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Legionnaires' bacteria detected in 10 Bronx cooling towers, including Yankee Stadium: NYC health officials
Second person dies in Upper East Side Legionnaires' disease outbreak
Nine people remain hospitalized, according to the department.
Cooling towers potentially linked to Bronx Legionnaires' disease cluster identified
New York City health officials have identified cooling towers potentially linked to a Legionnaires' disease cluster in the South Bronx.
3 dead in Upper East Side Legionnaires' disease cluster, NYC health officials say
For the third day in a row, the NYC Health Department has announced a death in the Upper East Side Legionnaires' disease cluster.
1 death reported in Upper East Side Legionnaires' disease cluster
One death has been reported in connection to the Legionnaires' disease cluster on New York City's Upper East Side, health officials say.
The States Try to Topple WarnerMount…Thus Begins the Local Antitrust Era
(Welcome to the “Most Important Story of the Week”, my bi-weekly strategy column analyzing the most important (but often not buzziest) news story of the last two weeks. I’m the Entertainment Strategy Guy, a former streaming executive who now analyzes business strategy in the entertainment industry. Please subscribe.) Well, it looks like it’s time for another strategy column. Can I finally avoid writing about M&A? No, it seems I cannot. Admittedly, I’m a week early with this column, since I usually put it out every other week. But this news couldn’t wait. This will make three “Most Important Stories” in a row with a merger or acquisition as its centerpiece. First, Roku-Fox (an acquisition), then Comcast-NBCUniversal (a divestment!), and now the State AGs and the WGA’s lawsuits against Paramount’s pursuit of Warner Bros. Discovery (antitrust). M&A is usually the “most important” topic any given week, simply because a giant company merging or breaking up (or preventing those outcomes) can have the biggest impact on the streaming board. If you think about these companies as players in a game, changing the number of players is one of the biggest changes you can make. I shouldn’t really complain, either, since this lawsuit is very good news for customers and suppliers (econ speak for talent, workers and indie studios in Hollywood). So let me answer some questions about this potential trial, along with (shudder) making some heavily caveated predictions. I’ll also look at whether Hollywood must consolidate, whether or not the states can win, trouble at X-Box, Netflix’s YouTube binge, and more. Plus, I have five images that visualize this merger and the harm, including three brand new data looks you’ve never seen before. Subscribe Most Important Story of the Week - Can The States and the WGA Stop Hollywood’s Consolidation (Crisis)? If every other newsletter and news outlet is writing about the same story, I try to avoid writing about it as well, but I can’t ignore a story this consequential. The story of the last year was the fate of Warner Bros. Discovery, and this development potentially extends that saga into 2027. As I tried to figure out my angle, I realized, like my last column, I’m again faced with a series of questions. These questions, though, are much more forward-looking. Will the states win? Will the WGA win? If so, what happens to Warner Bros. Discovery? Either way, will this chill the market for future mergers? So you know what that means: predictions. About the future, no less, the hardest thing to predict.1 Just remember: nothing here comes with a guarantee. And the more confident someone is in their predictions, the less you should trust them. This situation is incredibly fluid, nuanced, uncertain and tenuous. So let’s try to explain what may happen. Question: Why File this Lawsuit? I’ll admit, a few months back, I was fairly pessimistic about the fate of this lawsuit. Rumors had started bubbling up that the state Attorneys General (in particular California) wanted to settle with either some minor divestments (usually CNN) or behavioral remedies. And that tracked for me: the states usually settle lawsuits, like the recent John Deere right-to-repair suit. Yet, they plan to fight this. (As they did the LiveNation-Ticketmaster monopolization trial and the Nexstar-Tegna merger.) Honestly, that also makes a ton of sense. Frankly, this move is just good politics for these State AGs. Most are still running for higher and higher office in blue states—some folks have emphasized that only Democratic AGs joined this suit, but given the Ellison/Trump ties, and fears of retribution, that tracks—and a high profile case like this will help them move up the electoral ladder, especially since Paramount and its leadership (the Ellisons, father and heir) have sided with the other side of the political aisle. That makes them unsympathetic to Democratic voters and Hollywood workers in particular. Why did this lawsuit happen? In addition to the very real concerns about industry consolidation, this is why. That said, I don’t think we would have seen this lawsuit for Netflix and Warner Bros., simply because they’re more sympathetic and aligned with Democrats. But those consolidation concerns are real. The “town”—meaning Hollywood and such—really is seeing the damage of mergers on this industry. That’s why the WGA also filed its own lawsuit in defense of workers as well. (Wildcard: What about Europe? Will they try to stop the deal, too? There have been some rumors out of the UK they may try to fight the deal, and UK enforcers just stopped a Getty Images-Shutterstock tie up, so there is precedence. This argument could go either way, though. On one hand, the EU doesn’t need to step in, cause they states are handling it. On the other hand, this could make the EU’s case easier. Just imagine if both sides coordinated. I’ll simply say, “We’ll see!”) Question: Will The State AGs or the WGA Win? Can the state AGs play David to Paramount-Skydance’s Goliath here? That’s really the whole thing, isn’t it? If you know this result, you could make a lot of money. When things are uncertain, it’s tempting to shrug and say, “Eh” meaning it’s a 50/50 proposition. I wouldn’t, though. When in doubt, you should expect that the merging parties succeed. AT&T did successfully buy Warner Bros., after all, and Disney bought Fox without any challenges. Many judges are extremely sympathetic to mergers, and I’d bet the state AGs get a judge who will allow the merger. (Even Obama-appointed judges often allow mergers.) As I understand it, we’ll see two main attacks. First, theatrical films. The AGs are arguing that, when it comes to share of box office and the number of both “wide releases” and blockbuster (or “tentpole”) films, the merging parties will have over 27% market share. Now, the Supreme Court once ruled from on high that any merger that exceeds 30% is presumptively illegal, but that’s guidance, not an ironclad bar. Still, the states will have to argue that this is close to having too much power, and with that power, this will likely further worsen the theater/studio splits in particular. Indeed, as Matthew Stoller pointed out, “just five studios are responsible for 95% of all blockbusters; if this merger goes through, then Paramount and Disney will control 60% of that.” So yes, movie studios will be very concentrated after this merger. Want me to visualize some of that? Well, here’s the share of films that grossed over $200 million at the domestic box office since 2022. (Note: this isn’t all films released in over 3,000 screens, but it is a good look at market power.) First, here are the 43 films by studio: Notice all the blue (Disney), orange (Universal), and purple (Warner Bros)? Yeah, those studios are powerful, and this combines Paramount with one of them. Here’s the look by studio and share of the films that grossed over $200 million: Now, if you look at that and also think, “Huh, should we break up Disney?” I’m with you. I’ve seen some folks poo-poo this idea that this is a real category, but it is! For an upcoming article, I’ve been pulling data on the share of top 100 films at the box office as a share of total box office, and it’s massive. Here’s the chart: (This analysis looks at The-Number’s top 100 films and total domestic box office each year.) To be clear, tentpoles make up 80.7% of the box office each year, so I do think it’s a genuine market. (To be clear, films grossing over $50 million make up 80% of the domestic box office, and films grossing over $100 million make up 64.1%.) I mean, the top 100 films at the box office make up 95% of each year’s grosses. Worse, the combined studios will likely cut output to flex that market power. Everyone can just look at what happened to Disney and Fox to see the precedent. (With fewer films, the remaining theaters have to give more for those few films that remain.) Here’s an image I’ve used a lot, the share of wide-release films from Disney and Fox over time: The AGs will also argue that this consolidation will also impact the cable industry. In this case, the consolidation is actually worse, but that environment is…complicated. Paramount will argue that the cable industry is shrinking. That said, predictions that cable will “go to zero” also don’t look very well supported by the data, as the declines are shrinking, meaning “cable” or “vMVPDs” will likely stabilize at some point. Can the state Attorneys General win on those two main arguments? I honestly don’t know. Again, I’d bet no, since history in general supports that, but it depends on the judge/jury and how they interpret the arguments. Notably, Paramount won’t face accusations about monopoly power in other areas, like streaming, news, sports rights, or vertical integration. I tend to disagree with leaving out sports rights, but I also see the appeal for a simpler case. The states also aren’t really pushing novel theories about labor harm either, which should help. (By the way, Sean McNulty at The Ankler wrote a great run through of potential options, and Capitol Forum also wrote a great paper on theatrical consolidation. Both these pieces predated the lawsuit. Matthew Stoller is also out with his analysis of the pros and cons of the case too.) In some ways, the WGA’s case is even stronger. Quoting Sean McNulty’s summary: “The WGA is citing WARNAMOUNT as crossing a 30% market share in multiple sectors, a number that the Supreme Court has precedent for deeming “presumptively anticompetitive” in a market. According to the WGA numbers, WARNAMOUNT would have represented: - 35% of film writing jobs between 2021 and 2024 - 36% of TV writing projects between 2022 and 2025 - 38% of overall deals between 2021 and 2024” Notably, antitrust enforcers did win recently in the Penguin-Simon & Schuster merger by focusing on labor impact, so don’t count this thinking out. (Wildcard: Will the states try to get a jury trial? Most likely no, they’ll let a judge handle it. If I’m them, though, I’d try to put this in front of a jury. Juries tend to understand monopoly power in a more realistic way than judges faced with legions of economists.) Question: What if They Win? What if They Lose?
Fifth Legionnaires' death confirmed as dozens of NYC buildings found with live bacteria
A fifth person has died as a result of a Legionnaires’ disease outbreak in Manhattan, the health department said, which also shared that dozens of buildings were found to have live legionella bacteria in their cooling towers.
3rd person dies from Legionnaires' disease in New York City
A third person has died in New York City amid an ongoing cluster of Legionnaires' disease cases in the Upper East Side, according to health officials.
NYC health officials expand outreach efforts in Bronx Legionnaires' cluster
Fourth person dies in Upper East Side Legionnaires’ outbreak
As of Monday, there had been 76 reported cases of Legionnaires’ disease associated with the outbreak.
NYC health department announces 2 more deaths linked to Legionnaires' outbreak
Officials said there is no evidence of ongoing transmission.
Carolina Ascent celebrates first home game of the season
The team beat Fort Lauderdale 3-0 Saturday night at American Legion Memorial Stadium.
First death reported in Upper East Side Legionnaires' disease outbreak as cases rise to 67
The outbreak has sickened 67 people with 12 hospitalized as investigators trace Legionella bacteria to dozens of cooling towers on the Upper East Side.
4th person dies from Legionnaires' disease in New York City: Health officials
At least 76 cases have been identified and seven people remain hospitalized, the New York City Health Department announced.
Up Close: Health commissioner talks NYC's response to Legionnaires' outbreak on Upper East Side
Up Close: Liz Cho sits down with the health commissioner to talk Legionnaires' and the first female fire commissioner to discuss her NYU course.
New York City health department says UES Legionnaires' cluster exposure has ended
The New York City health commissioner shared encouraging news on Friday morning about the deadly Legionnaires' outbreak.
NYC health officials to discuss deadly Legionnaires' cluster in South Bronx
NYC health officials investigating Queens building after 2 confirmed cases of Legionnaires
Fifth person dies in Legionnaires' disease outbreak in NYC neighborhood
The New York City health department said it has identified at least 82 cases of the disease in an outbreak in the Upper East Side of Manhattan.
New York Yankees stadium tower among 10 ordered cleaned as Legionnaires' cases rise
New cases have been identified in a growing Legionnaires' disease cluster in the South Bronx, and city health officials have ordered 10 cooling towers, including at Yankee Stadium, to be cleaned.
Lenovo launches new 16-inch gaming laptop with Inkjet-printed OLED and 240Hz
Lenovo has unveiled the Legion R9000P with what it says is the world's first gaming laptop to feature an inkjet-printed OLED display. Also with a 240Hz refresh rate, the new 16-inch laptop could cost less than competing models in the market.
Second death reported in Legionnaires' disease outbreak in New York City
A second person has died in connection to the ongoing Legionnaires' disease outbreak in New York City.
Second person dies in Legionnaires’ disease outbreak on Upper East Side
So far, 72 people have been affected by the outbreak, with 50 of them needing hospitalization. Nine remain hospitalized.
City health chief defends agency, mayor over Legionnaires'
The outbreak sickened 94 people and 11 people died.
2nd death reported in Upper East Side Legionnaires' disease cluster, health officials say
A second death has been reported in connection to the Legionnaires' disease cluster on the Upper East Side, health officials said Saturday.
Health officials believe source of deadly NYC Legionnaires' outbreak has been eliminated
Bronx Legionnaires' disease outbreak prompts NYC health officials to order the cleaning of 10 cooling towers
'We cannot eradicate this bacteria.' Health officials explain why Legionnaries' can't be stopped
There are nine confirmed cases of Legionnaries' disease in the South Bronx as of Sunday. At least one person died and three are in the hospital.
34 cooling towers on Upper East Side tested positive for live Legionella bacteria, health officials say
Thirty-four cooling towers at 33 buildings on the Upper East Side tested positive for live Legionella bacteria, the New York City Health Department announced Tuesday.
31 sickened in Upper East Side Legionnaires' cluster discharged from hospital, health officials say
2nd death reported in UES Legionnaires' disease cluster, health officials say
1 dead in new Legionnaires' disease cluster in the Bronx, health officials say
1 dead, 5 diagnosed with Legionnaires’ disease in the Bronx: Health officials
To date, 12 people have died from Legionnaires’ disease in Manhattan and now one victim in the Bronx.
7 South Bronx cooling towers test positive for live Legionella bacteria
Two people have died in connection with the cluster, according to the DOH.
UES Legionnaires' disease exposure risk has ended, NYC health officials say
Source of South Bronx Legionnaires' disease cluster has been eliminated, health officials say
The source of the Legionnaires' disease cluster in the South Bronx has been eliminated, New York City health officials said Wednesday.
2 more deaths reported in UES Legionnaires' cluster, health officials say
Minecraft’s official system requirements have updated for the first time in 17 years
It's catching up to reality.
1 dead, 5 sickened in Legionnaires' disease cluster in the Bronx, health officials say
One person has died and a total of five people have been sickened by Legionnaires' disease in the Bronx.
Additional cooling towers test positive for Legionella bacteria
Investigators have now identified 31 cooling towers testing positive for the bacteria in three zip codes.
Ubisoft Will Reportedly Try Relaunching Watch Dogs: Legion With a Director's Cut
Ubisoft will attempt to relaunch Watch Dogs: Legion next year via a revamped Director's Cut, it's been reported.
One person dead in Legionnaires’ disease cluster on UES, officials say
As of 9 p.m. Thursday, there were 67 confirmed cases in the outbreak and 12 people remain hospitalized, city officials said.
Sunday Preview – Ogor Mawtribes on the warpath
See what’s coming up next week for Warhammer Age of Sigmar, Legions Imperialis, and more.
New South Bronx Legionnaires' cluster sickens 9, leaves 1 dead
A new Legionnaires' disease cluster in the South Bronx has sickened nine people and been linked to one death, prompting the city to order 10 cooling towers cleaned and disinfected as investigators work to identify the source.
4th person dies from Legionnaires' disease in New York City: Health officials
At least 76 cases have been identified and seven people remain hospitalized, the New York City Health Department announced.
Lenovo launches Legion 24-1r and 27-1r 280Hz IPS monitors from $99
Lenovo has released two 1080p Legion gaming monitors with 280Hz IPS panels, 400-nit brightness and adjustable stands. China pricing starts at about $99.
Four deaths reported in New York City Legionnaires’ disease cluster
A fourth person has died in connection with a cluster of Legionnaires’ disease cases in New York City, city officials said.
Legionnaires' outbreak: Second death reported in connection to Upper East Side cluster
City health officials have confirmed that a second person has died in connection to the ongoing Legionnaires' disease outbreak on the Upper East Side.
One death reported in New York City Legionnaires’ disease cluster
One person has died in connection with a cluster of Legionnaires’ disease cases in New York City, Health Commissioner Dr. Alister Martin said Friday.
Health officials holding virtual town hall on Legionnaires' disease cluster in South Bronx
Confusion for residents after Legionella bacteria found in Lower East Side building
Residents are confused about water issues at an apartment Complex in Alphabet City.
Second person dies of Legionnaires’ disease linked to South Bronx cluster
Last week, the city’s Health Department said one person had died in connection with the cluster.
Sports without politics is a fantasy and the World Cup proves it
From ancient Greece to Nazi Germany, sport and politics have long been intertwined. Nevertheless, we still imagine that international sport can be kept above the fray and serve as a neutral arena where nations compete on merit alone. In this article, diplomacy scholar Geoffrey Allen Pigman argues the 2026 FIFA World Cup shows this is a dangerous illusion. When international sport is left entirely to revenue-maximizing private bodies like FIFA, it doesn't escape politics, but rather surrenders to its worst expressions. With the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics fast approaching, the IOC must decide whether to learn that lesson or repeat the same mistakes. The largest and most lucrative FIFA World Cup ever draws toward its climactic conclusion amidst a swirl of controversy. Team members, staff, fans, and spectators have been denied their right to enter the United States to participate, and US President Donald Trump intervened with FIFA boss Gianni Infantino to overturn a referee’s call that Trump believed disadvantaged the US national team. It is a moment to step back and reflect on what the purposes of international sport mega-events like the World Cup, and international sport more broadly, are, and what they should be. Does international sport serve public purposes? Is there a public interest? Or is it primarily a private endeavor organized by commercial enterprises to entertain the global public (and generate profit in the process), which is occasionally used by governments and leaders for raisons d’etat? Central to the idea of sport is the principle of fair play, which in the international context demands that games be free from political interference. However, it is impossible to separate sport from politics, all claims to the contrary notwithstanding. The most positive political use of international sport through the millennia has been to facilitate diplomacy. The use of international sport for diplomatic objectives has existed since at least the time of the ancient Olympic Games, around which was instituted the custom of the Ekecheiria, or Olympic Truce, between participating states to facilitate fair competition and diplomatic achievements by ensuring that participants could travel safely to the Olympiad. In his seminal work On Diplomacy (1987), diplomacy scholar James Der Derian characterized the objectives of diplomacy as overcoming alienation and mediating estrangement between governments and between peoples. One increasingly important diplomatic tool in the technology-infused media environment over the past century has been public diplomacy, under which governments and non-state diplomatic actors (e.g. transnational corporations) communicate to global publics about their international policy objectives and to shape their global brand image. Political scientist Michał Kobierecki, in his important book Sports Diplomacy (2020), views sports diplomacy as falling broadly within the ambit of public diplomacy, as international sport intimately involves the participation of global publics as spectators and consumers of global media. Diplomacy scholar Stuart Murray and this author, in a 2013 article, distinguish between international sport used for diplomatic purposes and international sport-as-diplomacy, which encompasses the range of diplomacy that occurs as teams and competitors, spectators and fans, and government officials all converge for international sporting events like the Olympic Games and FIFA World Cup. Diplomacy scholar H.E. Chehabi, in a 2001 article on US-Iran sports diplomacy, describes the interaction between spectators and fans at international sporting events as “people-to-people diplomacy,” in which relationships develop independently of governments and their objectives. Diplomacy by the aforementioned definitions is often unsuccessful. Moreover, all too often the tools of diplomacy may be employed by governments and other actors to thwart or oppose the objectives of diplomacy as characterized by Der Derian. Governments routinely use the tools of public diplomacy to disseminate propaganda, spreading misinformation in the attempt to deceive global publics about their objectives and to create misleading impressions about their brand identity. Within sports diplomacy, the term “sportswashing” has been coined recently to describe how governments invest in and promote international sport to create positive global public impressions of their nations and, in doing so, to distract the global public from their deficient records in areas such as human rights and democratic governance. Murray, in his 2018 book Sports Diplomacy: Origins, Theory and Practice, introduces the concept of sports anti-diplomacy, wherein governments intentionally use international sport to advance aggressive and nationalistic objectives. Obvious historical examples include Hitler’s use of the 1936 Berlin Olympics to glorify his Third Reich and the 1969 El Salvador-Honduras football “war.” SUGGESTED READING The beautiful game made ugly By Emily Ryall FIFA argues that it is and seeks to be apolitical in its stewardship of international Association Football (soccer). FIFA policies governing bids to host the World Cup require uninhibited and non-discriminatory access for players, team staff, and spectators of all participating countries to host nations and venues. It became clear soon after Trump returned to power in the United States in January 2025 that Trump’s political intentions and objectives to limit non-US citizens from living and working in the United States and, in numerous cases, even visiting the country, would collide with FIFA’s host nation policies. Beginning soon after the start of the second Trump administration, US federal authorities imposed restrictions on entry to the United States of citizens of between 20 and 40 countries for any purpose, with only limited exceptions. Federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) began arresting non-US citizens in the United States, including persons with and without legal status, holding them in jails, concentration camps, and other detention facilities until they were deported to their home or third countries, where they faced substantive risks to their personal safety. FIFA boss Gianni Infantino, in an effort to ensure the most successful and lucrative World Cup in history, engaged diplomatically with President Trump in an attempt to facilitate entry to the US for World Cup participants. Infantino did all in his power to ingratiate himself with Trump, to the extent of creating a FIFA “Peace Prize,” which he awarded to Trump in December 2025 at a ceremony in the then Trump-controlled John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC, on the occasion of the World Cup draw. The prize was an ersatz consolation for someone who aspired in vain to win the rather more prestigious and well-known Nobel Peace Prize. And in the run-up to the World Cup, conditions became worse. In February 2026, Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched a war of aggression against Iran, illegal under international law, under the false pretence that Iran’s government was preparing to attack the United States and Israel. During the US aerial bombardment of Iran, US planes bombed Azadi Stadium, the facility where Iran’s national football team trained. As the 2026 FIFA World Cup began, it was clear that Infantino’s efforts had been for naught: the Trump administration would not adhere to FIFA policies governing access to World Cup host nations. World Cup referee Omar Artan, a citizen of Somalia, was denied a US visa to enter the United States to participate in the World Cup. Trump’s government only granted US visas to Iran’s football team ten days before they were scheduled to arrive for the tournament. Numerous members of the support staff for Iran’s team were denied US visas. Iran’s team, which had been scheduled to train in Arizona, was directed to shift its training site to Tijuana, Mexico, notwithstanding that all three of their group stage matches took place at US venues. The US Department of Homeland Security only permitted the Iranian team to enter the US on the day before each scheduled match and then to return to Mexico immediately after playing. Members of Iraq’s and Switzerland’s football teams were delayed for hours by US officials at the US border, and an Iraqi team photographer was refused entry. Spectators and fans from Haïti and Iran were denied entry to the United States altogether. A large number of fans from a range of countries had their applications for US visas rejected. There were multiple off-ramps through which participants could have avoided the negative consequences of Trump’s decisions for the 2026 World Cup. Once it was clear that the Trump government intended to violate the established expectations for World Cup hosts, FIFA could have shifted the matches scheduled to take place in the United States to Mexico and Canada. The three nations were already designated as co-hosts, and host cities and venues had been selected. Once it was clear that FIFA, governed by FIFA boss Gianni Infantino’s dependent and dysfunctional relationship with Trump, would never consider this option on its own, it fell to the national football federations to act. The national federations, particularly some combination of federations of the leading contenders (France, Spain, Brazil, Argentina, Morocco, England, Germany, etc.), could have refused to participate under the US-imposed conditions or, at the least, demanded an ironclad agreement with the Trump government that FIFA policies on access would be respected. ___ International sport is inextricably entangled with diplomacy of different sorts, for good or ill, it cannot be considered to be in the purely private realm and left to revenue-maximizing private actors. ___ Why did neither FIFA nor the national football federations act to protect the interests of players, team staff, referees, fans, and spectators? In essence, the relentless engines of capitalism prevailed over norm observance, ethics, and fair play. The revenue interests of FIFA, sponsors, global media, and host cities won out. FIFA’s managers viewed hosting another World Cup principally in the United States as a veritable pot of gold for FIFA and its collaborators. FIFA has estimated its own revenue over the 2023-26 budget cycle, which includes the 2026 World Cup, at $13 billion, revised up from an initial projection of $11 billion, and 72% higher than the previous revenue cycle. Of that total, FIFA is estimated to have generated $8.9 billion from the Cup itself in revenue from TV rights ($3.92 billion), sponsorships ($2.69 billion), ticket sales ($3.1 billion), licensing rights, and other sources. A joint study by FIFA and the World Trade Organization estimates that the World Cup will contribute over $40 billion to global GDP, including nearly $14 billion in direct visitor spending in the three host countries (but principally in the United States, which hosted the lion’s share of the matches). The FIFA World Cup is now reportedly “the single most lucrative recurring commercial property in global sport.” And yet, notwithstanding the Trump government’s uses of the World Cup for sports anti-diplomacy, and the climate of anxiety that this created for participants and spectators, diplomacy that did not depend upon governments was able to thrive at the World Cup. Examples of successful people-to-people diplomacy were legion, as citizens of towns and cities across the States, as well as in Mexico and Canada, welcomed team members, their families and supporters, to training sites across North America. Fans of different teams joined together in person in stadiums for matches, at watch parties and bars, and at welcome events sponsored by host cities. The joy and camaraderie shared between the citizenry of Boston and Scotland’s “Tartan Army” of fans is but one example of how the “Beautiful Game” brings people together. Friendships forged across continents are likely to endure well beyond the Cup final. Even those achievements cannot be seen as unalloyed, however. As South African football fan Byron Pillay commented to Al Jazeera, “Football is called the Beautiful Game for a reason, for its ability to unite people. But it’s hard to believe in that magic with the politics and war rhetoric off the field of play, especially when one of the tournament hosts is central to that.” Ultimately, the experience of the 2026 FIFA World Cup illustrates that, as international sport is inextricably entangled with diplomacy of different sorts, for good or ill, it cannot be considered to be in the purely private realm and left to revenue-maximizing private actors. As long as there is the possibility of diplomatic progress in mediating estrangement between governments or between peoples, there is a broad and overarching public interest in international sport. Likewise, as it would be difficult to put on an international sport mega-event without international sporting organizations like FIFA and the International Olympic Committee (IOC), global media firms, and companies purchasing sponsorships, public and private interests in international sport must coexist, most likely somewhere on a shifting spectrum between partnership and rivalry or cross purposes. As the World Cup wraps up, the IOC needs to consider its lessons before the scheduled 2028 Los Angeles Olympics if they want to avoid a media-hyped Trump version of the 1936 Berlin Olympiad. The IOC and the National Olympic Committees need to set conditions on and make demands of Trump’s government with clearly articulated consequences for non-compliance, up to and including cancellation of the Games. Time is running out for the IOC, as unlike with the FIFA World Cup, there is no at-the-ready alternate venue for Los Angeles.
11 deaths linked to Upper East Side Legionnaires' outbreak, city says
The city announced two more deaths linked to the Upper East Side Legionnaires' outbreak, bringing the toll to 11.
HUGS casino night fundraiser in Savannah to support affordable mental health services
American Legion Post 135 to raise funds for affordable mental health in Savannah
Lenovo announces new C700 handheld with cloud gaming in mind, set to launch next month
The new device is called the Lenovo Legion C700, and Lenovo has officially teased its launch with the message “See you in August."
Second death reported in Legionnaires’ disease outbreak in New York City
A second person has died in connection with an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease in New York
Fifth Legionnaires’ death confirmed as dozens of NYC buildings found with live bacteria
Tuesday marked the fifth consecutive day a death had been reported by NYC health officials. A total of 82 people have been sickened by the illness.
NYC Health Department announces two more deaths in Upper East Side Legionnaires' outbreak
The NYC Health Department has announced two more deaths in the Upper East Side Legionnaires' disease cluster.
NYC Health expands Legionnaires' disease outreach area in South Bronx as testing continues
The NYC Health Department is expanding its South Bronx Legionnaires' disease outreach into two additional ZIP codes following a recent uptick in cases.
NYC health officials to hold town hall on deadly Legionnaires' disease cluster
City health chief defends agency, mayor over Legionnaires'
The outbreak sickened 94 people and 11 people died.
1 dead in NYC Legionnaires' disease outbreak and over 70 cases confirmed
One person has died in New York City's Legionnaires' disease outbreak as health officials continue searching for the source.
Lenovo launches new Legion magnetic keyboard with 8,000mAh battery, 8K polling rate, and all-aluminum design
Lenovo has launched the Legion R7 RT75 magnetic keyboard in China. Featuring all the latest features like rapid trigger and SOCD, the new 75% keeb packs a massive 8,000 mAh battery, an 8K polling rate, and a built-in display in an all-aluminum frame.
Lenovo Addresses Legion Go BIOS Update Bricking Gaming Handhelds
It was recently revealed in a handful of Reddit posts that an official Lenovo Legion Go BIOS update (N3CN42WW) was apparently causing the handheld gaming PCs to become unresponsive, with users claiming Lenovo told them they would be on the hook for repair costs. Now, nearly three weeks after the...
First Patient Dies of Legionnaires’ Disease After New York Outbreak
New York City’s Health Department is still seeking to identify the source of an outbreak on the Upper East Side that has infected 67 people.
NYC unveils new Legionnaires safety measures after 11 deaths in Upper East Side cluster
The 11 deaths top the total number of deaths in a similar outbreak in Harlem in 2025, when seven people lost their lives.
His melancholy Taylor Swift videos have captivated millions. Fans call the feeling getting 'gregged'
Greg Marzinsky's simple, cinematic cityscapes have inspired a legion of fans who can't help but be moved by his content.
NYC health commissioner grilled over city's response to Legionnaires' disease outbreak
Local residents and local leaders came to City Council chambers to push for answers about the source of the outbreak and how well cooling towers were inspected.
New York Yankees stadium tower among 10 ordered cleaned as Legionnaires' cases rise
New cases have been identified in a growing Legionnaires' disease cluster in the South Bronx, and city health officials have ordered 10 cooling towers, including at Yankee Stadium, to be cleaned.
[0.5.5] Twister Gemling Legionnaire - PoE 2 Mercenary Build Guide
Conquer the game with [0.5.5] Twister Gemling Legionnaire PoE 2 Mercenary build! Learn everything about the build: equipment, skill gems, passive tree, gameplay, and mechanics.
DOH holds in-person town hall on Bronx Legionnaires' cases
"Remember, there are 24 total cooling towers in this area that we are concerned about," New York City Health Commissioner Dr. Alister Martin said.
Second person dies of Legionnaires’ disease as New York City cases decline sharply
Upper East Side buildings, including the Met and Guggenheim museums, have cleaned and disinfected their cooling towers, which are believed to be the source of the outbreak.
Nemaha Sports Construction claims Class B Legion state title
Highlights from Nemaha Sports Construction's (Lincoln Christian) Class B State Legion Championship victory.
Health officials probe 8 Legionnaires’ cases at Thornville nursing home
Health officials are investigating an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease at a nursing home in Thornville, just north of Lancaster.The Fairfield County health com
Lenovo launches flagship tablet with 2.5K 165 Hz OLED, Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 and 24 GB RAM
Lenovo has launched the Legion Y700 Infinite in China with a 2.5K 165 Hz OLED display and Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. It offers up to 24 GB of RAM and 5G, with prices starting at CNY 4,999 (about $744).
2nd victim to die in Upper East Side Legionnaires' outbreak was Air Force veteran
The law firm that represents the victim said he is an 88-year-old man who was a businessman and an Air Force veteran.
Who Won August and September: Original Films or Franchises?
(Welcome to the Entertainment Strategy Guy, a newsletter on the entertainment industry and business strategy. I write a weekly Streaming Ratings Report and a bi-weekly strategy column, along with occasional deep dives into other topics, like today’s article. Please subscribe.) I just heard someone say that if you’re reading a pundit or data analyst, and they don’t tell you that they got anything wrong, they’re not a pundit but an “influencer”. I agree with that. You have to tell your audience when you get things wrong, or they won’t (or shouldn’t) trust you as much. Today, we’ve got another edition of “What I Got Right, What I Got Wrong”. In general, I’m patting myself on the back (and patting very hard) about a few things like IP at the box office, LIV golf, horror films, crowdfunding movies, superheroes, and old people going to the theaters. That said, I also made a couple of data mistakes on the streaming bubble popping and HBO’s datecdotes, so I’m not perfect. But first, I need your feedback... Subscribe Follow-Ups: What Should We Call Mid-Budget Movies Which Aren’t Cinematic Enough for Theaters But Are Too Expensive to Make Money on Streaming? After I asked for feedback on what we should call straight-to-streaming films that are too big to pencil out on streaming but not really big enough to resonate in theaters, I got some great suggestions from you all, including... “Moldilocks” from John Aboud “Little Big Indie” from Travis Frick1 “Midflicks” from Jonathan Funke. “Extra-Medium” from Jona Nwuke. (Read the explanation in the footnote.) Between these and Brandon Katz—who suggested “Bermuda Budget Triangle”, “The Platform Gap” and “The Distribution Deadzone”—we’ve got some excellent suggestions. And they’re better than my suggestion, the “Streaming Budget Dead Zone”, so let’s take a poll! The winning entry becomes the new term. Loading... RIGHT: LIV Golf is Fully Bankrupt…Is Anyone Else Next? A few years ago, I was always a bit perplexed at all the articles I’d read praising LIV Golf and their strategy to disrupt the PGA. LIV Golf, a brand new professional golf league, offered PGA stars ten times what they made on the PGA Tour to join their new league. And folks praised this strategy for its initial “success” in that a lot of big names did indeed leave the PGA. Yeah, of course the players came over. LIV Golf paid them so, so, so much more! But LIV Golf hadn’t discovered a way to increase potential revenue. So think about this in basic business terms… They paid much more in costs… …but had no real way to increase revenue. That’s not a strategy! That’s deficit financing. It won’t work unless you bankrupt the competition (and then turn around and pay those same golfers much, much less). It’s not a sustainable strategy and only lasts as long as the company/person/nation backing it decides they’re cool with losing money. For LIV Golf, that meant Middle East oil wealth, in particular Saudi Arabian money. Clearly, the current Iran War has hurt Middle East finances, so they need to trim their more exorbitant spending. And LIV Golf was part of that trimming. This should be a major warning for others. TGL’s parent company, TMRW Sports, just got a $1 billion valuation, despite TGL’s (the indoor golf league) horrible TV viewership of less than half a million viewers per match. Unrivaled, the women’s basketball league, just secured a $650 valuation, despite its horrible TV viewership and a new rival (Project B) entering the scene next year. To relate this to streaming, Hollywood should ask which streamers may have wealthy patrons funding their losses. (Let’s be clear: Google, Amazon and Apple.) Could those patrons lose their appetite? For Amazon, probably not. But Apple has a new boss, so maybe! WRONG: My Analysis of the Streaming Bubble Was Missing a Week I’m going to be congratulating myself a lot today, but I make mistakes too, like this data goof. When I last compiled the data on the decline in TV shows, I was missing one week at the end of June. If you look at the first image, you can see that one week was mislabelled as “July”. Mainly, this image got updated to show a 27% decline, not 29%: This change doesn’t really impact the overall analysis, but it is two percent better. By the way, through the third quarter, the decline increased and it’s now a 30% decrease since 2022. (I’ll write/visualize this in an upcoming article.) But I want you to trust me and my data. Especially these days, when many people are using LLMs that I know are inserting faulty data into their charts, I want to keep earning my audience’s faith. So that’s the accurate data. RIGHT: IP Remains Very, Very Popular In July, I wrote a giant (and I mean giant) article on Backrooms, Obsession, and the box office, going over what we know, what we don’t know about what works in theaters, looking at YouTubers, IP, the horror genre, comic book movies, and a whole lot more. The month of August really tested a lot of my theses and, being honest, mostly supported my arguments. Let’s start with IP. Looking at 8-Aug (the weekend after Spider-Man: Brand New Day came out) to 18-Sep (the weekend that Resident Evil came out, which I think provides a nice bookend to this time period), there were seven films based on pre-existing IP: Resident Evil (2026) ($126 million) Practical Magic 2 ($65 million) _Insidious: Out of the Furthe_r ($65 million) Coyote Vs. Acme ($59 million) Paw Patrol: The Dino Movie ($53 million) Tony ($15 million) Super Troopers 3 ($7 million) Compare those to the notable original films from the past month—I actually could have included more movies, but here are just thirteen, bringing us to an even twenty films—including.... The End of Oak Street ($54 million) Buddy ($26 million) Mutiny ($15 million) By Any Means ($15 million) The Dog Stars ($14 million) Runner ($14 million) One Night Only ($11 million) Hope ($8 million) Spa Weekend ($7 million) The Uprising ($6 million) Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma ($6 million) Onslaught ($3 million) Eli Roth’s Ice Cream Man ($2.8 million) Here’s that in chart form: Five of the top six films in this time period were all based on IP. I made a big chart of films that grossed over $200 million at the box office before Spider-Man: Brand New Day and The Odyssey hit theaters. Let’s update that chart! By the way, if you want to see how I categorized each film—so another bar chart—here it is: I know that many of my fellow critics/pundits/analysts dislike films based on IP and how Hollywood is making so many of them. And I’m sympathetic to this point of view. As I’ve written many, many times before, you need a balance between existing franchises, new IP, and original films. And Hollywood clearly needs to make more films like Resident Evil (a well-made film from a visionary director) and fewer Practical Magic 2’s (which didn’t get critical or customer buzz). But at some point, critics and pundits need to contend with what audiences are telling them: Movie-goers aren’t showing up to original films. Audiences are speaking with their dollars, telling you they want more IP and franchises. You can try to convince studio heads to make fewer IP-based films and franchises, but the data and numbers aren’t there. Instead, critics need to work harder to convince audiences to show up for original films. Aim your ire/concern at the average person, not studio heads.2 Because they’re just making the films that audiences are telling them to make. WRONG: Original Horror Films Didn’t Break Out I’ll be honest, even though I wrote an article casting some skepticism on the horror genre in July, if you asked me to make a prediction, I would have predicted that, in August, a new, original horror film would have blown up. No, seriously, I just assumed that Obsession and Backrooms presaged a change in audience behavior. But none of the buzzy new original horror films from August—Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, Onslaught (not an action film in spite of the ads), The End of Oak Street, Eli Roth’s Ice Cream Man, or _Buddy—_broke out. To be clear, exactly one of those films (Buddy) had good “ROI”, but again—I try to be specific in my language—none were “popular” in any broad sense of the word. None of them will be “saving” movies theaters like Backrooms or _Obsession_helped save the summer. The new Insidious film and Resident Evil, both based on IP, were far and away the biggest horror films since July. (We’ll see if this changes in October/Halloween season.) RIGHT: Stay Skeptical about Crowdfunding... I’ve long been skeptical about crowd-investing platforms as one of Hollywood’s saviors, mainly because there’s so much hype/buzz. People need to stay more skeptical about more things, explaining both the potential upside but also the downsides. In particular, the media often hypes crowdfunding at the start and never checks in on the actual results after they’ve come in later. And August gave us our first update! _Ice Cream Man—_directed by Eli Roth—grossed $6 million off of a $5.5 million budget. This is a production of The Horror Section, which was one of the first “crowd investing” studios with 2,400 investors, which means that 2,400 investors probably lost money. They certainly aren’t getting as great of returns as if they had just invested their dollars in the stock market. Hopefully Stiletto (Tagline: “Someone’s Going to Make it Rain Blood!”) does better next month. WRONG: Another Data Goof Here’s another data error. When the first episode of House of the Dragon came out, HBO put out that it had 21.5 million viewers in the first three days, and I read that to mean in the US…but no, it was global. So my US-only datecdotes charts shouldn’t have included it. We never got US-only numbers for the first episode, but for the final episode, HBO put out that it had 11 million US viewers. (And that global dropped to 21 million viewers.) Here’s the updated chart (which I’ve since used in the Streaming Ratings Report): Still, this show is absolutely huge. RIGHT: Superhero Films Remain Very, Very Popular After Supergirl flopped, I read a few takes that “comic book movies are going the way of the Western”. Post-Spider-Man: Brand New Day, that take didn’t age well. To be fair, I have a very nuanced take on the superhero genre right now; it’s down right now, for a lot of reasons. But it’s not “dead”. Maybe _Spider-_Man is just a really popular character? I saw that take, and it’s a fair counter-argument. (But pundits arguing that superhero movies were dead should have mentioned this $1.5 billion counter-argument…) But is it just Spider-Man? The next Avengers film already has $50 million in pre-sales (and I was skeptical that that film would do well) and the Avengers: End Game re-release topped the box office two weekends ago (over three original films). And I wouldn’t bet against Batman or Superman. So maybe it’s just Spider-Man, Batman, Superman and the Avengers. Oh, and Deadpool, of course. And Black Panther. And Wolverine. And probably the X-Men. Plus a well-made Wonder Woman or the Hulk film could break out. But that’s it! It’s just those ten characters/teams. Oh, what’s that? Lanterns is also doing well on HBO? (See previous section…) To be fair, I’m actually pretty sympathetic to the argument that more popular characters—like Spider-Man and Batman—anchor more popular films. In fact, I made that exact argument three years ago when I first wrote about the “Marvel-cession”. In many ways, you can blame The Guardians of the Galaxy for fooling Marvel Studios (and the rest of us) into believing that any character could pop. It turns out, the list of iconic characters is probably smaller than most people think. But it’s probably too early to say that superhero films and comic book movies are dead unless “death” means a slight decline over a longtime. RIGHT: Who Killed Theaters? Old People I get frustrated whenever I see headlines or analysis about how young people are “returning” to theaters. As I’ve detailed(for years), young people have always powered the US box office, despite narratives about “kids these days” and their “phones”. Really, what’s changed post-2020/pandemic is that old people aren’t going to the movies nearly as much. This summer, I saw a movie (from an older director) in a theater near a retirement community, and multiple older people at the theater were talking about how this was their first time seeing a movie in years. I dislike personal anecdotes, so YouGov can fill in the data, best summarized by this headline: “Who killed movie theaters? Not the youths”. According to them, 64% of people aged 18-29 have seen a movie in the last year, but only 30% of 65-and-older. 20% of 18-29 have seen a movie in theaters in the last week and 42% in the last month. Here’s the polling data: Most concerning? Many Americans (17%) think theaters are a worse or much worse experience than watching films at home. Slight WRONG: Hadestown Opens Big A live theater capture of the Broadway musical, Hadestown, made $20 million at the US box office, which begs the question: was I wrong to be skeptical about musicals a few years ago? Yes and no. On the one hand, $20 million is a far cry from being “popular”, so yeah, the genre isn’t that popular overall and Hadestown is one of the more popular musicals from recent years (i.e. the “Taylor Swift Data Fallacy” in action). On the other, I doubt filming this cost all that much, and I don’t think that they spent much on marketing, so this is a good source of ancillary revenue. Smaller Updates WRONG: As I mentioned in a Streaming Ratings Report, I underestimated the budget for Enola Holmes 3. It probably cost more like $50 million, if not more. But... I’m not sure that it really matters? At sub-10 million hours, prices have to come down to make this work. WRONG: Netflix is giving Ink a 27-day in theaters! To quote the kids/YouTubers these days, let’s go! Now I might actually have a chance to see Danny Boyle’s latest in theaters. I’d complained about this in a “Coming Soon” section, but I was heartened to read that Netflix is giving multiple films longer theatrical windows this year. RIGHT: Netflix is sending 4-5 films per year to theaters. Netflix is slowly but surely sending more and more films to theaters, as I cautiously predicted earlier this year. For now, it’s just three big films and a number of awards contenders, but still, this is great news. And they’ll be releasing box office grosses! Just this week, Ted Sarandos confirmed that KPop Demon Hunters 2 will come to theaters (and my guess is it performs in the box office top ten at a minimum). WRONG: Angel has 3 million subscribers! How do I know this? Well, they told Deadline, who reported it. I marked this as “wrong”, since they’ve doubled their subscribers in one year but, you know, they don’t really have a hit film to speak of and they’re still losing money. WRONG: Furious was only renewed for one more season. I accidentally wrote “two more seasons” in my latest “Renewals, Cancellations, Un-Orders and Removals Update”. RIGHT: House of David is ending with its third season. In July, Prime Video renewed House of David for a third season, as I just wrote in my latest “Renewals and Cancellations” report. Well, now it’s ending after that third season. Why? As I’ve been writing, its viewership wasn’t great. I got feedback that this show didn’t cost very much, but it cost enough that its limited viewership didn’t save it. WRONG: Adults was a Hulu original! So I missed Adults when it first came out last year; I saw that it aired on FX and just assumed that it was a linear-first program. Turns out, it aired three episodes on FX, but binge-released the rest of its episodes the next day on Hulu. Huh. So I should have covered it last year! But I just wrote about it. 1 “When I was a kid in the 90s, if you wore a t-shirt to school that wasn’t too big and also wasn’t too small, but somehow didn’t quite fit, we’d say you were wearing an “extra-medium” shirt.” 2 As always, a huge exception is Disney, which barely makes anything original anymore.
First death reported from Legionnaires' outbreak on Upper East Side, Health Dept. says
Health officials have reported the first death in connection with the outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease in a Manhattan neighborhood.
1 death linked to Legionnaires' disease cluster in parts of the Bronx
Officials say the community cluster is linked to parts of Melrose and Morrisania in the South Bronx, including ZIP codes10451 and10456.
One person dead in likely Legionnaires' cluster in South Bronx, DOH says
Five people have been diagnosed with Legionnaires’, the DOH says.
Second death reported in Legionnaires’ disease outbreak in New York City
The outbreak on Manhattan’s Upper East Side has infected 72 people, according to health officials.
Fifth person dies in Upper East Side Legionnaires’ outbreak
As of Tuesday, there had been 82 reported cases of Legionnaires’ disease associated with the outbreak.
Dozens of New York cooling towers test positive for Legionnaires’ bacteria as outbreak reaches 60 cases
New York City is managing a community cluster of Legionnaires’ disease cases on the Upper East Side that officials believe is tied to bacteria found in cooling towers. Towers on 76 buildings on the Upper East Side have tested positive for the bacteria, the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene said Tuesday.
Power & Politics: Legionnaires cluster in the South Bronx; the rapid growth of artificial intelligence; Regents exams no longer a graduation requirement
New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin and New York City Council Member Eric Dinowitz join the show this week.
Former Illinois public health chief Nirav Shah drops Maine Senate bid
Before moving to Maine, Shah presided over a series of fatal Legionnaires disease outbreaks at the state of Illinois’ veterans’ home in Quincy that were linked to 14 resident deaths and the sickening of dozens of other staff and residents at the former facility.
Lenovo confirms Legion Go issues after gamers report bricked devices
I installed Lenovo’s forbidden BIOS and my Legion Go lived. You might be less lucky.
2 confirmed cases of Legionnaires' disease at Queens apartment complex prompt NYC Health Department probe
The city Department of Health is investigating an apartment building in Queens, following two confirmed cases of Legionnaires' disease among the residents there.
6th person dies from Legionnaires' disease in New York City: Health officials
At least 90 cases have been identified in the outbreak, according to the New York City Health Department.
Lenovo reveals more about its new lightweight Legion gaming handheld
A fresh set of teasers for the Legion C700 has emerged, and through them, Lenovo has shared more details about the gaming handheld. It’s set to be lightweight and feature a thin chassis.
Speaker Menin criticizes Mamdani administration's response to Legionnaires'
City health officials said the source of the Upper East Side outbreak has likely been identified.
Mamdani battles politics tied to Legionnaires', failed Israeli PM arrest threat
Since discovering the outbreak in early July, five New Yorkers have died from Legionnaires' disease.
2 more deaths reported in Upper East Side Legionnaires' cluster, bringing total to 9, health officials say
Two more deaths have been reported in connection to the Legionnaires' disease cluster on the Upper East Side, health officials said Friday.
First death reported in Legionnaires' disease outbreak in New York City
Investigators are still trying to pinpoint the source of the outbreak on Manhattan’s Upper East Side that has infected at least 67 people and hospitalized dozens, according to city Health Department data.
'We cannot eradicate this bacteria.' Health officials explain why Legionnaries' can't be stopped
There are nine confirmed cases of Legionnaries' disease in the South Bronx as of Sunday. At least one person died and three are in the hospital.
Best Buy Customer Support Removed A 32GB DDR5 RAM Stick From Gaming Laptop After Charging Full Amount For The 64GB Configuration; Says Upgraded RAM Incompatible
Best Buy customer support reportedly removed a 32GB DDR5 RAM stick from a customer's gaming laptop after charging for a full 64GB setup, claiming incompatibility
Yankee Stadium cooling tower positive for Legionnaires' disease, city health department says
The city health department advised anyone who has been in or around Yankee Stadium since late August to get tested for Legionnaires' disease.
Power & Politics: Legionnaires cluster in the South Bronx; the rapid growth of artificial intelligence; Regents exams no longer a graduation requirement
New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin and New York City Council Member Eric Dinowitz join the show this week.