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• My husband and I homeschool our son, which allows us to travel. 
• In addition to his homeschooling curriculum, he has attended schools in different countries. 
• We've noticed differences — and similarities — between the schools he attended in Europe and the US.

My son has been homeschooled, essentially, his whole academic life. Because of this, we're able to travel multiple times each month without worrying about him missing school. I am a writer and my husband is a film and TV composer as well as an investor, which also makes this possible.

Not only can we take my son's work with us, but he has also been able to experience schooling in various countries by joining classrooms and homeschool groups throughout our travels. His curriculum is based in the United States, but integrating local schools helps him learn different languages, culture, and of course, make friends.

Because we have spent extended periods of time in Portugal, the Netherlands, and Italy, we have been able to experience how a few schools in these places approach education more intimately. While we've experienced some similarities across the schools he's attended, like classroom size and curriculum structure, we also noticed distinct differences in approach.

School was low-stress in the Netherlands

Where we lived in the Netherlands, children as young as four years old often happily walked themselves to school. The school my son attended in the Netherlands was run like a well-oiled machine, yet they still maintained a playful and innocent atmosphere.

The school administrators were strict about timeliness — I often witnessed that if students arrived even one minute late, they were considered late, with no exceptions. However, discipline for kids was simply a stern talking-to from teachers. Teachers told us that if children had issues with each other, they were expected to sort it amongst themselves, while the adults observed from a distance.

Friends who had kids at other schools in the Netherlands confirmed that this focus on independent conflict resolution with minimal adult intervention was common. Play was the central focus of the day for children until they were about seven years old. The primary focus during those early years was on children learning to coexist with one another rather than academics.

Learning to swim was also a significant focus in the early years in the Netherlands and considered more critical than learning to read by many locals we spoke with. Once compulsory, now only some schools integrate swim classes into the curriculum. Given the numerous canals everywhere, this emphasis is understandable.

Children at my son's school spent a large portion of their day outdoors, regardless of the weather, which parents said was typical. The Dutch often say, "There is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing." At school, my son assisted in preparing daily vegan meals, and occasionally brought home crafts to do.

Friends who had older kids in the Netherlands told me that the homework increased once they hit middle school, where there was more of an emphasis on academics. I truly appreciated this low-stress setting we encountered during our son's primary school years.

We saw more emphasis on collaboration than individual performance in Portugal

In Portugal, there was an emphasis on projects that children completed together to enhance their collaboration skills, and praise was often based on the collaboration itself rather than individual performance.

We noticed that children rarely had packed schedules filled with extracurricular activities like in the US, and often stayed up very late at night with their families, based on our own observations and talking to Portuguese parents.

While I adored the genuinely "crunchy" vibe of the schools my son attended and the kindness of the teachers, I believed our son would benefit from more structure and consistency in his routine. So, for a time, we supplemented even more than our usual load of schoolwork at home to provide more academic consistency during his short stint at a Portuguese school and eventually transitioned to only homeschooling again and met with a homeschool group for field trips.

We noticed less encouragement of competition in Italy than in the US

At the school my son goes to in Italy, it was immediately evident that food and dining is treated as an important part of the school day. Students are given a proper dining experience with formal table settings. The primary schools get a full two-hour break in the middle of the day including lunch and free time, known as riposo, lending to a much longer school day overall.

Football (soccer) is also taken seriously, so most schools we visited have specialized schedules specifically for children who play and perhaps want to pursue it as a career. Participation in the arts, football, and music is encouraged, but football is by far the most popular activity at our school and in our region.

As for the emphasis on the curriculum, so far, it seems far less rigid than in the US. Cognitive and social skills appear to be the primary objectives, rather than a heavy focus on testing. There is almost no encouragement of competition that we witnessed, as collaboration seems to be the focus until middle school.

My son is not yet in middle school, but from what I've heard both in preliminary conversations with schools, open days, and from Facebook groups with other expat parents, it sounds like middle school takes a more rigorous academic approach across Europe. For example, some countries, like Italy, expect children to know their primary focus of study by the time they enter high school, and then are placed in a specialized school program geared towards that interest area. Middle school seems to help form this decision by focusing on more specific subjects like robotics, engineering and anatomy, as they are already expected to know how to work together.

The unifying theme we observed throughout the schools in Europe that our son has attended, regardless of the country, was to allow children to be children and let the serious learning come later. At almost all the schools my son attended or toured, more importance was placed on children's ability to coexist together, work on projects and tasks collaboratively, than on core subjects like math, science, and history in those early years.

Each country had something we cherished and something we had to learn to adjust to. Overall, compared to our group homeschooling experience in the US, I would say that the primary schools in the European cities we joined were far less stressful. The academics seemed to get prioritized more as the kids got older. This makes me really appreciate how the lower grades focused on collaboration and coexistence.

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• Gig delivery workers say store staff can make shopping for apps like Instacart much tougher.
• Employees at supermarkets and Walmart stores often ignore gig workers — or berate them.
• It's part of the job customers usually don't see, but one that can affect orders, shoppers say.

Most days, a driver for Walmart's Spark delivery service in California says he has to show his receipts from the orders he shops to a store employee as he heads through the exit. It's a practice Walmart has instituted for Spark drivers at some stores to reduce theft.

But before he even gets there, a manager usually steps in first to ask for the receipt. "In my mind, I'm like, 'Sure, but also, why are you asking me that?'" the driver told Business Insider. "Why are you asking me to show that I am not stealing items when I'm going to be asked the same thing once I leave the store by the person at the door?"

The pressure is already on for gig delivery workers for services like Spark, Instacart, and DoorDash, who've got to get to a store, find exactly what customers ordered, and deliver it on time in hopes of getting a good tip. Many didn't expect there'd be another group of people they have to deal with: The store's employees.

Several gig workers that BI spoke with said that cooperating — or fighting — with store workers is a regular part of their job as independent contractors.

One Instacart shopper who delivered from grocery stores in Portland, Oregon, last year told BI in February that employees at some stores would regularly follow him around as soon as they figured out that he was shopping for an order for the app.

The store managers he confronted about the problem would tell him that they were trying to prevent theft — or simply tell him not to come back to the store, he said. "No matter what I would say, the very first thing that they would say is, 'Oh, you're Instacart,'" the shopper said.

An Instacart spokesperson directed BI toward the company's community guidelines, which apply to shoppers as well as store workers. Among the guidelines is a request to "treat others the way you want to be treated."

The company treats "any reports of violations of these guidelines very seriously," the spokesperson said. Shoppers can report issues to Instacart's support team.

For Spark workers who go into a Walmart store, things can be even worse — ironic, some say, given Spark is owned and operated by Walmart. One former Spark driver in Montana told BI that store associates regularly ignored him when he needed help.

Once, while he was waiting in line at a Walmart electronics department for some printer ink for a Spark order, an associate who recognized him simply moved on to the customer behind, saying: "This motherf*cker can wait."

Other Spark drivers have said that associates have threatened to get their accounts deactivated when they push back on mistreatment.

"It's very clear to the Walmart associates that I'm not a fellow employee, but it's also clear that I'm not a customer," the Spark worker said. "That puts me in this weird gray area where they don't have to help me because I don't work with them, and they don't have to be nice to me either because I'm not a customer."

"We were founded as a values-driven company that is grounded in the four core values of Respect, Service, Excellence, and Integrity," a Walmart spokesperson told BI. "Walmart associates are expected to operate based on these values and put fairness, equity, justice, and integrity at the heart of everything we do."

The spokesperson added that Spark drivers who feel that they haven't been treated this way should contact Walmart's ethics complaint line.

Conflict between gig workers and store employees isn't new. Early in the pandemic, Amazon's gig-worker shoppers became more common at Whole Foods locations, sometimes drawing ire from store employees.

Gig delivery workers have had to contend with a range of challenges over the last few years, from falling pay rates to greater competition for orders.

And store employees aren't the only ones giving gig workers a hard time. One Instacart shopper in Illinois told BI that they've had multiple customers claim that items are missing from orders — even when the shopper has taken photographs of the orders on the customers' doorstep to verify delivery.

Usually, Instacart assumes that the customer is right, the shopper said. That leaves shoppers with negative feedback and low ratings on their record — though this is something that Instacart told BI doesn't affect the order offers that shoppers see in the future.

But the Illinois shopper is skeptical of that explanation, telling BI that her husband, who also delivers for Instacart, often sees offers that she never gets. "Whatever rating they gave you, the one star they gave you, plus their negative feedback that they left stays on your account for a year," the shopper said.

Do you deliver food, groceries, or other items as a gig worker and have a story idea to share? Reach out to this reporter at abitter@businessinsider.com

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• David Maughan, 32, moved from Richmond, Virginia, to Oakland Park, Florida, last year.
• As a progressive, Maughan said he was nervous about Florida's culture war politics.
• But he's found Floridians to be accepting and welcoming, especially in the LGBTQ+ community.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with David Maughan, a 32-year-old human resource analyst who moved from Richmond, Virginia, to Oakland Park, Florida, in August 2023 to be closer to his boyfriend. He shared his thoughts about living in the Sunshine State with Business Insider.

David: My Florida story started in 2020 when I met a guy named Brandon. We met online, like a lot of relationships nowadays, especially during early COVID. He lived in South Florida.

I was born and raised in Central Pennsylvania but had been living in Richmond, Virginia, since I was about 25.

Brandon and I dated casually for a couple of months and then became official. We were long-distance, going back and forth between Virginia and Florida for about three years. We knew we wanted to be together in the same place, so it became a question of which one of us would move. I work remotely, so it was easier for me to make the move.

I had a lot of concerns about moving to Florida

First of all, it was a big move away from my entire support system. I'm part of the LGBTQ+ community and that was something I felt was really strong in Richmond.

Thinking about starting over and making new friends in your 30s is daunting. I knew I would be with my boyfriend, and I had met a lot of his friends, so there would be a built-in friendship circle to some extent, but I still wanted to make my own friends.

But my top two concerns were the state politics and the weather. Many of my Richmond friends understood the first but didn't get my concerns about the weather. Everyone says the weather in Florida is great, but they don't realize that Florida is hot hot. In the summer, it's 90 to 95 degrees every day. It's exhausting. You don't want to go outside. Some people love that. But for me, it was a huge concern.

The other primary concern I had was politics. I consider myself a progressive and a Democrat. I call myself a pragmatic progressive. In Richmond, I had been very involved in volunteering for local Democratic campaigns. It's more than just a hobby for me; it's something I'm really passionate about.

Everyone in progressive circles looks at Florida in horror because of what the governor, state legislature, and state Supreme Court do. They've pushed really far-right policies, from gerrymandering congressional districts to passing a six-week abortion ban. These are not acceptable policies to me.

My boyfriend and I had a lot of conversations about those concerns before the move. He has a little saying: Florida is trash, but it's my trash. And I understand, he's lived here a long time.

I made the move in August 2023.

I moved to Oakland Park, which is a suburb of Fort Lauderdale. Oakland Park is small population-wise, but the surrounding Broward County has almost 2 million people. So, it's a much bigger metro area than I was used to.

Overall, it's a comfortable place to live. But it's been a bit of a mixed bag for me so far. I love the community I've been able to find here. I found an LGBTQ+ adult sports league to participate in, and the nightlife nearby is good.

I think part of why it's been so easy to make friends is that a lot of people are also transplants. I haven't gotten any criticism from native Floridians about moving here. They've been welcoming.

But in terms of the downsides, Florida has a really car-centric design, which makes it uncomfortable to get around any other way. There are six-lane roads with traffic flying down them. There are signs that say bikes can share the road, but you'd have to be insane to do that. Even biking to the beach is difficult. I think I've only been to the beach three times in eight months.

I'm still getting used to Florida's topography. Richmond is a place with hills and rivers. But here, it's obviously flat as can be. There are a lot of single-family homes, low-rise apartments, and strip malls. A lot of the neighborhoods don't have good sidewalks, which was surprising to me.

I can't complain too much about the weather because I moved here in August when it started to cool off. The fall and winter have been nice. But we'll see how my first full summer goes.

Florida has dug into waging culture wars

Florida's elected leaders are pretty far-right. But I don't think the people of Florida are as far-right. That's an important difference. A lot of the races here are really close. And when you look at some of the ballot referendums that get put on the ballot in Florida, they are often for very progressive issues like reforming felon disenfranchisement.

I've tried to get involved with politics at the local level, where I feel I can make an impact. I got plugged into a group called Broward Young Democrats.

The area where I live is pretty accepting of the LGBTQ+ community for the most part. Wilton Manors, the town right next to Oakland Park is known as a "gay mecca." At the local level, there's a strong, supportive community.

But while I haven't experienced any direct harassment, and I don't fear for my safety, it is certainly concerning to think about what Florida might try to do down the road. If they're trying to ban transgender medical care today, what's to stop them from trying to pass discriminatory laws against all gay people tomorrow?

The cost of living is way higher in Florida

The biggest example is my rent. I had a one-bedroom apartment in Richmond that was 700 square feet, and I paid $1,400 a month, which at the time felt kind of expensive.

But here, I have a one-bedroom apartment that's about 800 square feet and it runs me $2,400 a month. It's a full thousand dollars more for an almost identical apartment.

Car insurance is also more expensive here. I pay double what I paid in Richmond. I had to reorient a lot of things in my budget when I moved here. I had to cancel some services, and I adjusted my retirement savings.

My apartment here is really nice, though. I decided I wanted to make sure I was happy with my living space, knowing the concerns I had about the state. Because if I was unhappy with the state politics and I had an apartment I hated, I would have been really miserable.

Florida is the right choice for me right now

Living here has obviously been great for my relationship with Brandon. We've been able to deepen our relationship and build a life together. That's the number one benefit, and it's been amazing.

But when I think longer-term, I don't see myself living here for the rest of my life. It's been a topic of conversation between us because I don't see myself buying property here, mainly because of the climate risk with hurricanes and flooding.

I'd like to buy property somewhere else, maybe in DC or Philly, somewhere more North. Then we could maybe rent an apartment or a condo down here and become snowbirds because I don't know if I'll able to be able to pull Brandon away from Florida entirely. He's got roots here.

And I always tell people: Love will make you do crazy things.

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• Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates is one of the US's top landowners, with 275,000 acres across the US.
• While most of that is farmland, he owns homes in Washington, California, Florida, and Montana.
• Here's a look at his real estate portfolio, which he spent $150 million and three decades building.

Ten years ago, in an interview with The Telegraph, Bill Gates discussed his goal of giving away his fortune — which was worth $65 billion then and sits at $129 billion today.

"I'm certainly well taken care of in terms of food and clothes," he said. "Money has no utility to me beyond a certain point."

He didn't mention, though, the proverbial roof over his head. Or, in Gates' case, roofs.

As one of the richest people in the world for decades, the Microsoft cofounder has built up an impressive real estate portfolio. With 275,000 acres across the United States, he's the country's 42nd biggest landowner, according to the Land Report.

The vast majority of that — about 242,00 acres — is farmland, with the most acreage in Louisiana, Arkansas, and Arizona, per the Land Report.

"I have invested in these farms to make them more productive and create more jobs," Gates said in a Reddit Ask Me Anything last year. "There isn't some grand scheme involved — in fact, all these decisions are made by a professional investment team."

But he also owns dozens of properties across Washington, California, Florida, and Montana that are for his personal use.

Over three decades, he and his ex-wife, Melinda French Gates, spent more than $150 million on their current real estate portfolio. Following their 2021 divorce, a number of the properties were transferred from one trust to another — so it's hard to discern who owns exactly what, as all of their trusts are linked to the same Seattle bank.

Here's a look at Gates' many homes, along with details about transfers around the Gates divorce. Neither Gates nor French Gates responded to requests for comment from Business Insider.

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• Homeownership is becoming less attainable because of high mortgage rates and insurance costs.
• The climate crisis is triggering insurance price hikes, as insurers anticipate more damage payouts.
• Some Americans are opting for rentals or to relocate due to the high costs of owning a home.

Aspiring homeowners might be out of luck this year — and high mortgage rates are only part of the problem.

Rising insurance costs could keep homeownership out of reach for many. An April analysis from personal finance company Nerdwallet shows just how dire the situation is: Homeowners are now spending between $500 and $5,500 a year on insurance, depending on where they live.

According to the insurance comparison shopping site Insurify, overall home insurance costs have risen about 20% in the past two years and have the potential to rise another 6% in 2024.

As the economy recovers from the pandemic, the Federal Reserve has been working to fight inflation by raising interest rates, a strategy that has had a freezing effect on much of the housing market. Steep rates — which jumped to 7.1% for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages on April 18 — have made current homeowners less likely to sell and contributed to an ongoing shortage of affordable housing.

Adding to that, as the climate crisis escalates, it's likely homeowners insurance will only become more expensive. Destructive weather events are becoming more intense and more frequent, meaning insurers expect to pay out more damages, per Insurify.

The climate crisis is causing homeowners' insurance costs to rise

The average American homeowner pays $1,915 a year in insurance costs — about $160 a month — per NerdWallet. Insurance is an inevitable monthly budget item: It is often required by mortgage lenders or state governments.

This cost is just an estimate and can vary greatly depending on the size or location of a home. For instance, insurance rates increase in states with more severe natural disasters. In tornado-prone Oklahoma, for example, that annual cost jumps to $5,495 a year.

Major insurer State Farm announced last year that it will stop insuring new homeowners in California as the state faces risks of earthquakes, wildfires, and heat waves. Allstate has also limited coverage in the state.

Since 1980, there have been over 370 individual weather and climate disasters in the US that topped $1 billion in damage. About 130 of those events — storms, wildfires, floods, and extreme temperatures — happened in the last decade.

The property insurance industry lost nearly $26 billion in 2022, according to the most recent American Property Casualty Insurance Association data. To make up for losses, many companies are raising premiums.

Laura Longero, executive editor of insurance at the marketing firm QuinStreet, previously told Business Insider that she predicts costs will only go up for residents in high-disaster areas.

"Where people are going to end up living is going to determine how much they pay for a lot of things," she said. "If you're on the coast of California, Florida, or Texas, there are these more adverse weather events that are happening — those are going to affect homeowners rates."

This phenomenon is mirrored in car insurance prices, which have hit a 50-year high. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that vehicle insurance costs were 20.3% higher in December 2023 than in December 2022, leading to higher premiums and deductibles for drivers.

Some Americans are choosing to rent or move due to high homeownership costs

Even as insurance rates continue to climb and price out some homeowners, other Americans are finding alternative ways to afford housing.

Some Gen Zers and millennials are still feeling optimistic about buying a home when inflation rates cool, while others are choosing to forgo expensive homeownership and renovate their rentals instead.

Rental prices are also rising in the US — by about 30% in the past five years, per NerdWallet — but rental insurance is far more affordable than it is for homeowners.

Van life and digital nomad living became especially popular during the pandemic, as some Americans chose to travel and work remotely instead of owning a home. In some cases, homeowners in high-climate-risk areas like Florida have also chosen to sell their houses and relocate.

Are you a homeowner paying a lot for insurance? Have you chosen to rent or move because of homeownership costs? Reach out to this reporter at allisonkelly@businessinsider.com.

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• The "Big Four" are the world's largest accounting and consulting firms.
• They're known for paying high salaries — but all have laid off staff in recent months.
• Here's how Deloitte, PwC, KPMG, and EY compare in terms of pay, perks, and RTO policies.

The "Big Four" are the world's largest accounting and consulting firms, with a combined 1.3 million employees worldwide.

Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), KPMG, and Ernst & Young (EY) are known for paying high salaries. However, all four have laid off staff over the past year in a bid to trim costs amid a challenging economic environment.

Here's how the Big Four stack up when it comes to pay, perks, and return-to-office (RTO) policies.

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• Lockheed developed a spy drone in the 1960s that crashed in China.
• China recently debuted a supersonic drone that bears a striking resemblance to Lockheed's D-21.
• The D-21's urgent development was marked by ambition and tragedy.

On March 20, 1971, a specially modified US Air Force B-52 bomber from the 4200th Support Squadron took off from Andersen Air Force Base in Guam carrying a unique aircraft mounted under its wing.

The aircraft, shaped like a dart and painted black, was a D-21 supersonic reconnaissance drone. It was to be the fourth such drone to conduct aerial reconnaissance of China's Lop Nor nuclear test site in northwestern China, and despite its sophistication, it would crash into the very country it was intended to spy on.

Created by the renowned Lockheed Corporation, the D-21 was the most advanced unmanned aircraft of its time. Intended to bridge a gap between burgeoning satellite technology and manned reconnaissance flights, the drone's development was filled with ambition, urgency, and tragedy.

Ultimately unsuccessful, the drone would be relegated to the annals of aviation history if not for the appearance of a strikingly similar Chinese drone unveiled at a recent military parade. This delta-shaped drone of similar size also requires being launched by a mothership. But Chinese engineers claim advances that go much farther than the D-21, reaching 30 miles into the atmosphere and speeds up to Mach 6.

This is what we know about the high-flying Chinese spy drone and the D-21 upon which it could be based.

An urgent need

The origins of the D-21 start in 1960, when Francis Gary Powers and his U-2 spy plane were shot down over the Soviet Union by a Soviet surface-to-air missile. The incident pushed President Dwight Eisenhower to discontinue all manned reconnaissance flights over the Soviet Union to avoid future casualties and embarrassments.

But the need to surveil Soviet military sites was still vital, and while reconnaissance satellites were starting to be launched into space, the technology was nascent. Satellites carried a limited amount of film despite being in orbit for days, had limited repositioning ability, and were not as available for short-notice launches in emergencies compared to manned aircraft.

A faster and higher-flying successor to the U-2, the A-12, was in development. However, as a conventional aircraft, it still had to be manned, and the White House and CIA alike were both reluctant to risk the capture of another pilot, especially if it also meant losing an even more advanced aircraft in the process.

Consequently, the CIA needed a stopgap solution until the satellite programs matured. In 1962, the Central Intelligence Agency approached Lockheed's Skunk Works division (which created the U-2 and the A-12) for such a solution.

High altitude, high speed

Lockheed's solution was to create an unmanned high-altitude high-speed reconnaissance aircraft with similar capabilities as the A-12, but much smaller. Originally designated as the Q-12, the drone utilized a delta wing design, had a wingspan of 19 feet, and measured 42 feet long.

It was powered by a Marquardt RJ43-MA-20S4 ramjet engine that ran the entire length of the aircraft. Capable of producing 11,500 lbs. of thrust, the engine gave the drone a top speed of Mach 3.3, and enabled it to reach an altitude of 95,000 feet. The D-21's range, meanwhile, was over 3,000 miles.

Because it was powered by a ramjet engine, the drone had to be launched from a mothership once it reached a speed where the ramjet could be activated. A modified A-12 was judged to be the best candidate. Redesignated as the M-21, the jet would carry the drone, redesignated as the D-21, on its fuselage, then release it once it reached a speed where the ramjet could be activated.

Once released, the D-21 would fly a pre-programmed route utilizing an internal navigation system to the area of interest, where it would take photos.

Once taken, the D-21 would fly to a designated area, eject its film cannister, then self-destruct. The film cannister, meanwhile, would be snatched from the sky as it parachuted down by a waiting JC-130B, or be collected by a Navy vessel.

Dubbed Project Tagboard, the first carry test occurred on December 22, 1964, with the first separation and flight test occurring on March 6, 1966. Two more largely successful tests followed.

But the fourth flight test, on July 30, ended in tragedy when the D-21 collided with the M-21 after release, destroying both aircraft. Pilot Bill Park and Launch Control Officer Ray Torrick successfully ejected, but Torrick's flight suit was likely torn in the process, leading to it filling with water when both men landed in the ocean, causing him to drown.

After the crash, it was decided that using M-21s as a mothership was too dangerous. Instead, a modified B-52H would be used, carrying up to two drones under its wings. As the bomber was unable to fly at the speed required to activate the D-21's scramjet engine, a 44-foot rocket booster was attached underneath it. After release, the booster would ignite to bring the D-21 to the required speed, then detach after its scramjet came online.

Senior Bowl

Now dubbed Project Senior Bowl, the new system was tested multiple times between September 1967 and early 1969 with mixed results. The D-21's first fully successful test occurred on June 16, 1968, which saw it fly some 3,000 miles at 90,000 feet.

Despite its spotty success record, the drone was approved for limited service in 1969. Flying out of Andersen Air Force Base, the D-21s were given the task of spying on China's Lop Nor nuclear test site, where China had detonated its first nuclear weapon five years earlier.

But while the tests had mixed results, the missions were all failures.

The first mission, on November 9, 1969, was perhaps the worst. After launching from its mothership and reaching Lop Nor, contact with the D-21 was lost, and it disappeared.

In fact, the drone continued flying all the way into the Soviet Union, and crashed in the Siberian wilderness. With the wreckage recovered, Soviet engineers drew up plans for a reverse-engineered copy called the Voron, but the project was never pursued.

After more than a year of further testing and preparation the second mission was flown on December 16, 1970. The D-21 launched successfully, reached Lop Nor, took its photographs, and arrived at the return point, but the film canister's parachute didn't deploy properly after ejection, and it was lost at sea.

The third mission, on March 4, 1971, proceeded similarly. The film canister's parachute deployed successfully, but the JC-130B failed to recover it before it splashed into the water. A Navy destroyer attempted to recover the floating canister, but accidentally collided with it, causing it to sink.

The fourth and final mission two weeks later was a complete failure, with the D-21 crashing into China's southwestern Yunnan province while en route to Lop Nor. The drone was recovered by the Chinese, and is on display at the Chinese Aviation Museum in Beijing.

With Senior Bowl resulting in four operational failures, and with each drone costing at least $2.5 million, the D-21 program became hard to justify — especially as satellites were becoming more advanced.

Consequently, the program was canceled in July 1971.

Of the 38 D-21's built, 21 had been used in tests or operations. The remaining D-21s were put into storage, and eventually made their way to the boneyard at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona.

Apart from the crashed model at the Chinese Aviation Museum, 11 D-21s are on display in the United States.

A Chinese copy?

The D-21 had largely faded from public memory until 2019, when, at the military parade commemorating the 70th Anniversary of the People's Republic of China on October 1, China unveiled a similar-looking drone.

Dubbed the WZ-8, the drone is a delta-wing design, about 37 feet long, and has a wingspan of 22 feet. Instead of a scramjet running the length of the body, it is powered by two rocket motors.

Like the D-21, the WZ-8 must be launched by a mothership during flight — specifically an H-6M, a version of the H-6 strategic bomber modified to carry cruise missiles on external hardpoints.

Chinese media has reported that the WZ-8 is capable of flying 160,000 feet and as fast as Mach 6. Its sensor suite reportedly includes a daylight electro-optical sensor and a synthetic aperture radar.

Documents reportedly leaked from US intelligence sources last year revealed that China has "almost certainly" established its first operational WZ-8 unit.

One document, alleged to originate from the US National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, claims that the unit is based at Liuan Airfield, and that its missions could include high-altitude reconnaissance flights of the South Korean coast and virtually all of Taiwan.

According to the document, the drone would be released from its mothership just off the northern or eastern Chinese coast, execute its mission, then return and land at Chinese coastal airfields, whereupon it would be loaded back on an H-6M bomber and return to Liuan. The document lists the WZ-8 as being capable of flying up to 100,000 feet at Mach 3.

It has been separately speculated that the WZ-8 could be used to track US carrier battle groups in the Pacific in real time.

Subsequent reporting confirmed the presence of at least one WZ-8 at Liuan Airfield. The base, which is reportedly home to the 29th Air Regiment of the People's Liberation Army Air Force's 10th Bomber Division, has been receiving extensive upgrades since at least early 2019.

Benjamin Brimelow is a freelance journalist covering international military and defense issues. He holds a master's degree in Global Affairs with a concentration in international security from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. His work has appeared in Business Insider and the Modern War Institute at West Point.

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• The United Auto Workers union won a critical vote at a plant in Tenessee. 
• After a massive strike last year, the union set out to organize more factories that aren't represented, including Tesla. 
• The union's white whale is Tesla, workers of which have never been represented by a union. 

Volkswagen workers in Tennessee voted Friday to join the United Auto Workers union in a huge victory for the once-embattled union as it works toward another run at organizing Tesla.

After two failed attempts by the UAW in Chattanooga in recent years, Friday's victory represents a turning point for the 89-year-old union. After years of dwindling membership, a messy federal criminal investigation, and high-profile automotive industry organizing failures, UAW President Shawn Fain is aiming to usher in a new era for his union.

The counting of the votes by the National Labor Relations Board continued late into Friday night, with Reuters reporting that a final tally of 2,628 to 985, or 73% of the votes, were in favor of unionizing.

After a 46-day strike that hit all three Detroit car companies simultaneously last year yielded some of the richest UAW contracts in recent memory, Fain said the UAW was just getting started.

A massive drive has since gone into full force as the union encourages thousands of non-union auto workers to sign union cards, targeting nearly 150,000 US auto workers across 13 companies — including those outside Detroit and, most notably, Tesla.

This week's victory at Volkswagen makes history as the UAW's first successful organizing campaign at a foreign car company in the South. After the election at Volkswagen, the UAW is pressing deeper into the South next month for another unionization vote at Mercedes-Benz's factory in Alabama.

The warm-up for Tesla

Conquering the South is just a warm-up for the big event for the UAW: Organizing Tesla.

Tesla has never held a union vote at any of its US facilities. The electric car company has long been an organizing target for the UAW, but aggressive anti-union culture and rhetoric from CEO Elon Musk have stymied efforts up until now.

The UAW's previous push at Tesla fizzled out by 2019 as a federal criminal investigation stole union leaders' attention, sent two previous UAW presidents to prison, and dented the public's trust in the union. The UAW has since undergone a government-led reform and Fain became the union's first democratically elected president in March 2023.

Some Tesla workers were in the early stages of forming a union during the UAW's massive strike this past fall, a union official told The New York Times. While Tesla initially benefited from these work stoppages, labor experts have warned that momentum for the UAW at other automakers could spell trouble for Tesla in the long run.

A successful UAW campaign is the last thing Elon Musk needs

Any major clash with the UAW would only add to Tesla's growing list of hurdles this year. After years of growth, Tesla reported declining deliveries in the first quarter of 2024, an early sign that not even the EV leader is immune to an industry-wide softening in demand for battery-powered cars.

On top of that, a year of slashing prices on its cars to appeal to more frugal EV shoppers has taken a toll on the company's industry-leading profit margins.

Tesla already increased wages for factory workers after the UAW's new raises went into effect, a move labor experts have said is designed to quell interest in union activity. Many Tesla workers already make more per hour than their unionized counterparts.

And in Sweden, Tesla is already locked in a dispute with striking mechanics that has worried investors since the start of the year.

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• Explosions occurred at a military base south of Baghdad in Iraq, according to reports.
• The base is used by Harakat al Nujaba, an Iran-backed group, according to The New York Times.
• It's unclear who is responsible for the explosion. The reports come a day after an Israeli strike against Iran.

Explosions occurred at a military base in Iraq early on Saturday, according to multiple reports.

The base, located south of Baghdad, is used by Harakat al Nujaba, an Iran-backed group, according to The New York Times.

An Iraqi security official told CNN at least three people were wounded in the blasts. A local hospital also told the Times three people were injured.

It is not clear who or what caused the explosions.

When reached by Business Insider, US Central Command noted a statement it shared on X, which said: "We are aware of reports claiming that the United States conducted airstrikes in Iraq today. Those reports are not true. The United States has not conducted air strikes in Iraq today."

The Department of Defense and the Israel Defense Forces did not immediately respond to requests for comment from BI.

The reports come a day after Israel struck Iran, according to reports that cited unnamed senior US officials. Several explosions were heard near an Iranian military base. The New York Times reported two Israeli defense officials acknowledged the strike on Friday was carried out by Israel.

Those explosions came days after Iran attacked Israel last weekend, launching more than 300 missiles and drones, almost all of which were shot down by IDF and ally forces, like the US.

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• Leaving his NY hush-money trial Friday, Trump said he plans to testify in his own defense.
• This was soon after he sat through a hearing on prior acts the DA hopes to cross him on.
• Trump would be confronted on his history of lying, falsifying documents, and ignoring judges.

If Donald Trump keeps his promise to testify at his hush-money trial, cross-examination could get ugly.

Manhattan prosecutors said Friday that they want to grill Trump about that time he lied under oath, as the judge in his civil fraud trial found in October.

Prosecutors want to roast him on the stand for violating court orders, as the same fraud trial judge also found, in repeatedly citing Trump for gag-order violations.

And they want to barbecue Trump over the way he seemingly couldn't stop defaming his own sex assault victim, writer E. Jean Carroll.

Possibly worse — given that Trump is on trial on charges of falsifying business documents — prosecutors also want to ask him about two trials where he and his executives were found to have falsified business documents. Those were the 2023 Trump Organization payroll-tax-fraud trial, and, again, the civil fraud trial.

"Yes," Trump told reporters as he left court Friday, when asked if he will testify.

It was at least the second time the GOP frontrunner promised to take the stand in his own defense at the trial, in which he is accused of falsifying business documents as part of a scheme to interfere with the 2016 election.

The timing was noteworthy.

Just moments earlier, Trump sat through what's called a Sandoval hearing, where his lawyers and prosecutors argued over what "prior bad acts" could be fair game on his cross-examination.

Trump was visibly angry — scowling at the defense table — as his acts were sorted over.

On his way out of the courtroom, he thumped a wooden railing with his hand.

"We object to each," defense lawyer Emil Bove had said of all the acts prosecutors want to bring into the case.

During the nearly two-hour Sandoval hearing, Bove complained of the DA's plans to the trial judge, state Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan.

Bove said that the verdicts, judgments, and contempt-of-court orders that prosecutors want to question Trump about are mostly under appeal and "unduly prejudicial," meaning they'd unfairly prejudice the jury against the former president.

The defense lawyer fought especially hard against jurors hearing that a federal jury in Manhattan had found Trump liable for violating Carroll with his hands during an assault in the mid-1990s — an attack that the judge said effectively amounted to rape.

"What is the theory of this trial?" Bove asked angrily. "Are they making arguments about sexual misconduct?" he demanded. "This is a case about documents."

Trump's lying about sexual assault "is critical evidence that the jury should have in assessing his credibility if he testifies," countered Matthew Colangelo, a prosecutor for District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

Merchan said he would render a Sandoval decision Monday, to be followed by opening statements.

Prosecutors will then call their first witness, a person whose name has not yet been made public. Their testimony will not be finished before the day breaks early for the first day of Passover, prosecutors said.

When defense lawyers asked for a second time for prosecutors to give advance notice of who would be the first witness, they were again turned down. Prosecutors are under no obligation to give early notice of their witnesses.

When defense lawyer Susan Necheles suggested that not knowing the name now might "delay the trial," the judge reacted sternly.

"Whether you get the name or not you are not going to delay the trial," the judge said.

"We don't want to, your honor," Necheles said.

"Well, you won't delay the trial," the judge snapped back.

Trump has consistently denied wrongdoing in the case. He faces a potential sentence of anywhere from zero to four years in jail if convicted.

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