assertive seasoning on the meat was mellowed by the sweetness and crunch of the veggies and the tangy creaminess of the tzatziki and feta.

It wasn't better than a gyro I might get from a street cart, but the price was right, and there's no street cart inside my apartment.

I thought the container of Kirkland Signature chicken Alfredo was surprisingly heavy.

My first impression of the chicken Alfredo was that it was heavy. The label said it was a little over 4 pounds, and though it might not sound like much, it was a lot of food for my family.

There was an impressive amount of chicken but I expected a higher ratio of noodle-to-meat. Like the macaroni and cheese, the whole tray was covered with foil and baked in the oven.

The chicken Alfredo wasn't too overwhelming or rich.

The chicken Alfredo was better than I expected.

Alfredo sauce is often a bit too indulgent for my tastes, but I thought Kirkland Signature's version of the creamy, cheesy sauce wasn't overwhelmingly heavy. The chicken was also moist and flavorful.

My kids liked it even though they normally prefer their chicken and their pasta separated. Alongside some steamed broccoli, the chicken Alfredo stretched to two full meals for my family with little effort on my part. 

The Kirkland Signature chicken street tacos came in a hard-to-carry package.

For whatever reason, the chicken street tacos came in a longer container than the other meals.

I thought it was vaguely festive but difficult to fit into a shopping bag or a refrigerator. Like the gyros, the street tacos came as a kit.

I heated the chicken and tortillas and topped them with cheese, shredded veggies, salsa, cilantro-lime crema, and a squeeze of fresh lime.

The chicken street tacos were one of our favorite meals.

The chicken street tacos were excellent. The chicken was smoky with a chipotle flavor but not too spicy for my kids, the veggies were fresh and crunchy, and the sauces were tasty. I think the salsa was the same kind that came with the quesadillas.

If I were at a restaurant and got these tacos, I'd be more than satisfied with my purchase. 

I was skeptical of the meatloaf with mashed Yukon potatoes and glaze.

I'm normally not a big fan of meatloaf, and my kids' exposure to it has been limited. It's often grayish and covered in a dark red goo that looks like ketchup.

I'm also not much of a mashed potato guy and, in my experience, they never keep well.

By the time I put the Kirkland Signature meatloaf and mashed potatoes in the oven, they had been sitting in my fridge for a few days so I wasn't sure what to expect.

I didn't expect it, but the meatloaf was our winner.

Like almost every one of these meals, the meatloaf and mashed Yukon potatoes were surprisingly good.

It was heavy (but of course, most meatloaf is), and I don't think I'd usually choose it over tacos. But my family ate the meatloaf on an unseasonably cold day when I was hungry, and the sweet, juicy, and beefy dinner hit the spot.

My son, who's normally hesitant about unfamiliar foods, took to it like he was a paid spokesperson. "I'm very happy with this," he said.

I thought the mashed potatoes were just a touch mealy, but overall, they weren't bad.

Overall, the Kirkland Signature meals surprised us.

I normally cook for my family and, for whatever reason, prepared meals like those from Kirkland Signature have never been part of our dinner rotation.

But aside from the mac and cheese and rigatoni with meatballs, every one of the meals we tried was better than I expected it to be, and my kids enjoyed them more than I would've guessed.

Now, I'll likely regularly buy some of the Kirkland Signature meals when I don't have much time for meal prep.

This story was originally published on October 27, 2023, and most recently updated on July 1, 2024.