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<keyword id="6355460" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Holi">Holi</keyword> or the Festival of Colours is just around the corner, all set to usher in a colourful spring after the austere winter and promising to bring the colour of joy and passion in our humdrum life. But before you start preparing for the traditional colour splash, have you got all the ingredients to make it a green Holi? <keyword id="2132784" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Holi-colours-industry">Holi colours industry</keyword> was pegged to <keyword id="30450" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="80" keywordseo="Touch">touch</keyword> Rs 4,500 crore in 2012-13, according to an analysis by the Associated Chamber of Commerce and Industry of India (<keyword id="6355988" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Assocham">Assocham</keyword>), and the numbers are sure to go up this year. Interestingly, the <keyword id="47445" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Indian-market">Indian market</keyword> has also witnessed a growing demand for hazard-free herbal colours. The market for <keyword id="2132783" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Herbal-dyes">herbal dyes</keyword> is estimated to be growing at 30-40% annually although the products are a bit expensive. 
 While a chemical-free colour plunge is the most desirable and eco-friendly way of celebrating Holi, you must walk through the market once to find out what’s in store. Broadly speaking, you will find three types of <keyword id="586078" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="chemical-colours">chemical colours</keyword> here – powders, pastes and wets or liquid ones. Most of these are chemical/synthetic dyes, containing substances such as <keyword id="2132786" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Oxides">oxides</keyword>, <keyword id="6395221" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="heavy-metals">heavy metals</keyword> (lead, chromium, nickel and cadmium), <keyword id="1322867" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="acids">acids</keyword>, <keyword id="2132787" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Alkalis">alkalis</keyword>, <keyword id="2132789" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Powdered-glass">powdered glass</keyword> and <keyword id="2132788" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Mica-dust">mica dust</keyword> – all supremely harmful for your skin, hair and eyes. 
 The powders mostly have <keyword id="2132790" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Toxic-colorants">toxic colorants</keyword> and an asbestos/silica base; the pastes have a mix of toxic compounds and inferior quality oils and water colours include strong alkalis. No wonder we get itches, rashes, redness and swelling after a thorough colour soak, a colour-filled balloon attack or a terrific <keyword id="2132798" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Pitchkari">pitchkari</keyword> fight. Also, darker shades like red, blue and green have high levels of chemicals, metal oxides and industrial dyes, which are used to provide thick texture. Shiny colours can also contain powdered glass. 
 
10 chemical colours that can harm you 
If you revel in rainbow hues and mostly buy synthetic colours, here’s a harm list for your ready reference. 
 
1. Abeer/Gulal: Popularly believed to be the least harmful of all chemical colours, this one contains a whole lot of mica dust that can cause <keyword id="100486" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Skin-irritation">skin irritation</keyword> and other infections. This <keyword id="2132796" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Powder-colour">powder colour</keyword> is available in many hues including red, pink, green, yellow and magenta. 
 
2. Red &amp; pink: These colours have mercuric oxide and rhodamine B; both can cause <keyword id="1654686" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="eye-irritation">eye irritation</keyword>, <keyword id="28956" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="skin-cancer">skin cancer</keyword> and more. 
 
3. Blue: Has <keyword id="890372" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Prussian-blue">Prussian blue</keyword> that may cause contract dermatitis. 
 
4. Green: Contains copper carbonate/copper sulphate; this may cause severe eye <keyword id="6450271" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="allergy">allergy</keyword> or even temporary blindness. 
 
5. Yellow: Features auramine, which may cause eye and skin allergy, as well as respiratory and <keyword id="2132814" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Digestive-tract-irritation">digestive tract irritation</keyword>. 
 
6. Orange: Contains chromium Iodide, which is toxic to blood and liver. 
 
7. Violet: Has methyl violet; this can be carcinogenic and may cause severe eye irritation. 
 
8. Purple: Contains chromium iodide; this can also be carcinogenic and may cause <keyword id="6465125" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="asthma">asthma</keyword> or allergy. 
 
9. Silver: One of the components is aluminum bromide and it is also known to be carcinogenic. 
 
10. Black: Contains lead oxide, which may cause renal failure and learning disabilities in the long run. 
 
 
 
Go ‘natural’ to stay safe You can either buy herbal dyes or use home-made colours, which are clinically safe and totally <keyword id="6356826" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="environment">environment</keyword> friendly. The herbal variant is now easily available in the market and uses components such as flour, henna or arrowroot powder as base, and vegetable dyes to add colour. But before buying them, make sure they are non-carcinogenic, lead-free and lab-tested for safety. 
 You can also prepare <keyword id="583108" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Holi-colours">Holi colours</keyword> at home as you get some excellent colorants from certain flowers and plants. All you need to do is dry and powder them or soak/boil them in water. Add a little scented oil and eco-friendly Holi colours will be ready for use. Take a look at the 8 exotic colours you can prepare at home. 
 
1. <keyword id="2132779" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Ruby-Red">Ruby Red</keyword>: Prepare red sandalwood powder/paste or mix it in plenty of water and boil for <keyword id="2132794" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Liquid-colour">liquid colour</keyword>. You can also crush dry red hibiscus flowers and boil it in water. Peels of red <keyword id="92372" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Pomegranates">pomegranates</keyword> or twigs of madar tree produce a vibrant red when boiled in water. Otherwise, put carrot or tomato juice in plenty of water to take the stickiness out and use it. 
 
2. <keyword id="2132806" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Turmeric-yellow">Turmeric Yellow</keyword>: This one is the easiest to make. Mix turmeric or haldi powder with double the amount of besan to prepare a vivid yellow powder. Flowers like marigold and yellow chrysanthemums can also be dried and crushed to obtain different shades of yellow. To produce liquid colours, mix any of these powders in plenty of water and boil it. 
 
3. Profound Pink/Magnificent Magenta: Soak sliced beetroot in lots of water for 12 hours or so before using the liquid. 
 
4. Sunny Orange: Put tesu or palash flowers (flame of the forest) in water and soak overnight. Or boil them in water for a vibrant yellow-orange shade. 
 
5. Emerald Green: Dried and powdered henna leaves will work best. For wet colour, soak the henna leaves overnight or prepare a paste of spinach/coriander/mint, and mix it in water. 
 
6. Turquoise Blue: Jacaranda and blue hibiscus flowers can be dried, powdered and used. 
 
7. Dark Brown: Boil tea leaves or coffee powder. Let it cool before using. 
 
8. Charcoal Black: Boil dried amla in an iron vessel and leave it overnight. Mix with water and use. 
 
3 tips for a ‘safe’ Holi 
1. Say ‘no’ to colours: Especially pastes and liquid colours, as these tend to stain the skin deeper and last longer. Avoid colours altogether if you are suffering from asthma, eye or <keyword id="624291" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Skin-infections">skin infections</keyword>, or any other chronic disease. 
 
2. Cover yourself well: The more you do that, the less exposed you will be to harmful chemicals. Wear full-sleeve dresses and don a pair of sunglasses to protect your skin and eyes. Apply baby oil, cream or waterproof <keyword id="74032" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Sunscreen">sunscreen</keyword> lotion on your skin – so that the stains will get off easily. 
 
3. See your doctor: Don’t neglect post-Holi syndromes like skin or eye irritation. A mild anti-allergic and soothing skin lotion should be able to fix it, but severe allergy, <keyword id="2132809" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Chemical-burn">chemical burn</keyword> or <keyword id="2132810" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Retinal-damage">retinal damage</keyword> cannot be ruled out either. See your doctor as soon as you can and start proper treatment. 
 
Image credit: Thinkstock Photos/Getty Images

Usher In The Festival
Of Colours; Gear Up For A Chemical-free Holi

When Kristin Cavallari is first introduced to audiences in the pilot episode of <a href="https://www.insider.com/where-are-they-now-the-cast-of-laguna-beach-2020-10">"Laguna Beach,"</a> the high school junior floats in her pool, wearing sunglasses and a mismatched red and flower print bikini.She gets out to answer her cell phone, and chats with a friend about her <a href="https://www.insider.com/kristin-cavallari-and-stephen-colletti-made-2000-for-laguna-beach-2022-7">plans with Stephen Colletti</a>, her sometimes-boyfriend who works at the local surf shop. She appears every bit the typical California teen: Pretty, popular, and put-together. But "Laguna Beach" viewers have already been told they're meant to hate her."Wherever Kristin went, drama followed," the show's narrator and de facto protagonist <a href="https://www.insider.com/lauren-conrad-stephen-colletti-regrets-calling-kristen-cavallari-slut-2022-11">Lauren Conrad says</a> moments before, by way of introducing the cast. "She thinks she's hot. Okay, I guess she is. But she can't stand me."After gossiping, flirting, and fighting her way through two seasons of the MTV reality series "Laguna Beach" and two seasons of its spinoff "The Hills," Cavallari, now 36, knows she could step into the role of reality TV villain with her eyes closed. Not that she wants to — the CEO of the jewelry and <a href="https://uncommonjames.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lifestyle brand Uncommon James</a> and mom of three has plenty else going on.But upon reflection, she admits she put on the façade of a confident, conflict-centric high schooler on "Laguna Beach," which aired on MTV for three seasons until 2006, to cover up deep insecurities.<div type="image" title="laguna beach" height="607" width="810" msid="103640976" hostid="261" sizebytes="38624"></div>"At the time, I was really upset because I felt like they really kind of screwed me in a lot of ways because they definitely made me <a href="https://www.insider.com/kristin-cavallari-laguna-beach-podcast-villain-role-2022-7">look like the villain</a>," Cavallari tells Insider of how she felt seeing herself on "Laguna."It was hurtful, but reflecting on her teenage self nearly two decades later, she realizes she was an easy target because she was faking confidence to mask her sadness. Ultimately, she's made peace with the portrayal."I'm really happy with how everything turned out," she says. "I think that sort of jump-started this self-discovery journey that I've been on. It didn't happen overnight, but I got here."On Tuesday, Cavallari launched her <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/lets-be-honest-with-kristin-cavallari/id1700725168" target="_blank" rel="noopener">first solo podcast, "Let's Be Honest with Kristin Cavallari."</a> The Dear Media-backed show focuses on relationships in weekly episodes, featuring guests who run the gamut from celebrities, such as fellow reality TV star Stassi Schroeder, to experts. Cavallari tells Insider it's like no other project she's done in her career. Despite the name, the reason is not because she's been lying to her over 4.5 million Instagram followers about who she is. It's because she finally feels free for the first time in her life. Now, she's taking control of her own story.<h2>It took Cavallari years to let go of the 'sad' girl we met on 'Laguna Beach'</h2>"What I had to do is cut my dad out of my life. That's been the most freeing thing I've ever done," Cavallari tells me over the phone from Nashville the week before her podcast launches. She's sitting on a porch swing in front of her home while we chat, taking in the view.While Cavallari has spent years in the public eye, she's managed to keep her relationship with her family relatively private. But on the podcast, Cavallari goes there, describing her father as a narcissist and explaining how being raised by him affected her worldview."How men saw me was really, really important to me. I was essentially looking for men to fill a void that I felt within myself," she says on her first solo episode released Sept. 12, titled "Holy Sh*t This Is Really Happening."<div type="image" title="Kristin Cavallari." height="6192" width="8256" msid="103641169" hostid="261" sizebytes="5967594"></div>Cavallari tells me she realized she was attracting men similar to her father, and that she has a tendency to push down her emotions to avoid getting hurt. So she turned to hypnotherapy and a type of psychotherapy called <a href="https://www.insider.com/guides/health/mental-health/shadow-work">shadow work</a> to help her access her subconscious mind and let go of her childhood trauma."I was so sad deep down," Cavallari says, reflecting on the teenage girl the world met via <a href="https://www.insider.com/kristin-cavallari-laguna-beach-stephen-room-prom-2022-7">reality TV</a>. "I was really longing for a connection with someone."<h2>She's removing the glossy lens from her life in favor of personal growth</h2>Two years after "The Hills" ended in 2010, Cavallari became a mom to son Camden Jack Cutler in 2012. She knew it was the most important role of her life.Then, she became a wife, too, marrying former NFL star Jay Cutler <a href="https://people.com/tv/kristin-cavallari-jay-cutler-relationship-timeline/#:~:text=June%207%2C%202013%3A%20Kristin%20Cavallari%20and%20Jay%20Cutler%20get%20married&amp;text=On%20June%207%2C%202013%2C%20Cavallari,a%20photo%20of%20their%20rings." target="_blank" rel="noopener">in July 2013.</a> The couple settled into their new family life in Nashville, having two more children by the time Cavallari published her 2016 New York Times best-selling book, "Balancing in Heels."Part autobiography, part lifestyle guide, <a href="https://www.insider.com/kristin-cavallari-sheet-pan-nacho-recipe-true-comfort-2020-9">part cookbook,</a> the book presents Cavallari as a woman who has it all: a family, a husband, a business of her own. But in covering so much — "Balancing in Heels" offers everything from relationship advice to recipes to exercise tips — Cavallari now feels it fell short, calling it "a watered-down version of what it could have been." She says she was too guarded to be truly vulnerable in the book. Thinking about the image she was trying to present at the time makes her cringe."I didn't really want to let people in. I was trying to figure out my own shit," she says, adding that she probably would have said she was being real at the time because she had evolved since she was a teenager making eyes at Stephen Colletti from across the table. It just wasn't real enough.<div type="image" title="Kristin Cavallari" height="3353" width="4467" msid="103641171" hostid="261" sizebytes="500000"></div>In 2017, she launched the jewelry and lifestyle brand <a href="https://uncommonjames.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Uncommon James</a>, named in part for her youngest child, daughter Saylor James Cutler.Then, almost a decade after saying goodbye to Brody Jenner in favor of Europe on "The Hills" series finale, Cavallari returned to her reality TV roots for the E! show "Very Cavallari" in 2018.This time, Cavallari happily relinquished the role of the villain and picked up the title of executive producer. Though she's the face of the series that bears her name, the show, which ran for three seasons, mostly focused on the messy lives of the <a href="https://uncommonjames.com/collections/uncommon-beauty" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Uncommon James</a> staff. That was largely by design: Cavallari is open about the fact that she did the show to promote her business as she prepared to open her flagship Uncommon James store in Nashville."The storylines were complete bullshit for the most part," Cavallari says. "I mean, that's marketing. And I think I'm pretty good at marketing."Being an executive producer also afforded Cavallari more control over her image than she ever had <a href="https://www.insider.com/surprising-things-about-the-hills-2018-8">on "The Hills"</a> or "Laguna Beach.""I had the freedom to take things out if I wanted to, and I did," she says.As someone who doesn't put her kids on social media, the only glimpse of Cavallari's personal life present on "Very Cavallari" was through brief scenes with Cutler, and those never exposed more than a few marital spats. "I felt as though I had the safety net, which was really nice," she adds.But a month after <a href="https://www.insider.com/kristin-cavallari-jay-cutler-divorce-breakup-separated-2020-4">Cavallari and Cutler announced their divorce</a> in April 2020 after nearly seven years of marriage, <a href="https://www.today.com/popculture/kristin-cavallari-ends-very-cavallari-series-amid-divorce-jay-cutler-t182048" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cavallari announced she'd chosen not to continue "Very Cavallari"</a> as she embarked on this "<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CAYgJAnnGYt/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;ig_rid=5f357759-e1fb-44a7-9f4f-1f7b3efe0750">new chapter</a>" of her life.Don't expect the topic of divorce to come up on "Let's Be Honest," either."To be completely honest, it's been three and a half years, I'm really sick of talking about divorce. I just feel like, 'Can we move on from that, please?'" she says. "I just feel like I don't need to identify with being divorced." <div type="image" title="Cavallari visited New York in April." height="2764" width="3685" msid="103641173" hostid="261" sizebytes="274656"></div>She is dating, but says she's saving some of those stories for the podcast and will be keeping her suitors anonymous. "It just seems like if I'm dating someone, people want to talk about me more," she says. She knows why, but that doesn't mean she has to like it.These days, Cavallari is more focused on her personal growth. "I just feel like everything I'm doing now, there's a real sense of freedom in it, and that feels really, really good."That means she's done with reality TV, too."People think I live this very glamorous, big life. I really don't," she says. "I'm much happier not being on TV. My life is just way more peaceful not having a TV show about my life."

Kristin Cavallari on her new podcast and why she's done with reality TV for good

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Hackers targeted the <keyword id="11895165" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="iphone" source="Orion">iPhone</keyword> of NYT reporter Ben Hubbard four times in three years.</li><li>Cybersecurity researchers found that a government-surveillance software was likely used.</li></ul>Ben Hubbard is the Beirut bureau chief for The New York Times and the author of a book about Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman. His work brings him into contact with sources that governments - particularly the Saudi government - would prefer he not talk to.Though Hubbard takes the appropriate safety measures to protect his sources, he says he was surprised to learn that <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/24/insider/hacking-nso-surveillance.html">his iPhone had been hacked</a> - again.Last year, Hubbard wrote about how he dodged <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/28/reader-center/phone-hacking-saudi-arabia.html">what looked like a phishing attempt</a> in 2018, and this week he revealed that his iPhone had been targeted in a "zero-click" attack that did not require any action from him to allow intruders into his device."It's like being robbed by a ghost," Hubbard said.Working with <a href="https://citizenlab.ca/">Citizen Lab</a> researchers at the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto, Hubbard discovered that the attack had likely been perpetrated by hackers connected to the Saudi Arabian government using an anti-terror spyware tool called Pegasus.Israel-based <a href="https://www.nsogroup.com/">NSO Group</a>, which develops and sells Pegasus to government agencies, denied to the team that its software had been used."Mr. Hubbard was not a target of Pegasus by any of NSO's customers," the company said in a statement to Insider.Citizen Lab researchers said that the attack took place in two phases in 2020 and 2021, where the second intrusion was apparently intended to cover the digital tracks left by the first. There's no way of knowing what, if anything, was taken during the attack, and definitively identifying the hackers is virtually impossible in situations like this, cybersecurity experts told Hubbard.The <keyword id="12387431" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="nso-group" source="Orion">NSO Group</keyword> pushed back on Hubbard and Citizen Labs' account, saying that "technical and contractual reasons and restrictions would have prevented Mr. Hubbard from being a target of Pegasus" in the latest pair of attacks and called on Citizen Lab to share its forensics linking the software to the attack.The zero-click attacks are, according to New York Times' digital espionage reporter Nicole Perlroth, "the Holy Grail of surveillance because it allows governments, mercenaries and criminals to secretly break into someone's device without tipping the victim off."When <keyword id="11893589" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="news" source="Orion">news</keyword> broke last month of iPhones' then-vulnerability to these "zero-click" attacks, Apple issued an emergency update of its operating system to block the Pegasus software from gaining entry.But various iterations of the Pegasus tool have had a way of appearing on the devices of activists, lawyers, doctors, and even children, going all the way back to 2016."The extensive and routine abuse of Pegasus spyware to hack journalists is a direct threat to press freedom worldwide, and is contributing to a growing chilling climate for investigative journalism," the Citizen Lab researchers wrote in their summary of findings."NSO Group has a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to misuse of its technologies, including and especially towards journalists, and we take very seriously any allegation in this matter," the NSO Group said.

NYT reporter says hackers used a 'zero-click' tool to get inside his phone: 'It's like being robbed by a ghost'

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Republican Sen. <keyword id="279737" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Ron-Johnson">Ron Johnson</keyword> is still espousing blatant falsehoods on the <keyword id="1754604" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="coronavirus">coronavirus</keyword>.</li><li>Johnson refused to say the vaccines are safe in an interview with The New York Times.</li><li>He also blamed the FDA for costing "tens of thousands of lives" by not approving a failed drug.</li></ul>Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of <keyword id="567797" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Wisconsin">Wisconsin</keyword> doubled down on COVID-19 misinformation in an interview with <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/21/us/politics/ron-johnson-wisconsin-misinformation.html">The New York Times</a> on his growing reputation as a conspiracy theorist.Johnson has been ratcheting up his conspiratorial rhetoric in recent months, particularly in his attempt at revisionist history over the January 6 Capitol siege. He has made a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ron-johnson-capitol-riot-senate-gop-impeachment-trump-2021-2">variety of false claims depicting the riot as peaceful</a> and that he would have been afraid if the insurrectionists were <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/capitol-riot-ron-johnson-says-hed-have-worried-if-it-was-black-lives-matter-2021-3">affiliated with the Black Lives Matter movement</a>.On the COVID-19 pandemic, Johnson dipped further into misinformation in The Times interview."There's still so much we don't know about all of this," Johnson said when asked about the vaccine, which he refused to describe as safe, according to The Times.Johnson has previously said he won't take the jab, despite months of scrutiny from regulatory agencies such as the <a href="https://www.fda.gov/vaccines-blood-biologics/safety-availability-biologics/covid-19-vaccine-safety-surveillance">FDA</a> as well as <a href="https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/coronavirus/is-the-covid19-vaccine-safe">independent studies</a> attesting to the safety of approved vaccines, including Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, and Johnson &amp; Johnson.The Badger State Republican also lashed out at the FDA for not approving a failed coronavirus treatment pushed heavily by former President Donald Trump, telling The Times that the agency's rejection of hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malaria drug, cost "tens of thousands of lives."Despite claims of miraculous properties by Trump and other prominent Republicans, hydroxychloroquine <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hydroxychloroquine-fails-covid-19-prevention-study-2020-7">failed to treat the virus in multiple medical studies</a>."We've closed our minds to all of these other potentially useful and cheap therapies all on the holy grail of a vaccine," Johnson said recently on a talk radio show, later adding that he doesn't "have all the information to say, 'Do this,'" according to The Times.There is a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/vaccines-reduce-coronavirus-transmission-early-research-2021-2">growing body of research</a> that shows vaccinated people are unlikely to transmit COVID-19 or experience asymptomatic infection, as well as tips from experts on <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/reasons-to-trust-coronavirus-vaccine-safety-2020-12">how to talk with someone who is skeptical of getting the shot</a>.

GOP Sen. Ron Johnson complained about the failed drug hydroxychloroquine not getting FDA approval, and refused to say the COVID-19 vaccine is safe

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Insider traveled to the breakaway "republic" of <keyword id="13718227" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="transnistria" source="Orion">Transnistria</keyword> on the border of <keyword id="11985141" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="ukraine" source="Orion">Ukraine</keyword>.</li><li>The territory is occupied by Russian troops and controlled by pro-Russia separatists.</li></ul>TIRASPOL, Transnistria — This might be the only city in Europe where there is no indication that a war is being waged in Ukraine, despite that country only being a 20-minute drive away.Along the main drag in Tiraspol, the capital of what billboards proclaim to be the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic, also known as Transnistria, there are smart cafes with modern, all-glass exteriors that look like they would be more at home in Manhattan than a breakaway, unrecognized state currently occupied by 1,500 Russian soldiers. There is an Italian restaurant, an India-themed casino, consulates for Abkhazia and South Ossetia (other separatist enclaves recognized by Moscow but not the <keyword id="6356001" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="international" source="Orion">international</keyword> community) and a decommissioned tank commemorating the 1992 war that led this heavily industrialized region along the Dniester river, controlled by oligarchs and subsidized by free Russian gas, to break away from <keyword id="13199147" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="moldova" source="Orion">Moldova</keyword>. On a pleasant Saturday afternoon, there were cyclists and children rollerblading on clean, paved streets crowded with trolleys and late-model cars — including a convoy of BMW enthusiasts. A movie theater was lined with posters for "Sonic the Hedgehog 2" and the latest superhero film from Marvel.What there was not was any sign of was the conflict next door. Ukrainians live here, as do <keyword id="11894337" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="russia" source="Orion">Russia</keyword>ns, but there is no propaganda either for or against the Feb. 24 invasion, an odd and conspicuous silence given that this pseudo-state's leaders have for decades proclaimed their desire to be annexed by Moscow. The flag of the Russian Federation hangs on all local government buildings, there is a special housing complex built for Russian military officers, and soldiers in Russia's military are manning checkpoints across the territory.<div type="image" title="military base" height="3648" width="5472" msid="91109044" hostid="261"></div>A day before Insider visited, a Russian general, Rustam Minnekaev, insisted that his country's goal was to conquer southern Ukraine and liberate this separatist region of some 300,000 people, claiming there was "oppression of the Russian-speaking population." Russian leaders weighed similar accusations in launching the Ukraine war, but fierce resistance in Mykolaiv has stopped their troops from surging west to besiege Odesa, the country's third-largest city, just an hour from Moldova's border.But there was no indication of a pending military operation here, although days later there were a series of explosions at a building used by the local services — "<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/moldova-warns-of-pretexts-after-explosions-in-separatist-transnistria-2022-4">pretexts</a>," Moldovan authorities said, for inflaming tensions. That was followed by reported attacks Tuesday on radio transmission towers that bore the "<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/transnitria-explosions-have-signature-of-russia-military-moldova-former-minister-2022-4">signature</a>" of Russian intelligence operatives, a former Moldovan defense minister said.Forty-eight hours earlier, at the de facto border checkpoint between Moldova and Transnistria, yards away from a contingent of Russian troops, a guard in military fatigues did not even ask why someone with a US passport would be visiting, simply handing this reporter a slip of paper granting admission.But the war, while absent in Transnistria's public spaces — if not its television, which is flooded with propaganda directly from Moscow — is just behind the facade. There are refugees here, including cars with Ukrainian plates, as well as inflation and a shortage of goods that used to be imported through an eastern border that is now sealed. At a train station in the city of Bender, a sign in English informed visitors that there are no more departures. You can enter the station, it stated, "but there is no way you go on rail tracks. We repeat: No way!!!" At the start of the war, Ukrainian soldiers blew up the rails that connected the region to Odesa.On an elevated walkway that allows residents to cross the 14 tracks outside the station, a little girl could be heard complaining to a little boy: she can no longer find her favorite Ukrainian brand of chocolate. <div type="image" title="tank monument" height="3648" width="5472" msid="91109045" hostid="261"></div>Outside the cities, in a village where people can speak with less fear of being overheard by the security services, an old woman, Amina — not her real name — said she opposed the war in Ukraine. But, she added, the conflict was not something she would feel comfortable even discussing with neighbors who had lived alongside her for decades. A code of silence prevails."It's a taboo — nobody talks about this in public, so nobody knows who supports the war," she said. It's the kind of thing one only discusses in the kitchen with the radio on.In the first days after the war, she walked around the village with an ornament, called a martisor, that is usually made of red and white string and worn on one's chest to celebrate the beginning of spring. Hers was done in the blue-and-yellow of the Ukrainian flag. Neighbors warned her to take it off, she said, not necessarily because they believe what's on their televisions from pro-Russian channels but because they were concerned for her safety.She herself came to oppose the war because the historical analogies were too striking. At a museum inside an Ottoman-era fortress in Bender — located above a military base with Russian soldiers, and currently undergoing renovations funded by the European Union — a sign celebrating the foreign military presence justified it in terms identical to those used by Russian President Vladimir Putin today. Russian soldiers, it said, had ended a "bloody genocide" perpetrated by "radical nationalists" in Moldova, whose reactionary preference for the Romanian language, previously suppressed by the Soviet Union, had led them to impose "a number of discriminatory language laws." "I was here in 1992," Amina said. "And now I have the same feeling as 30 years ago. It's the same thing happening."If war does come here again, locals think it won't stop with Ukraine and Transnistria.<div type="image" title="museum statue of Russian soldier" height="3492" width="4656" msid="91109046" hostid="261"></div>Since the beginning, before Putin even came to power, Russia has been using Transnistria as a "kind of blackmail," Igor Munteanu, Moldova's ambassador to the United States from 2010 to 2015, said in an interview at his office in Chisinau. The vast majority of Moldova's electricity is generated in Transnistria, the power plants there running on Russian gas and coal. In part, that protects Moldova — Russia is seen as unlikely to cut off the supply to a loyal proxy state — but it also ensures dependence."Anytime that Moldova says that 'we would like to join the European Union,'" he said, Russia responds, 'Well, keep in mind, we are against that.'"But the most important political leverage, Munteanu said, is Russia's intelligence and military presence in Transnistria.In addition to its own military presence, "they have trained and recruited local inhabitants." The self-declared republic has a military force of its own that is at least as large as the Republic of Moldova's, with better arms and a number of tanks. "And they can enlarge the military contingent, which is following the orders of the Russian Federation, by 10 times — they can easily recruit and mobilize 50,000 soldiers from Transnistria."<div type="image" title="sign for coins" height="3648" width="4864" msid="91109047" hostid="261"></div>Transnistria is the site of a former USSR ammunition depot that is believed to be one of the largest in eastern Europe. The statelet's railroads, which use the same broad-gauge track as Ukraine and Russia, are seen by analysts as a potential resupply route for the railway-dependent Russian military if the war eventually comes to Odesa. In the immediate wake of Russia's invasion, Munteanu thought it reasonable to conclude that Ukraine was not the only objective. Putin has repeatedly expressed his anger not just at Kyiv, but at the rest of Moscow's former satellites in Eastern Europe who have chosen closer relations with the West — he views them as client states of Washington, akin to what he's sought over Ukraine, Belarus, and Georgia — and at the Soviet leaders who allowed them to regain their independence."I think when he speaks about recovering what belongs to Russia, he means also Moldova," Munteanu said. "And from day zero, he meant an invasion."<div type="image" title="railroad cars on tracks" height="3648" width="5472" msid="91109048" hostid="261"></div>In Chisinau, life goes on, families packing churches over the weekend for Easter celebrations and taking home with them a candle lit by the Holy Fire — a flame that is delivered by plane from Jerusalem to Orthodox churches across Eastern Europe.People are nervous, but Moldovans who fled the country after the Feb. 24 invasion have trickled back, officials say, encouraged by Russian setbacks, particularly the failure to capture Odesa; the Ukrainian port city, a short drive from the border, is a commonly accepted bellwether — if it falls, Moldova will be next. Eyes are also on America: if US diplomats start leaving, thousands of Moldovans will follow.No one, certainly, believes Moldova could resist an invasion, should it ever come to that. Locals joke that the country's armed forces would be able to hold the capital for about two hours — the time it would take Russia to drive an armored vehicle from the border. Not even the country's elected officials pretend its armed forces would be any match.In his office on the sixth floor of the Soviet-era parliament building in Chisinau, lawmaker Radu Marian, vice president of the governing Party of Action and Solidarity, rubbed his face and sighed when asked if his country would be able to put up a fight."With Russia?" he said. "I don't know how."<div type="image" title="Flags of Transnistria and Russia" height="3648" width="5472" msid="91109049" hostid="261"></div>At 32, Marian is one of a slew of young people with no prior experience in politics who have come to power in Moldova. PAS, the pro-Western party of President Maia Sandu, was founded in 2016 and won a parliamentary majority with 60% of the vote in 2021, campaigning on an anti-corruption platform and defeating a Socialist party widely seen as a proxy for the Kremlin. Since then, the party's anti-corruption message has been overshadowed by consecutive crises: two deadly waves of COVID-19 followed by a war that has changed the tiny country's demographics, with nearly 100,000 of its 3 million inhabitants now refugees from Ukraine.The war has not, however, changed Moldova's security policy. The country is not in the EU and, so long as part of its territory is controlled by Russian-backed separatists, it can never join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.In order to avoid a confrontation, Moldova, its constitution committing it to military neutrality, has condemned the war in Ukraine and accepted more refugees per capita than any other nation. But it has refused to allow its territory to be used for the transfer of weapons. It has also declined to sanction Moscow — and it's not requesting any new weapon from its allies in Washington and Brussels, fearing that would put a target on its back.There is no Plan B."We are not Ukraine," Marian said. "We don't have Stingers, we don't have tanks, we don't have planes, and we have no combat experience whatsoever. It's just the reality."It's a reality that raises an uncomfortable question."Do you put up a fight and trigger massive killings?" Marian asked. "Or, you know, just do what the Netherlands did in the Second World War when the Nazis came in — and just hope that the regime will be overthrown at one point.""It's a bit crazy to talk about these things," he added, "but we need to talk."<div type="image" title="man walking in front of supermarket" height="3648" width="5472" msid="91109050" hostid="261"></div>Back in Transnistria, the normalcy is artificial. People are scared to act any other way.According to Moldovan authorities, Russia's invasion of Ukraine prompted a large uptick in residents there applying for passports issued by their ostensible "radical nationalist" enemy in Chisinau, needing documents from an internationally recognized country if they wish to escape their self-proclaimed state ahead of an invasion.Andrei Crigan of the business consulting group Gateway &amp; Partners in Moldova, who was born in Transnistria, said the lack of real opportunity is another driving factor. "There's a group that holds a monopoly on the economy, called Sheriff," Crigan noted, founded by Viktor Gushan and Ilya Kazmaly, both of whom enjoy Russian citizenship. "They're controlling everything. If you want to open a business and you want to grow it, you cannot do that. You will be slapped on your head at some point and they will take this business from you."Many people in Transnistria "kind of feel like Russians," Crigan said, "but they see the reality and they say, 'What kind of Russia is that? Or what is Russia doing for us?'"<div type="image" title="Lenin statute" height="3648" width="4864" msid="91109052" hostid="261"></div>But people stay in undesirable situations for the same reasons people do anywhere else.Amina, for example, has seen both her children move away. And now she lives with the fear of a coming war.Why stay, then, in a breakaway state? "This is home," she said. Generations of her family lived here, Amina said, and it's like a magnet: if she tries to leave it pulls her back.Many of her neighbors may well identify with Russia, but merely residing in the territory should not be read as support for any purported liberation by Moscow. As Amina spoke, <keyword id="11893589" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="news" source="Orion">news</keyword> was breaking that Russian missiles had struck residential buildings in Odesa, killing eight people, including a mother and her newborn child.Pouring some wine in her garden, she proposed a toast: "To the death of Putin."Have a news tip? Email this reporter: <a href="mailto:cdavis@insider.com">cdavis@insider.com</a>

In Transnistria, controlled by pro-Russia separatists, a fear of war and a toast: 'To the death of Putin'

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Surgeon General Jerome Adams appeared on broadcast and cable news on Sunday, warning this week could be the "saddest week of most Americans' lives." </li><li>Adams compared the upcoming week to the attack on Pearl Harbor and the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.</li><li>He refused to say whether governors in nine states that have not ordered residents to "stay at home" should issue such orders, saying governors had their citizens' best interests in mind.</li><li>"We aren't going to treat or supply our way out of this problem. There is no magic bullet or magic cure," Adams said.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</li></ul>Surgeon General Jerome Adams on Sunday warned the upcoming week would be "the hardest and saddest week of most Americans' lives" as experts predict a <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/04/coronavirus-live-updates-us-cases-continue-to-rise-faster-than-other-countries.html">surge in deaths</a> from COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.Adams told "<a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/surgeon-general-warns-this-week-will-be-our-pearl-harbor-moment-as-coronavirus-death-toll-rises">Fox News Sunday</a>" host Chris Wallace it was "tragically fitting" they were discussing the virus at the beginning of Holy Week, the week preceding Easter."This is going to be our Pearl Harbor moment and our 9/11 moment only it's not going to be localized, it's going to be happening all over the country," Adams told "Fox News Sunday" host Chris Wallace. The US has so far had the worst outbreak of the novel coronavirus worldwide with at least 312,249 confirmed cases and 8,503 deaths from COVID-19, according to data from <a href="https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html">Johns Hopkins University</a>. The death toll has already surpassed that of both the attack on <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/12/06/pearl-harbor-what-happened-during-december-7-1941-attack-hawaii/4351786002/">Pearl Harbor</a> during WWII and the terrorist attacks on <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=9%2F11+deaths&amp;oq=9%2F11+deaths&amp;aqs=chrome..69i57j0l3.2683j0j7&amp;sourceid=chrome&amp;ie=UTF-8">September 11, 2001</a>. He added: "I want [Americans] to understand that the public along with the state and federal government have the power to change the trajectory of this epidemic." When asked about the nine states that have yet to order residents to "<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-map-stay-at-home-orders-lockdowns-2020-3">stay at home</a>," Adams said he respected state leaders' autonomy to make the best decision for their people, though he said he wished they would encourage citizens to follow the Trump administration's "<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/articles/these-30-days-how-you-can-help/">30 days to slow the spread</a>" initiative. Adams compared the varying policies nationwide state policies on cigarettes and opioids and said more people would die from smoking cigarettes than even in the most serious coronavirus projections. "The coronavirus doesn't recognize state's rights," Wallace responded. Adams then pointed toward New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's statements when the president said he was considering placing New York and neighboring New Jersey and Connecticut on an "<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-considering-quarantine-on-new-york-new-jersey-and-connecticut-2020-3">enforceable quarantine</a>." Cuomo had called Trump's proposal "<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-new-yorkers-rhode-island-anti-american-civil-liberties-pandemic-2020-3">a declaration of war on states</a>." "Right now what I would say to those governors, if you can't give us a month, give us what you can," Adams said.His warning comes the day after President Trump's own remarks, who warned of similar upcoming challenges. "This will be probably the toughest week between this week and next week," <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-warns-of-a-lot-of-death-toughest-week-2020-4">Trump told reporters</a> at the White House on Saturday afternoon. "There will be a lot of death, unfortunately, but a lot less death than if this wasn't done. But there will be death."Adams also responded to questions about the president's repeated mention of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/malaria-pill-chloroquine-tested-as-coronavirus-treatment-2020-3">Hydroxychloroquine</a>, a drug used to treat arthritis and malaria, that has not been tested for its effectiveness in fighting COVID-19. On Saturday, the president said he <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-may-take-hydroxychloroquine-despite-no-evidence-it-works-2020-4">might take the drug</a> in an apparent effort to prevent COVID-19, even though there is no evidence the drug is effective - or safe - for preventing or treating the novel coronavirus."When people are in a tragic situation when they're in the hospital or a loved one is in the hospital with COVID-19, we want them to be able to have a conversation with their healthcare provider about everything they can possibly do to save their life," the surgeon general said, mentioning "accounts and stories" the drug's potential effectiveness.Adams added: "We know it's been available for years. So we feel a little bit better regarding its safety than a completely novel drug, even though this is being used at much higher dosages."In an interview on NBC's "<a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/video/full-surgeon-general-there-is-no-magic-bullet-to-stop-spread-of-covid-19-81657925545?cid=sm_npd_nn_tw_mtp">Meet the Press"</a> also on Sunday, Adams told Chuck Todd that distancing and other prevention measures were the best way to combat COVID-19."We are always telling people we would rather prevent disease than treat disease. We aren't going to treat or supply our way out of this problem. There is no magic bullet or magic cure," he said.Do you have a personal experience with the coronavirus you'd like to share? Or a tip on how your town or community is handling the pandemic? Please email <a href="mailto:covidtips@businessinsider.com">covidtips@businessinsider.com</a> and tell us your story.And get the latest <a href="/coronavirus-business-impact">coronavirus analysis and research</a> from Business Insider Intelligence on how COVID-19 is impacting businesses.

Surgeon General warns the upcoming weeks of coronavirus cases and deaths will be 'our Pearl Harbor moment and our 9/11 moment'

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">ShutterstockMore women are dreaming of traveling solo.</div></div></div>When you hear about how women use Pinterest, <a href="http://www.techinsider.io/planning-a-wedding-on-pinterest-people-2015-7">wedding planning</a> and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/best-way-to-use-pinterest-2015-5">style inspiration</a> likely come to mind.But there's also a huge new trend percolating on the platform that focuses mainly on fantasies of independence and living freely: female solo travel.Travel inspiration has always been big on the platform, but the focus on traveling alone is recent. "Since Spring 2015, we've seen a marked increase in women Pinning solo travel ideas," Christine Shirmer, consumer communications at Pinterest, told Tech Insider. "Pinners of all ages tell us this is less about self discovery and more about simply not wanting to compromise on where and when they want to travel."It's unclear how many women have actually been inspired to take the plunge and travel alone thanks to Pinterest, but they're certainly dreaming about it. There's been a rise in Pinning the topic of over 350% since 2014, according to Pinterest, with the biggest surge starting in April of this year. A spokesperson also said that it's much more popular with users in the 18-34 range than the 35-55 range.Some of the most popular destinations are Spain, Chile, Italy, and Scotland, where the women in the Pinterest boards wander down colorful, winding streets, savor gelato, or gaze at the ruins of old castles.Channeling the best-selling solo travel memoirists Cheryl Strayed and Elizabeth Gilbert, "wander women" post photos that show them with their arms spread wide, taking in the saturated scenery around them, and looking incredibly free. With their on-trend backpacks slung over their shoulders, they pose with locals, don't bother with makeup, and ride elephants. The photos make travel seem like a boundless, epic adventure.<a href="https://www.pinterest.com/pin/166211042473633326/">Commenters</a> <a href="https://www.pinterest.com/pin/87186942758439416/">gush</a>, <a href="https://www.pinterest.com/pin/103512491409772750/">saying things like</a>, "Wow! How inspiring!" and "Awesome!" <div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">PinterestPinterest has seen a staggering 350% increase in women Pinning solo travel ideas.</div></div></div>When I reached out to blogger Kristin Addis of <a href="http://www.bemytravelmuse.com/">Be My Travel Muse</a>, she wasn't surprised at all by the increase in women dreaming about traveling by themselves."Women are more empowered, educated, and independent as a whole than they ever have been before and the world is only becoming more and more connected," Addis, who has been traveling around the world by herself nonstop since 2012, told Tech Insider.She said the best part about traveling alone is having the freedom to explore and get immersed in another culture. So it's not hard to imagine why women would fantasize about this online just as much as they dream about other aspects of their future.And now, scores of female travel bloggers like Addis make a living writing about their trips and disseminating their advice through Pinterest - similar to the men who made careers out of writing about their travels for decades, even centuries. Addis is no different from the Jack Kerouacs and Bruce Chatwins who came before her. Those men's readers also lived vicariously through written travel tales."I genuinely don't see a huge difference between women and males traveling solo," Addis said. <div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">REUTERS/StringerA woman celebrates after winning a turban tying competition as part of the celebrations of Holi, also known as the Festival of Colors, in Jaipur, the capital of India's desert state of Rajasthan.</div></div></div>Of course, the rosy image presented by Pinterest's stunning travel photos and chipper advice posts sometimes obscures the messier aspects of international travel. Traveling costs money. It also takes time. And sometimes, it can be dangerous.It's impossible to discuss women traveling by themselves without talking about the dangers. Global news coverage frequently highlights these <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/16/world/americas/3-convicted-of-raping-us-student-on-rio-transit-van.html">sexual assaults</a>, <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/20-year-old-Japanese-woman-tourist-raped-in-Jaipur/articleshow/46172697.cms">gang rapes,</a> and even <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/19/nyregion/suspect-says-fatal-encounter-with-sarai-sierra-began-with-rebuffed-kiss.html?_r=0">murders.</a>And there can be an added layer of danger for women of color. <a href="http://photos.state.gov/libraries/greece/38517/uscitizens/sec_message_greece.pdf">In 2012</a>, the U.S. Embassy in Athens, Greece, released an advisory, <a href="https://www.osac.gov/pages/ContentReportDetails.aspx?cid=17126">still in effect</a>, that warned there was a rise in harassment and attacks against American tourists of color.<a href="http://www.nadinecduncan.com/">Nadine Duncan</a>, who wrote the book "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Diary-Traveling-Black-Woman-International/dp/0692403566">Diary of a Traveling Black Woman: A Guide to International Travel</a>," told Tech Insider that she believes she gets more attention while traveling than a white female tourist would. For example, locals in certain areas will ask her to pose for photos with them for no apparent reason beyond her looks."As a Black woman, par<keyword id="72550" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="TI">ti</keyword>cularly one with [dreadlocks], I definitely stand out," she told TI. "It seems that most countries expect white tourists, so the 'fascination' may not be as strong [for white tourists]."<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">Courtesy of Nadine DuncanNadine Duncan, author of "Diary of a Traveling Black Woman: A Guide to International Travel."</div></div></div>Pinterest does provide tips for travelers who want to stay safe."Some of the concerns are different and important to discuss, such as dress code and women's legal rights, but otherwise I'd say the same to both sexes: look around, stay aware, don't get too intoxicated, and think twice about going out alone at night," blogger Addis said.Travel boards are filled with meme-ified and aesthetically pleasing lists that explain how to be cautious while traveling. Whether they're <a href="http://www.buzzfeed.com/jessicaprobus/46-incredibly-useful-safety-tips-for-women-traveling-alone?utm_term=.au8LG607W">sourced from BuzzFeed</a> or <a href="http://www.ytravelblog.com/female-solo-travel-tips/">travel blogs</a>, there are plenty of Pins about "safety tips for women" and "female solo travel tips," such as <a href="http://www.cntraveler.com/stories/2013-10-05/womens-travel-safety-tips-poll-results-advice-where-to-stay-what-to-bring?s_cid=social23505464">wearing a fake wedding ring</a>, <a href="http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifestyle/10-safety-hacks-every-woman-who-travels-alone-should-know.html">checking in with friends and family</a>, and <a href="http://www.ytravelblog.com/female-solo-travel-tips/">trusting your intuition</a>. <div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">PinterestSome of the most popular Pins for women traveling alone are about safety tips.</div></div></div> In addition to the safety tips, Pinterest users will find even more specific travel instructions. There's a <a href="https://www.pinterest.com/pin/72690981462257492/">female solo travel guide to the Yucatan Peninsula</a>, for instance; a <a href="https://www.pinterest.com/pin/154177987219642581/">list of tips and disclaimers</a> for women who are thinking of couch-surfing; and a <a href="https://www.pinterest.com/pin/87186942762647904/">beginner's guide of sorts</a> for women traveling alone for the first time; and even <a href="https://www.pinterest.com/pin/58828338857232371/">a list of the best careers</a> for people who want to travel full-time.Of course, it's impossible to tell how many of the users Pinning this advice are actually going to take the plunge and travel alone to another country. But then, the fantasy of getting away from it all for a week or two can be just as fulfilling as the reality.Christy Woodrow, a female blogger who quit her job in 2009 to travel the world and writes the blog <a href="http://ordinarytraveler.com/">Ordinary Traveler</a>, often <a href="https://www.pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=ordinary%20traveler">pins her own tips and tricks</a> for other travelers."I think with the amount of travelers online - writing travel blogs and sharing their lives on social media - it's easier for women to see other women traveling solo and learning from them," Woodrow said. "In the past, many women would wait until they have someone else to travel with. That's not the case anymore."So as women grow more and more confident when it comes to traveling alone, Pinterest and the blogging community are there to tell them exactly how to do it.But one thing's for sure: Pinning blog posts and photos about solo travel is way more popular than actually buying a plane ticket. <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/us-government-secret-airline-janet-2015-7">There is a secret US government airline that flies out of commercial airports </a></h3> <div> <div> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="5uYWc3djp_WwFcNEae4eW__Ya2XMybSQ" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> </div> </div> </div>

Forget wedding plans - Pinterest's massive 'wander women' trend is all about traveling solo

Law enforcement continue to search throughout the northeast for the remaining suspect in the terror attack at the Boston Marathon.
Dzhokar Tsarnaev is the lone identified suspect still on the loose, and the FBI is releasing photos, descriptions of vehicles he may be driving, and seeking tips (If you have any, call 1-800-CALL-FBI).
Besides the official releases, people in the area are taking to Twitter to release their own photos of what's happening — usually from the windows of their homes as police move about. There are two hashtags to follow for what's going on: #manhunt, and #bostonbombing.
Here's what we've seen so far:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck">
Holy crap, they got snipers on the shed <a href="https://twitter.com/search/%23manhunt">#manhunt</a> <a href="http://t.co/3YnokMcFUE" title="http://twitter.com/theN0w/status/325325859487629313/photo/1">twitter.com/theN0w/status/…</a>
— . (@theN0w) <a href="https://twitter.com/theN0w/status/325325859487629313">April 19, 2013</a></blockquote>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck">
More SWAT arrive <a href="https://twitter.com/search/%23BostonBombing">#BostonBombing</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/search/%23Manhunt">#Manhunt</a> <a href="http://t.co/CVQywJyqeR" title="http://twitter.com/FreshBananas/status/325330069105033216/photo/1">twitter.com/FreshBananas/s…</a>
— Miss Bea-o (@FreshBananas) <a href="https://twitter.com/FreshBananas/status/325330069105033216">April 19, 2013</a></blockquote>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck">
<a href="https://twitter.com/search/%23Boston">#Boston</a> door to door search for "Terrorist" in <a href="https://twitter.com/search/%23Boston">#Boston</a> Marathon Bombing..Stay safe <a href="https://twitter.com/search/%23Boston">#Boston</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/search/%23manhunt">#manhunt</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/search/%23watertown">#watertown</a> <a href="http://t.co/gCEvxRh7KI" title="http://twitter.com/robynd323/status/325328943957803010/photo/1">twitter.com/robynd323/stat…</a>
— RobynD323 (@robynd323) <a href="https://twitter.com/robynd323/status/325328943957803010">April 19, 2013</a></blockquote>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-partner="tweetdeck">
This is wild. “@<a href="https://twitter.com/munkyboii">munkyboii</a>: Just got searched for safety measures for the <a href="https://twitter.com/search/%23manhunt">#manhunt</a> in <a href="https://twitter.com/search/%23watertown">#watertown</a> <a href="http://t.co/nYjaXbH9rm" title="http://twitter.com/MunKYBoii/status/325321297615781888/photo/1">twitter.com/MunKYBoii/stat…</a>”
— Bryan Hall (@bry_hall) <a href="https://twitter.com/bry_hall/status/325328666919841792">April 19, 2013</a></blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck">
More swat arriving. <a href="https://twitter.com/search/%23manhunt">#manhunt</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/search/%23watertown">#watertown</a> <a href="http://t.co/TrLAHKGTdT" title="http://twitter.com/aaronspagnolo/status/325328289499607040/photo/1">twitter.com/aaronspagnolo/…</a>
— Aaron Spagnolo (@aaronspagnolo) <a href="https://twitter.com/aaronspagnolo/status/325328289499607040">April 19, 2013</a></blockquote>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck">
a nineteen year old... <a href="https://twitter.com/search/%23ManHunt">#ManHunt</a> <a href="http://t.co/KuV3DNWjYv" title="http://twitter.com/kimbo_preis/status/325328275331244032/photo/1">twitter.com/kimbo_preis/st…</a>
— Michael Oppenheimer (@kimbo_preis) <a href="https://twitter.com/kimbo_preis/status/325328275331244032">April 19, 2013</a></blockquote>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck">
RT @<a href="https://twitter.com/mozaie">mozaie</a>: "@<a href="https://twitter.com/youranonnews">youranonnews</a>: Welcome to <a href="https://twitter.com/search/%23Boston">#Boston</a>! <a href="http://t.co/7uahO2Tsc4" title="http://twitter.com/57UN/status/325299692583931904/photo/1">twitter.com/57UN/status/32…</a> Via @<a href="https://twitter.com/57un">57un</a>"whoa some scary stuff <a href="https://twitter.com/search/%23bostonbombing">#bostonbombing</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/search/%23Anonymous">#Anonymous</a>
— Anonymous_B.I.G.(@AnonBig) <a href="https://twitter.com/AnonBig/status/325325467366346753">April 19, 2013</a></blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck">
More <keyword id="6359526" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Military">military</keyword> presence, staging a search <a href="https://twitter.com/search/%23watertown">#watertown</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/search/%23manhunt">#manhunt</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/search/%23bostonbombing">#bostonbombing</a> <a href="http://t.co/NJw9JtHENb" title="http://twitter.com/MunKYBoii/status/325272375132311552/photo/1">twitter.com/MunKYBoii/stat…</a>
— Henry Nguyen (@MunKYBoii) <a href="https://twitter.com/MunKYBoii/status/325272375132311552">April 19, 2013</a></blockquote>

Watertown Residents Are Looking Out Of Their Windows And Seeing These Incredible War-Like Scenes

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">Shutterstock</div></div></div><ul class="summary-list"><li>A Silicon Valley blood-testing startup called Telomere Diagnostics sells a $99 kit that tells customers the average length of their telomeres.</li><li>Telomeres are seen by some researchers as a holy grail of aging. Unlike other factors, such as your genetics or upbringing, telomere length appears to change in response to behaviors like diet and exercise. </li><li>But two of Telomere Diagnostics' original founders, along with a NASA researcher who specializes in telomeres, raised doubts about the efficacy of the test.</li><li>A former Telomere Diagnostics employee also alleged that the company's lab was "filthy" and said she didn't "believe in the <keyword id="41551" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="100" keywordseo="science">science</keyword>" behind the test.</li></ul>Age is just a number, unless you're talking about your "cellular age."Cellular age, according to a Silicon Valley company called Telomere Diagnostics, reveals more about your health than a birth date ever could.Telomere Diagnostics sells a $99 at-home blood-testing kit that tells customers the average length of their telomeres, the tiny protective caps on our DNA believed to protect us from aging's steady wear and tear.Then the company offers health advice based on the test results.Telomeres are seen by some researchers as a holy grail of aging. That's because unlike other factors such as your genes or upbringing, telomere length appears to change in response to a variety of activities. Commit to regular exercise and your telomeres will grow, Telomere Diagnostics claims. Start binging on fast food and they'll shrink."It's like a fitness tracker for your DNA," Jason Shelton, the CEO of Telomere Diagnostics, told Business Insider. "It can change based on actions you take, and you can see the results immediately."But two of Telomere Diagnostics' three original founders, along with a NASA researcher who specializes in telomeres, aren't so sure.Elizabeth Blackburn, a biologist at the University of California at San Francisco, who won the Nobel Prize for her work on telomeres, in 2009, cofounded Telomere Diagnostics in 2010. The company still shows images of a Nobel Prize on its website, but Blackburn left the company more than five years ago because of concerns she had about its products.Elissa Epel, another UCSF researcher who cofounded the company with Blackburn, left at the same time for the same reasons.Both researchers told Business Insider that they questioned the efficacy of Telomere Diagnostics' test. And a former Telomere Diagnostics employee said she witnessed practices that raised doubts about the company's cleanliness, commitment to scientific accuracy, and handling of private health information.<h2>The emerging science of telomeres</h2><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">NIHTelomeres, in white, are structures at the tips of chromosomes, in blue.</div></div></div>In 2009, Blackburn <a href="http://biochemistry2.ucsf.edu/labs/blackburn/index.php?Itemid=3"> shared the Nobel Prize in medicine</a> for her work demonstrating that our cells' chromosomes - the wishbone-shaped structures that contain our DNA - are capped with delicate structures, or telomeres, that help shield our genetic material from wear and tear.It gave rise to a fervor of telomere research. Nearly 1,300 papers containing the word "telomeres" came out in 2017 - a nearly fourteenfold increase from 1991, when there were fewer than 100 such papers.But the links between telomere length, health, and aging are not yet clear cut.Shorter telomeres have been tied to <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5042389/">higher rates of disease</a>,<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5379954/"> faster tumor growth</a>, and <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2790562/"> overall age-related degeneration</a>. But longer telomeres have not been tied to the opposite outcomes; several recent studies have failed to find <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28887594">any link between long telomeres</a> and positive health effects, and longer-than-normal telomeres have also been tied to an <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27498151">increased risk of cancer</a>.Many activities appear to have the power to grow or blunt telomeres, from exercise to smoking, but scientists have not yet been able to prove that this relationship is causal. That means that we still do not fully understand telomeres or their role in aging and disease. So trying to lengthen or shorten your telomeres as a health intervention is arguably premature and, at worst, harmful, some experts say.And there is no recognized optimal telomere length for health. According to Blackburn, that makes the idea of telling someone their cellular age based on the length of their telomeres problematic - at least for now.Still another hurdle is that measurements of telomere length vary depending on the method used to test them. Some testing procedures look at the length of all the telomeres in a given blood sample and give you the average - the method that Telomere Diagnostics uses - while other tests focus exclusively on the shortest telomeres in a sample.But telomere science is a highly promising area for future studies, many researchers say. When looking across large populations, telomeres hold intriguing clues about how everything from diet to smoking affects our cells and their ability to self-repair and replenish."The research uses of telomere analyses, done with high quality controls and on sufficiently large and carefully done cohort studies, are scientifically valuable," Blackburn said. "It is just the value right now of commercial testing of individuals without clearly telling those tested the whole story that I find questionable."<h2>A NASA scientist says astronaut Scott Kelly 'threw a wrench' into one hypothesis about telomeres</h2><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><a href="https://www.nasa.gov/content/scott-kelly-and-mark-kelly-at-the-johnson-space-center">NASA</a>Twin astronauts Scott Kelly, right, and Mark Kelly are helping NASA explore what life in space does to the human body.</div></div></div>Because of their potential connection to aging, stress, and disease, telomeres are of particular interest to researchers at NASA.As part of its <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-twin-study-new-results-mark-scott-kelly-2017-10"> NASA Twin Study</a>, researchers are using Scott Kelly and his identical twin brother, Mark, to explore how the intense stress of spaceflight spurs changes inside the body. Scott lived in space for a year while his Mark stayed on Earth, and scientists examined Scott's genes after he returned.They found evidence of a body trying to protect itself from strain. But his telomeres did not respond the way scientists had expected. Instead of shrinking, as telomeres are believed to do in response to stress or negativity, they grew longer.<a href="https://www.nasa.gov/twins-study/meet-the-researchers/telomeres">Susan Bailey</a>, a professor of radiation-cancer biology and one of the lead NASA researchers studying the Kelly twins, told Business Insider that the discovery "threw a wrench into the hypothesis" that healthy behaviors lengthen telomeres while unhealthy ones shorten them.It was a reminder, she said, of how much we still don't know about the links between telomeres, health, and aging."There's a lot of good research that shows shorter telomeres are linked with heart disease, whereas longer ones are associated with an increased risk of things like cancer," Bailey added. "I think you have to balance those things. It's not just, 'Oh, I have longer telomeres, so I'm going to live longer and be healthier.' You may live longer, but you may get cancer, too."<h2>From Nobel Prize to brazen startup</h2><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">Getty Images / Justin SullivanElizabeth Blackburn, right, celebrates her Nobel Prize in medicine.</div></div></div>After she discovered telomeres, Blackburn believed that measuring them could give doctors and patients a way to spot signs of poor health early. So in 2010 she founded Telome Health along with Epel and another UCSF researcher, Jue Lin, who still serves on the company's scientific advisory board but told Business Insider she was "not very" involved with them. The startup aimed to help accelerate the pace of telomere research."Our vision was to enroll people in research [with a consent form], tell them their results in a responsible way, and learn more about the effects of testing," Epel said.Blackburn served as a cofounder, board member, and chair of the company's scientific advisory committee.Several of Blackburn's colleagues in the field expressed doubts about the usefulness of the blood test between 2010 and 2013, but she called the test's utility "a no-brainer" in 2013 interview with <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/09/science/elizabeth-blackburn-molecular-biologist-charts-her-own-course.html">The New York Times</a>.A few months after that interview, Blackburn left Telome Health. The decision, she told Business Insider, was the result of an internal conflict. A board member wanted to team up with a supplement company called TA Sciences, which was making a plant-extract pill that it claimed could lengthen telomeres and fight aging and disease.Blackburn said she had concerns that the supplement, known as TA-65, "carried a very scientifically plausible risk of being cancer-causing." The board out-voted Blackburn."This was sufficient for me ... to sever [my] relationship with the company," she said.TA-65 is made with telomerase, an enzyme that appears to <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3045570/">spur telomeres to elongate</a>. But that growth may also <a href="https://www.ejcancer.com/article/S0959-8049(97)00062-2/abstract">seed the germination of cancer cells</a> by making it easier for them to proliferate, according to research from several biologists, including Blackburn.Jim Cich, the president of TA Sciences, told Business Insider that he believed Blackburn's doubts "revolved around a worry a few people had in the early days of telomere biology," adding that those concerns were "currently out of date with the thinking of most telomere biologists."But a study <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4915101/">published in the journal Genome Medicine</a> in 2016 suggested that deactivating telomerase - as opposed to reactivating it, as TA-65 claims to do - could be a promising anticancer treatment.Cich, however, said TA-65 was safe and effective."TA Sciences has spent several million dollars on product testing including double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trials that demonstrate the effectiveness and safety of TA-65," he said.Within a year of leaving the company, Blackburn had stepped down from all leadership roles and donated all of her equity to a nonprofit. Epel and Lin Blackburn's cofounders, also left at that time for the same reason."The company's direction was drifting away from the scientific basis underpinning its formation," Blackburn thought.But the work continued. The company changed its name to Telomere Diagnostics and began selling its telomere testing kits, called TeloYears, for $99. Lin, the third cofounder, rejoined the company's scientific advisory board at this time.When asked about the test's accuracy, Jason Shelton, Telomere Diagnostics' CEO, said that since he took on a leadership role at the company, in 2014, "We have remained strongly committed to advancing telomere science." To that end, the company published an <a href="http://jalm.aaccjnls.org/content/early/2017/04/20/jalm.2016.022137">article in a peer-reviewed journal</a> last year that said the company's telomere-measuring techniques were scientifically valid.Shelton said the company's relationship with TA Sciences "was terminated" when he took over in 2014.Today, Telomere Diagnostics sells a different supplement that it says is based on scientific research that has found links between various vitamins - including vitamins D and E - and longer telomeres.Telomere Diagnostics is now doing well financially, according to Alexandre Levert, a board member who represents a French shareholder in the company. Levert told Business Insider that 2017 was one of the "strongest years so far" in terms of revenue.<h2>How Telomere Diagnostics determines cellular age</h2>The process of getting your cellular age from the TeloYears test is somewhat similar to the one that genetics and ancestry-testing companies use. Customers get a box in the mail, which contains a kit for providing biological samples (TeloYears uses blood; other companies use saliva). Customers follow the instructions, then ship their blood sample back to the company for processing.Once a doctor signs off on the order, customers receive a report in the mail that purports to tell them whether the age of their cells "in TeloYears" is older or younger than their actual age. This result is an indicator of "how well a person is aging," Shelton said."You can use your results to improve your overall health by finding … the motivation to take steps to slow down the clock on the aging process," the Telomere Diagnostics website reads.Those steps, according to the company, involve more exercise, sleep, and healthier eating."Your TeloYears results can also be used, through repeat testing, to track how your choices are affecting your aging," the description says.All those recommendations are "common sense," Lin, the third cofounder, told Business Insider. Despite this, she said the test would be helpful to many people who "don't have the motivation to improve or maintain their health.""If knowing your telomere length is the thing that allows them to have that motivation, that could be a potential use," Lin said.<h2>'I didn't believe in the science'</h2><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">Shutterstock</div></div></div>A former Telomere Diagnostics employee, who worked for the company as a supervisor on a contract basis in 2017, spoke with Business Insider anonymously about her experience out of fear of retribution.Several events made her uneasy about the work she was doing, she said. On one occasion, the employee said, a Telomere Diagnostics customer complained that their TeloYears results were inaccurate. The customer said that because they regularly exercised and ate healthy, they must have a younger "cellular age" than the one the test yielded. According to the employee, Telomere Diagnostics responded by sending the customer a new kit, then returned results showing a new "cellular age" that was decades younger."The test is garbage," she said, adding, "I didn't believe in the science."Shelton denied that the company had ever fudged the numbers on a report and said such behavior would be grounds for firing an employee.The former employee also alleged that she observed several organizational errors in the lab that jeopardized patient privacy. She twice saw staff members accidentally mix up customers' test results, she said, which led them to mail one customer's health information to the wrong person. In one of those cases, a customer sent back a report that belonged to another patient, she alleged.Shelton said those two errors did occur, but said "both were promptly rectified."Finally, the employee alleged that Telomere Diagnostics' lab was once infested by mice. She said she raised the issue "over and over again" in meetings with management, but "people wouldn't listen." She quit."That lab is the filthiest, most screwed-up lab I've ever seen in my life," she said, adding, "I'm honestly stunned that they're still in existence."The former employee also worked in the lab of Silicon Valley blood-testing startup Theranos, which was plagued by scandal and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/theranos-lessons-tips-silicon-valley-biotech-investors-2018-8">announced plans to formally dissolve</a> in September.Shelton did not deny the allegation about a mouse infestation but said "any traces of pests would be addressed according to accepted pest-control procedures."Levert, the Telomere Diagnostics board member, agreed with Shelton, telling Business Insider that during his "regular" visits to the company's lab he never saw any evidence supporting the former employee's claims."We're putting all of our efforts into a really high-quality lab where we're upgrading regularly," Levert said. "Any inspections we've had have been very positive."<h2>2 founders raise questions over accuracy</h2>Some researchers who specialize in telomeres - including Blackburn and Epel - said the science wasn't yet advanced enough for any company to offer health advice based on measurements of telomere length."Telomere length is another risk factor, just like cholesterol," Epel told Business Insider. "But the current tests for it are probably not accurate for widespread use, or for single use for individuals."Bailey, the NASA scientist, said a few crucial steps were necessary before such tests could be considered trustworthy."At the most basic level, one of the first things we need to do is standardize how telomere length is being measured and make sure we're measuring what we think we're measuring in the first place," Bailey said.But Shelton, Telomere Diagnostics' CEO, said telomeres' malleability is precisely what makes them useful."If you do an ancestry test, there's no amount of push-ups you can do that can change what percent Irish you are," Shelton said. "But your telomere length is one of those unique parts of DNA that's been shown in clinical studies to change based on a variety of lifestyle modifications."Shelton encouraged customers to take the test several times so that they could track how their telomere length shifts based on, say, eating healthier or working out more regularly."We can help inspire people to improve their overall lifestyle and engage on their own personal journey through what is perhaps the oldest and most important problem shared by all mankind," he said. "How do you put more years in your life, and how do you put more life in your years?"But of course the more times a person takes the TeloYears test, the more money Shelton's company makes. <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/is-it-bad-to-eat-moldy-bread-2018-8">Never eat the 'clean' part of moldy bread</a></h3> <div> </div> </div>

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