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<ul class="summary-list"><li>Officials said a 19-year-old male planned to use knives and explosives at a Taylor Swift concert.</li><li>He and another 17-year-old male are believed to have been radicalized by ISIS, authorities said.</li></ul>Austrian officials said they arrested three male teenagers on Wednesday on suspicion of planning an attack on a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna, the threat of which prompted organizers to cancel three of the singer's shows.The main suspect, a 19-year-old Austrian citizen, was arrested in the town of Ternitz, about 30 miles from Vienna, said the head of the Directorate of State Security and Intelligence, Omar Haijawi-Pirchner.Haijawi-Pirchner said at <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlTJAB_7UUw">a news conference on Thursday</a> that the suspect was planning a suicide attack with knives and explosives that would kill "as many people as possible" at the concert.Officials said they found explosives, detonators, and chemicals in the 19-year-old's home, and that he'd been researching bomb-making techniques.The young man was "clearly radicalized" by the Islamic State and had posted an oath of allegiance to the terrorist organization's leader, Haijawai-Pirchner said.He is cooperating with authorities and fully admitted to the plot, Haijawi-Pirchner added.Franz Ruf, the director-general for public safety in the Ministry of the Interior, said the suspect had planned the attack since July and has North Macedonian roots.<div type="image" title="A screen displays a photo of a young man posing with two knives. His face is blurred." height="5109" width="7384" msid="112391536" hostid="261" sizebytes="652144"></div>The other two teenagers arrested were a 15-year-old and a 17-year-old. The 17-year-old has refused to speak with authorities, who found Islamic State and Al-Qaeda propaganda in his home.The Austrian citizen, who has Turkish and Croatian roots, worked for a facilities company that was contracted to provide services at the concert venue. Authorities didn't say what services these were.Officials said he'd just broken up with his girlfriend and was seized outside the concert stadium.Neither the 19-year-old nor the 17-year-old had tickets to the shows, authorities added.Little information was provided on the 15-year-old, whom authorities said was also questioned by police.Ruf said the three suspects were in contact with other people who knew about the planned attack, but that authorities aren't looking for any other suspects.Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said foreign intelligence agencies helped uncover the plot, which led concert organizers to cancel the Eras Tour shows on Wednesday.Some <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/taylor-swift-vienna-eras-tour-cancelled-fan-experience-los-angeles-2024-8">stunned fans</a> had <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/taylor-swift-concert-vienna-canceled-devastated-but-safe-eras-tour-2024-8#:~:text=Taylor%20Swift's%20three%20shows%20in,would%20have%20been%20her%20first">already arrived from other continents</a> for the concerts scheduled for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.In lieu of the concert, scores of fans gathered near the venue on Thursday to sing Swift's songs as police looked on.<div type="image" title="Taylor Swift fans sing at their own informal gathering at Stephansplatz on August 8 in Vienna." height="4679" width="7018" msid="112391537" hostid="261" sizebytes="2450504"></div>Ewald Tatar, the head of concert organizer Barracuda Music, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.krone.at/3486790">said at a press conference</a> that the shows had been canceled for the safety of concert-goers and those outside the stadium.Tatar expected crowds of up to 15,000 people to gather in the hours before the shows began, which would build to nearly 100,000 people inside and outside the stadium before Swift took the stage."I have to say that, despite everything, I am very happy with this decision," Tatar told reporters, saying management had made the "right" choice.Barracuda Music has said all tickets will be refunded within 10 days.Europe has been on high alert for ISIS-related attacks on pop concerts, after several mass attacks were carried out by the group, including a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ariana-grande-pays-tribute-to-manchester-bombing-victims-2018-5">bombing in Manchester</a> that killed 22 people at an Ariana Grande concert in 2017.

Taylor Swift's canceled concert: Officials found explosives, detonators, and a stockpile of chemicals in a 19-year-old's home

<ul class="summary-list"><li>October saw Russia hit with its highest average daily casualties since the war in Ukraine began, a UK offical said.</li><li>The UK's Chief of Defence Staff said Russia suffered around 1,500 killed or injured each day.</li></ul>October saw Russia hit with its worst casualty rate since the war in Ukraine began, a senior UK official has said.The UK's Chief of Defence Staff, Tony Radakin, said on <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0024vjj/sunday-with-laura-kuenssberg-trumps-victory-ukraine-and-defence-spend">BBC's "Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg"</a> that Russia suffered a daily average of more than 1,500 killed or injured troops in October, which he called "an extraordinary price" for "tiny increments of land."But he added that there was "no doubt that Russia is making tactical, territorial gains" that are putting pressure on Ukraine.In a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://x.com/DefenceU/status/1855496002972667979">post</a> on X on Sunday, Ukraine's Ministry of Defense shared figures from the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces that put Russian combat losses since the start of the invasion in February 2022 at around 709,000 troops.NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said in late October that the number of Russian troops killed or wounded in the war was "over 600,000."Russia has also suffered heavy losses to military vehicles during the war, losing over 9,200 tanks and around 18,700 armored fighting vehicles, per the Ukrainian figures.The Institute for the Study of War said in an update on the conflict on Saturday that Russian forces would not be able to sustain its current loss rates indefinitely, "especially not for such limited gains."<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/north-korean-troops-ukraine-russia-kursk-8000-front-lines-2024-11">Russian forces were bolstered by the arrival of thousands of North Korean soldiers</a> in October, Western officials have said.Reports of Ukrainian and North Korean troops' <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/new-details-first-ukraine-attack-north-korea-troops-russia-kursk-2024-11">first clashes in Russia's Kursk region</a> emerged earlier this week.<div type="image" title="Kim Jong Un has been an ally to Putin during Russia's war on Ukraine." height="1877" width="2813" msid="115150108" hostid="261" sizebytes="111736"></div>In his interview with Kuenssberg, Radakin also mentioned the mounting pressure on the Russian economy.Russia has been spending big on defense over the course of the war in Ukraine, which has fueled growth but also led to rampant inflation.The Russian central bank raised its key interest rate to a record 21% in October to try to combat inflation it said was "running considerably above" expectations.Russia is probably capable of going for years before it has to confront its overspending, Alexandra Prokopenko, a fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, wrote in the Financial Times last month."This is an unpleasant truth for policymakers in Europe and the US," Prokopenko said.Following his election win earlier this week, Donald Trump's team has reportedly been <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-advisors-peace-plans-ukraine-demilitarized-zone-no-aid-russia-2024-11">laying out plans for how to end the war in Ukraine</a>.

Russian forces suffered an average of over 1,500 casualties a day in October for 'tiny increments of land,' UK official says

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The UK says a new anti-missile laser for its aircraft defeated 100% of its targets in a live test.</li><li>Officials said it faced off against multiple heat-seeking missiles launched simultaneously.</li></ul>The UK Defense Ministry said on Sunday that it successfully tested a new air-defense system that tracks missiles midflight and jams them with a precision laser.<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-air-defence-laser-engages-multiple-missiles-at-once">In a statement</a>, officials said the laser downed 100% of its targets at the Vidsel Test Range in Sweden while facing "a range of infrared heat-seeking missiles being fired simultaneously.""100% of threats were quickly defeated using a laser with pinpoint accuracy," the statement said.A joint venture with aerospace firms Leonardo and Thales, it's designed for Royal Air Force planes such as the Shadow R2 surveillance craft and the A400M Atlas transport.The statement did not say if the laser was tested while mounted on a flying aircraft.When contacted by Business Insider, a ministry spokesperson declined to comment on the system's range and the number of missiles used in the test, citing security concerns. Officials said the system combines Thales' threat warning software, Elix-IR, which uses algorithms to detect missiles in the air, with an infrared laser built by Leonardo, called Mysis."Threats are defeated faster than the time it takes to read this sentence," a statement by Defense Secretary John Healey read.His ministry added that senior officials from several NATO states observed the live-fire trial, but did not say which countries they were from.The UK is likely to offer this new technology to its allies, with the ministry statement saying it would be available to "export customers."<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-national-enterprise-approach-for-air-platform-protection">In a 2022 statement</a> about its defense agreement with Leonardo and Thales — called Team Pellonia — the ministry said its project would be compliant with the NATO Defensive Aids System standard, allowing it to sell the technology to approved nations.The UK was the world's seventh-largest arms exporter with a 3.7% market share from 2019 to 2023, according to <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.sipri.org/sites/default/files/2024-03/fs_2403_at_2023.pdf">the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.</a>This isn't the first laser weapon the UK has touted in recent years, as Western militaries look to complement expensive conventional air defense with <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-navy-wants-rechargeable-magazines-lasers-to-take-out-drones-2024-2">cheaper options for bringing down missiles and drones.</a>In March, it published footage of its <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/britain-shows-off-dragonfire-laser-weapon-take-out-drones-cheap-2024-3">DragonFire laser</a> taking down several targets in Scotland, saying the trialed weapon can strike a coin from a kilometer away and costs $13 per shot.Four months later, the UK debuted another weapon, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/first-trial-on-british-army-vehicle-for-high-powered-laser-weapon">a ground vehicle-mounted laser</a> that officials said can fire at $0.12 per shot, in publicly released images.October 21, 2024: This story was updated to reflect a response from the UK Defense Ministry.

A new anti-missile laser downed 100% of its targets while fighting multiple threats at once, UK defense officials say

<ul class="summary-list"><li>A Black Workday employee sued the company, claiming race and disability discrimination.</li><li>Workday sent police to his home while he was in the hospital.</li></ul>A Black <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hr-software-tech-companies-employees-productivity-workday-oracle-adp-2024-8">Workday</a> employee filed a race and disability discrimination lawsuit against his employer after it sent police to his house for a "wellness check" while he was being treated at a hospital and had requested medical leave.Anthony Hill, a senior legal counsel at Workday, who is Black and on leave from the company, filed the lawsuit against the company in the Northern District of California's court in December 2023. The case is still ongoing.In June, the case was dismissed without prejudice because the court ruled that Hill had not adequately pleaded that California law should apply extraterritorially. Workday is based in California, while Hill is based in Maryland. Hill has filed an amended complaint, which Workday has moved to dismiss. Court-mediated settlement negotiations last month were unsuccessful.Hill alleges that he was on medical leave from October 12, 2022, to November 22, 2022.Leading up to his leave, Hill said he started drinking more as he faced more stress. On October 12, 2022, he went to the hospital due to "stress, exhaustion, and trauma associated with this and other disparate, discriminatory, retaliatory, harassing and hostile treatment of him" by other Workday employees, the lawsuit said.That day, Hill emailed his manager to inform her that he was having a medical emergency and going to the hospital. He also sent a completed leave request form and said he would file the required <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-pregnant-workers-parental-maternity-leave-can-be-laid-off-2023-3">Family and Medical Leave Act</a> paperwork soon.The following day, his manager replied with information about FMLA and said, "Please don't worry about work and focus on feeling better."On October 20, 2022, while he was still at the hospital, Workday sent police to his house for a "wellness check."According to a police report about the incident, a safety and security manager at Workday called the police for a welfare check on Hill because the company was unable to contact Hill or his wife, his emergency contact. The police spoke with Hill's wife, who confirmed that Hill was in medical treatment, the report said.Hill told Business Insider that he did not receive any records, calls or emails from Workday after the last email from his manager on October 13 and before the incident.At the hospital, Hill couldn't use his cellphone, so a member of the rehabilitation center staff informed Hill about this and allowed him to call his wife. Hill said when he heard about this, he felt like he "was going to have a heart attack," and his wife, who was home at the time, was "rattled" about the incident.The police department of Montgomery County, where the wellness check took place, declined to comment as it is not involved in the lawsuit."There's nothing they would've thought cops with guns could solve on October 20 that doctors with stethoscopes could not have solved," Hill told BI.Workday declined to comment on this report.FMLA guarantees eligible employees of covered employers to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid medical or family leave in a year. The employee must make it clear they need to take leave for FMLA reasons, while the employer should let the employee know they qualify for medical leave and provide the paperwork for the employee to complete.The Department of Labor requires that employers give employees 15 calendar days to provide their complete medical certification under FMLA.Hill said he was initially worried about complying with the FMLA when he was admitted to the hospital because he had not finished the paperwork at the time, but the staff told him of this legal protection, and he said the hospital provided the FMLA paperwork within 15 days.Hill filed an EEOC charge against Workday in April 2023. In August 2023, he first filed a lawsuit against the company in the Superior Court for the District of Columbia, which was voluntarily dismissed without prejudice.<h2 id="4f3f4d72-e4f6-4265-82fc-03ca97b5fe9d">Returning from medical leave</h2>A few months after returning from leave, Hill asked Workday's HR department in March 2023 for more information on the wellness check. The staff declined to provide him with information or documentation about it."They won't tell me anything. Did they think it was an emergency? Did they think I was in danger?" Hill said."Did they think I was going to hurt someone? Why did they send police to my house and endanger my wife and kids?"While Workday may have been trying to contact Hill to finish his FMLA paperwork, it's uncommon to send police to an employee's house for a wellness check, said Cassie Lenning, partner at Outten and Golden, a law firm that represents tech employees and is not involved in the lawsuit.If an employee had mental health issues that the employer was aware of, that could be a situation where an employer may send someone for a wellness check, Lenning said."Even in that circumstance, why wouldn't they send someone from the office as opposed to the police? There's still a level of escalation in calling the police, well-intentioned or not," Lenning said. "I question the judgment of someone who would send police to the home of a Black man. There are racial implications that are being ignored."Hill said after he went back to work, he received "awful treatment," such as receiving more pushback at work and getting left out of meeting invites. He said he had a modified schedule where he worked half-time.In January 2023, he reported to HR about his racial and disability discrimination claims at the company and asked to be transferred to a different group at work. The company's HR staff investigated the case and then closed it in March, concluding that his claims "lacked merit," the lawsuit said.<h2 id="c07eb502-03de-4d81-968b-8ee1f7197d20">Other claims of work discrimination</h2>Hill has worked at Workday since January 2021. Leading up to his leave, he said he had been seeking a promotion but had been denied one. When he asked his manager for one, he was told he had to put together and submit a document on his accomplishments."That's a hurdle my non-Black colleagues didn't have to overcome," Hill said.Later, he said he started getting more pushback in his work, such as when he enforced policies around limiting gift-giving to federal officials that the company wanted him to sign off on. According to the lawsuit, Hill also said a colleague told him during a meeting, "Everybody knows you don't want to work, Anthony," and doubled down on his work ethic and professional reputation. Hill told his manager that the incident "appeared racist.""It was quite clear to me they were setting me up to fail," Hill said.In March 2023, Hill was put on paid administrative suspension for five weeks. In May 2023, Hill went on approved disability and medical leave, although he said he was denied long-term disability leave."Without a doubt, I was retaliated against over and over again," Hill said.Workday is also facing a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.reuters.com/legal/transactional/eeoc-says-workday-covered-by-anti-bias-laws-ai-discrimination-case-2024-04-11/">class action lawsuit</a> claiming its AI software for employers screens out job applicants for discriminatory reasons.In 2020, after the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and other Black people at the hands of police, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tech-executives-racism-diversity-black-lives-matter-protests-2020-6">several tech companies</a> shared statements taking a stand against racism. These promises have led to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/charts-tech-diversity-dei-change-years-george-floyd-protests-2022-6">little action</a> to improve diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging at tech companies.Got a tip? Contact this reporter via email at <a target="_blank" href="mailto:rmchan@businessinsider.com">rmchan@businessinsider.com</a>, Signal at rosal.13, or Telegram at @rosaliechan. (PR pitches by email only, please.) Other types of secure messaging available upon request.

A Black Workday employee sued the company after it sent police to his home for a 'wellness check' 

The Centre has blocked over 100 websites involved in facilitating organised illegal investments related to economic crimes and task-based part-time job frauds. According to an official statement, these websites were being operated by overseas actors and targets were mostly retired employees, women and unemployed youth looking for part time jobs. The Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C), a wing of the Union Home Ministry, through its vertical National Cybercrime Threat Analytics Unit (NCTAU) had last week identified and recommended that these websites be blocked. Following this, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), invoking its power under the Information Technology Act, 2000, has blocked these websites, the statement said. These websites, which facilitated task-based organised illegal investment related to economic crimes, were learnt to be operated by overseas actors and were using digital advertisement, chat messengers and mule and rented accounts. The proceeds from the large scale economic frauds were seen to be laundered out of <keyword id="3658" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="india" source="Orion">India</keyword> using card network, crypto currency, overseas ATM withdrawals and international Fintech companies, the statement said. The I4C is an initiative of the Home Ministry to deal with cyber crimes in the country in a coordinated and comprehensive manner. <keyword id="6366773" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="citizens" source="Orion">Citizens</keyword> have been advised to promptly report phone numbers and social media handles used by such fraudsters to the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP), the statement said. It said several complaints have been received through 1930 helpline and the NCRP and these offences were posing significant threat to the citizens and also involved data security concerns. These frauds, typically, involve a number of steps that include targeted digital advertisements launched on platforms like Google and Meta using key words like "Ghar baithe job" (Do jobs sitting at home), "Ghar baithe kamai kaise karen" (How to earn by sitting at home) etc. in multiple languages from overseas advertisers. Upon clicking the advertisement, an agent using WhatsApp or Telegram starts conversation with the potential victim, who convinces him or her to perform some tasks like video likes and subscribe, maps rating, etc. Upon completion of task, the victim is given some commission, initially and is asked to invest more to get more returns against given task. After gaining confidence, when victim deposits larger sum, deposits are frozen and thus the victim is duped. As precautionary measure, it is advised to exercise due diligence before investing in any such very high commission paying online schemes sponsored over internet. If an unknown person contacts anyone over WhatsApp or Telegram, refrain from performing financial transactions without verification, the statement said Verify the name of receiver mentioned in UPI App. If receiver is any random person, it may be a mule account and scheme may be fraudulent.Similarly, check the source from where initial commission is received, it said. Citizens should refrain from doing transactions with unknown accounts, as these could be involved in money laundering and even terror financing and lead to blocking of accounts by police and other legal action, the statement said. SEE ALSO:<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/webstories/top-selling-cars-in-india-in-november-2023/slidelist/105775116.cms" target="_blank"></a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/webstories/top-selling-cars-in-india-in-november-2023/slidelist/105775116.cms" target="_blank">WagonR to Creta – Top selling cars in India in November</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/oneplus-announced-new-flagship-smartphone-oneplus-12-with-up-to-24gb-ram/articleshow/105756057.cms" target="_blank"></a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/oneplus-announced-new-flagship-smartphone-oneplus-12-with-up-to-24gb-ram/articleshow/105756057.cms" target="_blank">OnePlus 12 debuts with bigger battery, up to 24GB RAM and more</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/news/ola-electric-and-tvs-motor-leading-electric-two-wheeler-sales-in-nov-2023-month/articleshow/105719702.cms">Electric two-wheeler sales rise in Nov as Ola Electric scales a new high</a>

Over 100 websites blocked for facilitating organised illegal investments

<ul class="summary-list"><li>VP Kamala Harris proposed Medicare coverage for in-home eldercare.</li><li>The proposal is intended to appeal to families stuck between care for kids and grandparents.</li></ul>Vice President Kamala Harris wants to make it easier for families <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jd-vance-childcare-plan-grandparents-family-friends-neighbors-policy-2024-9">struggling to care for </a><a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jd-vance-childcare-plan-grandparents-family-friends-neighbors-policy-2024-9">children</a> and aging parents simultaneously.During a Tuesday interview on "The View," Harris <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://twitter.com/TheView/status/1843678923701256597">proposed</a> a first-ever Medicare benefit to cover in-home care needs for older adults. According to a senior campaign official who previewed the announcement, the plan is intended to appeal to the "sandwich generation," or the adults who are raising kids while also caring for aging parents.<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.bls.gov/blog/2023/celebrating-national-family-caregivers-month-with-bls-data.htm">According</a> to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 37.1 million people — 14% of the US population — provide unpaid eldercare in the country, and nearly 4.5 million people are in this lifestage.The official said that Harris' proposal would cover services like in-home care aide, allowing seniors and families to avoid the high costs of a care facility or nursing home. This proposal follows previous plans Harris announced to lower the costs of childcare, including an expansion of the child tax credit and a $6,000 tax cut for families with newborn kids."There are so many people in our country who are right in the middle," Harris said during the interview. "They're taking care of their kids, and they're taking care of their aging parents, and it's just almost impossible to do it all, especially if they work. We're finding that so many are then having to leave their job, which means losing a source of income, not to mention the emotional stress."Additionally, according to a fact sheet from the Harris campaign, the "Medicare at Home'" initiative would provide coverage on a sliding scale for those with modest incomes to higher incomes to tailor coverage to the needs of older adults.Medicare currently does not fully cover the costs of long-term services like in-home aid, and eldercare costs are continuing to rise. <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.genworth.com/aging-and-you/finances/cost-of-care/cost-of-care-trends-and-insights">According</a> to a recent survey from Genworth, a long-term care insurance company, the average cost of in-home care stood at $75,504 in 2023 — up from just over $68,000 in 2022.At the same time, childcare costs remain high — a report from Bank of America earlier this year found the average couple with two children <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/high-childcare-costs-in-us-women-workforce-cheapest-countries-kids-2024-2">spent over 30%</a> of their combined wages on childcare costs, leaving families who are caring for both children and older adults in a financial bind.Harris' campaign official said her proposal to cover the costs of in-home care would be paid for by expanding Medicare drug price negotiations and increasing discounts drug manufacturers cover for certain brand-name drugs under Medicare, among other things.Along with Medicare at Home, the Harris campaign outlined a proposal to expand Medicare to include vision and hearing coverage.Childcare and eldercare have been focal points for the presidential campaign. While former President Donald Trump has not provided details on how he would tackle the costs of childcare — he said during September remarks at the Economic Club of New York that he would increase tariffs when asked about childcare costs — his VP pick, JD Vance, has previously suggested <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jd-vance-lower-childcare-costs-grandma-grandpa-help-retirement-crisis-2024-9">that grandparents help out more with childcare.</a>Vance later <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tim-walz-jd-vance-grandparents-help-more-with-childcare-debate-2024-10">elaborated on his remarks</a> during the vice presidential debate on October 1, saying that families need more childcare options: "One of the biggest complaints I hear from young families is people who feel like they don't have options like they're choosing between going to work or taking care of their kids. That is an incredible burden to put on American families."With a rapidly aging population in the US, caring for older adults will likely become a more prevalent issue. Still, it's unclear if Congress would approve Harris' proposal; President Joe Biden has previously proposed expanding eldercare, which ultimately did make it into his 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law.Are you in the "sandwich" stage of life? Share your story with this reporter <a target="_blank" class="" href="mailto:asheffey@businessinsider.com">asheffey@businessinsider.com</a>.

Kamala Harris' pitch to families struggling to care for both kids and aging parents: Medicare for in-home eldercare

<ul class="summary-list"><li>SpaceX launched a half-empty Crew Dragon for two Boeing astronauts awaiting a trip home.</li><li>NASA made a hard call after Boeing's spaceship glitched. The astronauts won't return until 2025.</li></ul>SpaceX just launched a half-empty Crew Dragon spaceship into orbit for <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-could-ask-spacex-bring-home-stuck-boeing-astronauts-2024-7">two astronauts who have been waiting for a trip home</a>.Normally, Crew Dragon carries four astronauts to space at a time, but for the launch on Saturday, only two were aboard.The unusual mission is the result of one of the toughest safety decisions NASA has had to make in decades. It's also a huge <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-stranded-astronauts-return-nasa-boeing-starliner-spacex-crew-dragon-2024-8">blow to Boeing's space program</a>.<div type="image" title="Nick Hague and Alexander Gorbunov inside Space X's Crew Dragon during launch on September 28, 2024." height="1602" width="2880" msid="113772526" hostid="261" sizebytes="93448"></div><h2 id="d1ad701d-4a56-4fe6-bd0e-86e1778432a2">Boeing's astronauts have been stuck in space for months</h2>In June, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/boeing-starliner-pilot-butch-wilmore-sleeping-bag-on-the-iss-2024-8?">Butch Wilmore</a> and Suni Williams became the first astronauts to fly aboard Boeing's Starliner ship, which is supposed to be another ship in NASA's roster alongside the SpaceX Crew Dragon. The duo was conducting the ship's first crewed test flight, designed to prove it was ready for routine human spaceflight.But the Starliner's thrusters started glitching as it approached the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/27-best-space-station-photos-show-earth-hidden-beauty-2019-11">International Space Station</a> shortly after launch.After some troubleshooting, the ship ultimately docked to the ISS and Williams and Wilmore made it to the station safely. NASA and Boeing weren't sure how the thrusters would perform on the way back to Earth, though.After weeks of testing, analysis, and reviews, NASA officials did not feel confident enough to trust Starliner with the astronauts' lives again.In a decision that shook up the agency's human spaceflight schedule, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/boeing-starliner-spacecraft-returns-to-earth-without-nasa-astronauts-2024-9">NASA sent Starliner back to Earth without its crew</a>.<div type="image" title="starliner space capsule gumdrop shaped spaceship under three jellyfish-shaped parachutes in cloudy skies all in black and white" height="1071" width="1920" msid="113772521" hostid="261" sizebytes="17914"></div>Wilmore and Williams will instead return on the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-discovers-urine-leak-on-crew-dragon-spaceships-2021-10">Crew Dragon</a> that launched Saturday. Two other astronauts, Nick Hague and Aleksandr Gorbunov, are inside the ship as it flies to the ISS. Wilmore and Williams will join their mission, called Crew-9, and complete its months-long planned shift on the station.That means Wilmore and Williams come home in February at the earliest.<div type="image" title="two astronauts inside the space station one standing upright with a microphone one upside down with his feet on the ceiling and his arms crossed in between walls full of gadgets and computers" height="1609" width="2873" msid="113772523" hostid="261" sizebytes="198806"></div>Their mission was originally <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/boeing-nasa-starliner-astronauts-stuck-in-space-2024-6">planned for about eight days</a>, though NASA officials have said that was a tentative timeline since they were conducting a test flight.<h2 id="19bc92fd-c5cb-4728-b6a7-81bfbf2c5c30">SpaceX clobbered Boeing in this space race</h2><a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/faa-chief-boeing-and-spacex-should-be-treated-the-same-2024-9">SpaceX and Boeing</a> developed and flew their respective spaceships through the same NASA initiative, the Commercial Crew Program.One was much cheaper, though. NASA granted Boeing $4.2 billion to get Starliner space-station ready, and gave SpaceX $2.6 billion for Crew Dragon.<div type="image" title="boeing starliner spaceship gumdrop shaped white capsule with blue and black detailings docked to a wirey port high above blue earth with clouds" height="1500" width="2250" msid="113772525" hostid="261" sizebytes="215652"></div>What's more, SpaceX did it faster. Crew Dragon successfully flew its first astronauts four years ago and has been shuttling people to and from the ISS ever since.The Commercial Crew Program was never a competition, NASA officials have said. But <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/working-for-elon-musk-spacex-workplace-culture-twitter-jim-cantrell-2022-11">SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk </a>tauntingly pointed out the disparities in an X post ahead of Williams' and Wilmore's launch aboard Starliner.Boeing's agreement with NASA is a fixed-price contract, which means the company has had to cover all additional expenses. With multiple technical issues and delays throughout the spaceship's development, according to <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://spacenews.com/boeing-takes-additional-125-million-loss-on-starliner/">SpaceNews</a>, Boeing has lost about $1.6 billion on Starliner.The fate of Starliner is unclear. NASA has not yet announced whether the ship will need additional testing to make it eligible for regular astronaut rotations.<h2 id="c8387e3f-7b76-4e90-a5ba-99ba0d210752">Starliner's uncrewed return was a success</h2>Starliner landed in the New Mexico desert under its parachutes on September 6.Steve Stich, the head of the NASA Commercial Crew Program, later said the astronauts would have been "safe" returning aboard Starliner.<div type="image" title="smiling butch wilmore and suni williams floating laying in a white circular tunnel around a port in the space station" height="1500" width="2250" msid="113772528" hostid="261" sizebytes="221170"></div>Hindsight, of course, is twenty-twenty."If we'd had a model that would have predicted what we saw tonight perfectly, yeah, it looks like an easy decision to go say we could have had a crewed fight," Stich said after the Starliner landing. "But we didn't have that."<h2 id="4991c685-4ac1-4fdf-96b5-bea0b0be6953">Astronauts left behind</h2>Meanwhile, two NASA astronauts who were supposed to be part of the Crew-9 mission had to stay behind.Instead of launching with their crewmates on Saturday, Zena Cardman and Stephanie Wilson watched from the ground.<div type="image" title="two women up close looking into the distance standing in front of a railing high above a swamp" height="2000" width="3000" msid="113772527" hostid="261" sizebytes="314866"></div>Crew-9 would have been Cardman's first spaceflight and Wilson's fourth. But their seats in the Crew Dragon are empty, since NASA is reserving them for Williams and Wilmore when the spaceship returns to Earth next year.In an X post, Cardman said that handing the spaceship over to Hague was "both heartbreaking and an honor."She wished they could all fly together, she added, "but we choose without hesitation to be part of something much larger than ourselves."Cardman appeared during NASA's livestream of the launch on Saturday, when she called the situation "bittersweet.""It's bittersweet, but it's a really beautiful thing," she said. "Any launch is a testament to the power of collaboration — this launch, maybe even more so than usual."Wilson, who also appeared during the livestream, praised Hague and Gorbunov."They have trained for this moment and are ready to execute the mission," she said.Meanwhile, the two Starliner astronauts will continue working full-time conducting experiments and maintenance on the ISS.In a call with reporters on September 13, Williams said she missed her two dogs, and Wilmore said he would miss most of his daughter's senior year of high school. But both were adamant that this is all part of the job."It's a very risky business and things do not always turn out the way you want," Wilmore said."90% of our training is preparing for the unexpected," he added. "Because we are pushing the edges of the envelope in everything that we do and it is not easy."

SpaceX launches half-empty spaceship so it can bring Boeing's astronaut crew home next year

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Mexican cartels are exploiting timeshare scams, targeting older Americans for over $300 million.</li><li>Cartels use call centers and cyber tactics in the elaborate fraud, the FBI says.</li></ul>It seems even Mexican drug cartels are cashing in on the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-phishing-scams-automation-detection-2024-6">day's most lucrative criminal enterprise</a>: online scams.The Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Gulf Cartel, and the Sinaloa Cartel — which <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/el-chapo-says-us-mexico-leaders-are-behind-drug-trade-2022-9">El Chapo once led</a> — have all dabbled in online scams, the FBI says.Their scam of choice appears to be <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/dave-ramsey-faces-150-million-lawsuit-over-timeshare-exit-promotions-2023-6">timeshare fraud</a>, targeting mostly older Americans to the tune of over $300 million in the last five years. A <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mexico-all-inclusive-resort-timeshare-deal-2022-7">timeshare</a> is a vacation home in which multiple people share ownership. They purchase blocks of time at the property every year in what is usually a long-term or even lifetime commitment."Timeshare fraudsters aim to suck their victims dry, with devastating consequences to victims' financial futures, relationships, and physical and emotional health," Assistant Special Agent in Charge Paul Roberts, head of FBI New York's Complex Financial Crimes Branch, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/mexican-cartels-targeting-americans-in-timeshare-fraud-scams-fbi-warns">said in a statement</a>."As the cartels further cement their control of this space, it's especially critical that the FBI take the lead in addressing this threat to American seniors," he added.The FBI says the Jalisco New Generation Cartel is the primary group engaging in timeshare fraud, but others are likely using independent call centers to carry out the fraud too.The cartels conduct "extensive research on their potential victims" before creating fake documents and reaching out to them through phony email accounts, according to the agency."Throughout the process, the fraudsters use a combination of high-pressure sales tactics and cyber-enabled fraud strategies, such as mimicking legitimate entities' email addresses and forging official documents, to convince victims that each phase of the scam is legitimate," Roberts said.Timeshare fraud is often unreported because victims either don't realize they are being scammed or they become afraid to come forward, the FBI says."There is nothing embarrassing about falling victim to a scam like this," Roberts said. "The worst thing that people can do is suffer in silence out of shame or fear of judgment."Roberts says the top signs to watch out for to avoid timeshare scams are never to pay upfront fees and never hand over a power-of-attorney form.Anyone who contacts you claiming to be a government official should never ask you about a timeshare settlement, threaten to arrest you if you don't pay, or threaten to subpoena you to court outside the United States, Roberts said.Recovering money from criminals after it's lost in an online scam is <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/scammers-trick-woman-publishers-clearinghouse-sweepstakes-2024-4">notoriously difficult</a>. If you are the victim of a financial scam, the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/how-to-recover-from-identity-theft">Federal Trade Commission recommends</a> reaching out to your bank or whatever credit card or money service you used to try and recover the funds.The FTC recommends reporting known timeshare scams to its website, the state attorney general where the crime took place, and the Better Business Bureau. You can report timeshare and vacation club scams to the FTC <a target="_blank" href="https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/">here</a>.

Mexican cartels have stolen over $300 million from American seniors in elaborate timeshare property scams

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Tuscan officials created a $3,000,000 fund to incentivize people to move to the rural countryside.</li><li>The fund will pay people grants of up to $32,000 to move to Tuscany and fix up a home there.</li></ul>Imagine waking up each morning to a view of the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tuscany-americans-moving-italy-cost-of-living-slow-pace-2024-3">Tuscan countryside</a>, making your home in the romantic Italian region known for its dry red wine, medieval architecture, and groves of olive trees.Now imagine getting paid to do it.Tuscan officials launched a new "Residency in the Mountains" program in June. The program created a €2,800,000, or about $3,001,740, fund to encourage people to move to the rural countryside.The fund, part of an effort to stabilize the country's dwindling population, will pay people grants ranging from €10,000 to €30,000 (about $10,720 to about $32,161) to move to Tuscany and fix up a home there."The purpose of the intervention is to favor and encourage the repopulation and socio-economic revitalization of mountain areas, acting in contrast to the marginalization of these areas," the program's <a target="_blank" href="https://www.regione.toscana.it/-/bando-residenzialit%C3%A0-in-montagna-2024-contributi-per-l-acquisto-di-un-immobile">website</a> states.The grants will pay 50% of the costs of renovations of a home in one of 76 Tuscan cities with fewer than 5,000 residents — including San Casciano dei Bagni, known for its thermal pools; Caprese Michelangelo, the birthplace of the renaissance artist of the same name; and the island of Capraia Isola.The program is open to Italians, EU residents, and non-EU citizens — so long as they have established long-term residency lasting no less than 10 years. Eligible applicants must commit to making the Tuscan property their primary home.Applications for the program close on July 27.Representatives for the Public Relations Office of Tuscany did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.Italy has for years experimented with various schemes to attract new residents to its rural regions. The country, which has Europe's smallest share of children under the age of 15, faces a population crisis so significant that nearly 2,500 towns are on the verge of collapse and will not survive more than 25 years, according to a 2016 study released by <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/07/t-magazine/abandoned-italian-towns.html">Italy's Ministry of Environment</a>.<a target="_blank" href="https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/italian-ghost-hamlet-san-severino/index.html">CNN</a> reported last year that there are more than 6,000 ghost villages around the country, left deserted due to migration and natural disasters.In response, in 2018, new residents in Molise were offered <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/molise-italy-offering-to-pay-people-27500-to-move-there-2019-9">$27,500 to move to the abandoned towns</a> of the mountainous region on the country's eastern coast. The following year, officials in the town of Ollolai put <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/molise-italy-offering-to-pay-people-27500-to-move-there-2019-9">200 homes on the market for €1</a> ($1.25) each to avoid the same fate.Sicily likewise went viral for offering <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-italy-1-dollar-homes-need-a-lot-of-work-2019-8">$1 homes for sale,</a> which, despite their <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/italy-old-houses-california-woman-purchase-3-bucks-2023-5">desperate need for repair</a>, attracted swarms of expats who flocked to the country to snap up one of the abandoned properties.Business Insider previously reported that in Sicily, there were time limits for repairs to be completed, officials required buyers to work with specific contractors to finish the work, and renovations cost upwards of $30,000 to complete — but some buyers found it was <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/californians-sicily-italy-one-euro-homes-expensive-properties-true-cost-2024-1">worth every penny</a>.

Italian officials will pay up to $32,000 for you to move to Tuscany — but there's a catch

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Five senior figures in Russia's defense establishment have been arrested on corruption charges.</li><li>A former UK defense attaché in Moscow described corruption as a "cancer" within Russia's MOD.</li></ul>It began with Timur Ivanov, Russia's then-deputy defense minister, who was arrested after being accused of taking bribes "on a particularly large scale."Then came Lt. Gen. Yuri Kuznetsov, head of the defense ministry's personnel directorate. He was <a target="_blank" href="https://tass.com/politics/1787533?ref=lite.verity.news">arrested</a> after more than 100 million rubles (over $1 million), gold coins, and other valuables were seized from his residences.That was followed by the arrests of the ex-commander of the 58th Guards Combined Arms Army, Ivan Popov, and later <a target="_blank" href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russia-detains-fourth-top-defence-figure-bribe-taking-media-2024-05-23/">Lt. Gen. Vadim Shamarin and defense ministry official Vladimir Verteletsky</a>.The wave of arrests came as part of a push to stamp out <a target="_blank" href="https://x.com/DefenceHQ/status/1794279036253855909">corruption</a> in Russia's defense ministry, which, according to the UK Ministry of Defence, "is deeply rooted."<div type="image" title="Lieutenant General Vadim Shamarin" height="2806" width="3741" msid="110626518" hostid="261"></div>John Foreman, a former British defense attaché in Moscow, described corruption as a "cancer" within Russia's MOD, adding that the arrests and ministry reshuffle suggest that things aren't going to plan for Russia."You don't remove your defense minister and replace all your generals if everything is going well," Foreman told Business Insider.Mark Galeotti, an honorary professor at University College London and senior research associate at the UK-based think tank the Royal United Services Institute, told BI he believed the clear-out was connected with the change in defense minister."Putin has been very disinclined to reshuffle the top tier of his security agencies in the middle of a war," Galeotti said.But his inauguration for a fifth presidential term "provided a moment where he really felt he had to move Shoigu on," he added."If they're bringing in Belousov with a mandate to get absolute control of the defense ministry's finances, to cut down on waste and embezzlement, then now is the time to tackle the whole problem," he continued.<div type="image" title="Russian army soldiers troops exercise" height="1334" width="2000" msid="110626519" hostid="261"></div>In a 2022 <a target="_blank" href="https://www.occrp.org/en/37-ccblog/ccblog/16192-2022-04-07-16-58-47">report</a>, experts told the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project that corruption was so rife among Russian forces that it could ultimately save Ukraine.Following the launch of Russia's full-scale invasion of the country in February 2022, a former Russian foreign minister also claimed that widespread corruption was among the reasons for the Russian military's poor performance in the early days of the conflict.Andrey Kozyrev, who served as the foreign minister under President Boris Yeltsin in in 1990s, wrote on X: "The Kremlin spent the last 20 years trying to modernize its military. Much of that budget was stolen and spent on mega-yachts in Cyprus. But as a military advisor you cannot report that to the President. So they reported lies to him instead."Belousov's appointment is, therefore, an attempt by Putin to gain control of these high levels of corruption that Shoigu and, until now, Putin himself have allowed to occur, Foreman told BI."Putin has tolerated Shoigu building his empire, taking money from the defense budget, installing his corrupt cronies in return for loyalty," he said.Putin now needed someone who would bring "more bang for the buck," he added.<h2 id="9e4d0fbe-ee46-4262-9bf9-4795421da1ca">Echoes of Wagner criticisms</h2>Yevgeny Prigozhin, the former leader of the mercenary Wagner Group who was killed in a plane crash in August last year, had previously hit out at Shoigu and Valery Gerasimov, Russia's Chief of the General Staff, accusing them of incompetence and corruption."Shoigu! Gerasimov! Where the fuck are the munitions?!" he shouted in one video, blaming the officials for some of the losses suffered by his Wagner Group.While Putin stood with Shoigu at the time, it was likely his "nail in the coffin as defense minister," Foreman said."The drip of accusations of corruption, the blatant nature of it at a time when Putin was demanding more and more sacrifice for the cause of the war, was not good," he said.For a while, it meant that Shoigu was safer than ever because "Putin couldn't seem to be giving into Prigozhin's demands," Galeotti said. There needed to be "time for the dust to settle."But Prigozhin "was actually telling the truth about some of these things. And for an authoritarian regime that depends on information control, nothing is more dangerous than the truth," he added.<h2 id="7ba5b227-d38b-4cdf-bd58-09563f025ba1">Russia's top general could be next on Putin's list</h2>Valery Gerasimov, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russias-top-general-visits-troops-ukraine-discuss-next-steps-2024-02-21/">Russia's top general,</a> has been found wanting in his role as Russia's Chief of the General Staff, defense experts say."He's 68, unpopular and incompetent and there's a new defense minister: he has lost his cover," Foreman said, adding that there are also "credible alternatives."Both Galeotti and Foreman said they would be surprised if Gerasimov remained in place by the end of the year.<div type="image" title="Valery Gerasimov" height="1021" width="1500" msid="110626520" hostid="261"></div>Witn Shoigu gone, the speed and frequency of arrests in the defense ministry can now pick up.Last week a Kremlin source <a target="_blank" href="https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2024/05/24/fsb-launches-sweeping-purge-of-military-elites-with-kremlins-approval-a85213">told The Moscow Times</a> that "the FSB is mopping up Shoigu's team. It's to be expected. This kind of operation can only be carried out with approval at the very top.""Criminal cases have been piled up. But while Shoigu was a minister and had enormous influence, investigators were not allowed to pursue them," a second government official told The Moscow Times.The UK MOD has also said that it "is likely that there will be further arrests," while one acting Russian government official told The Moscow Times that the moves could become part of the "largest purges" in modern Russian history.Galeotti said that any such further arrests would likely aim at sending senior military figures a clear message: "You could be next."But a solution to the problem would require a complete upheaval of the whole defense structure, and "that's not going to happen," Galeotti said. "It is an attempt to redefine the acceptable levels of corruption."

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