• Ukraine used at least 10 US-supplied ATACMS to hit Russian air defenses in Crimea, per reports.
• Ukraine's Army General Staff said it hit an S-400 "Triumf" and two S-300 air-defense missile systems.
• This would be one of the first strikes Ukraine launched against Crimea using the US-supplied weapons.

Ukraine used at least 10 US-supplied Army Tactical Missile Systems, known as ATACMS, to hit Russian air defenses in Crimea on Monday, according to reports.

Ten missiles hit the 31st Air Defense Division of the Russian Defense Ministry in occupied Crimea, Russian independent Telegram channel Astra reported on Monday, citing unnamed sources.

The strikes killed one soldier, wounded six, and damaged two S-300 missile systems and four radars, the outlet reported.

Prominent Russian blogger Rybar went further, saying Ukraine launched at least 12 ATACMS from the Mykolaiv region, which hit Chernomorsky, Yevpatoria, and Dzhankoy on Monday.

Schemes, part of Radio Liberty, shared satellite images of what it said were before and aftermath images of a military facility in the city of Dzhankoy in occupied Crimea on Monday.

The images, which the outlet dated April 27, May 20, and June 10, show an air-defense system in the area in May, with fortifications being built later, it said.

It said the quality of the satellite images did not allow it to identify the type of equipment that was hit.

One image of the aftermath shows a trail of burned land.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine appeared to confirm some of the details in a Facebook post on Monday.

It said it launched strikes on a Russian S-400 "Triumf" missile system and two S-300 missile systems overnight on Monday.

It said none of its missiles were intercepted, but did not specify which type of missiles were used.

In a report on Monday, Washington DC-based think tank the Institute for the Study of War said Ukraine likely used ATACMS in the attack.

Business Insider couldn't independently verify details of the attack or the type of missile launched in the strike. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

If true, this would be one of the first ATACMS strikes Ukraine has launched against Crimea since the US secretly sent the country about 100 ATACMS in April.

Ukraine has already reportedly used one of the missiles to take out more than 100 Russian soldiers stationed 50 miles from the front line in occupied Luhansk Oblast, showcasing the missile's range and power.

Philip Karber, a military analyst with expertise on Ukraine, told Radio Free Europe in April that the weapons "could basically make Crimea militarily worthless."

On Wednesday, Ukraine said its troops launched another missile strike on Crimea overnight, on an S-300 missile system and two S-400 missile systems.

• Our family traveled to London, apprehensive of how the kids would eat there with food allergies.
• We were pleasantly surprised by the precautions that London restaurants take — more than in the US.
• London is an ideal destination for food allergy families, and we can't wait to visit again.

As a parent of kids with food allergies, traveling can be stressful. I worry about what they will eat and whether they will be safe when we are outside the comfort of our home.

We typically avoid restaurants. Relying on staff about allergens can be terrifying, especially when they are misinformed.

Yet, I love to travel and share that passion with them. I wanted to show them that we can have amazing adventures, despite our food allergies.

So I booked our family flights to London and prepared as much as I could.

I quickly realized London restaurants are more accommodating

Armed with EpiPens and a suitcase full of foods free of the top eight allergens, we were off on our first London adventure.

When we arrived at our hotel in London's West End, I quickly scanned the area for grocery stores and discovered that there were none. The kids wanted hot food, so we went on a quest to find a good meal.

We discovered a traditional UK pub nearby. I hoped we could find at least one safe food they could eat. I was surprised as to what happened next.

As soon as we sat down, the waiter greeted us. The first question he asked was, "Do you have any food allergies?" In my experience in the US, servers rarely initiate conversations about food allergies. When we ask, they often respond annoyed.

Delighted that I didn't have to initiate this discussion, I listed their many allergies. He pointed out the separate fryers and work spaces to avoid cross-contamination.

He brought out an iPad with an app that listed the allergens for every item on the menu. We typed in our food allergies, and the app told us the foods my kids could eat.

We were thrilled, and the kids devoured their meals safely and without worry.

Could eating at a London restaurant with food allergies be this easy? It was too good to be true!

I figured this was a fluke, so we went to another place. They took the same precautions, provided me with an allergen menu, and did their due diligence to avoid cross-contamination.

My kids never ate so safely and so well as they did in London

My kids have never eaten so well and safely as they did while on vacation in London. London is an ideal international destination for food allergy families.

Curious as to why we were having such a different experience in London than in the US, I researched.

There are more food allergy regulations in the UK than in the US. In the UK, Natasha's Law protects people with food allergies who rely on ingredient transparency. Restaurants must provide allergen information in writing. There is no US federal regulation requiring allergen disclosure in restaurants.

In the UK, restaurants are required to list 14 common allergens on food labels, while in the US, they list nine. In the UK, servers ask their customers about food allergies, while in the US, the customers ask.

Traveling with kids brings unexpected surprises, sometimes good and sometimes bad. In our case, we unexpectedly ate like royalty. We will visit London again with hungry stomachs and a newly gained sense of safety.

• Ukraine appeared to take out a Russian S-400 system in Crimea with Western ATACMS missiles.
• The much-feared S-400 air-defense system is more advanced than the much older ATACMS.
• Experts told BI that S-400s are Russia's best, but their performance in Ukraine has been mixed.

Ukraine's latest claimed strike on Crimea is likely another example of how its older, Western-supplied missiles can foil even Russia's most advanced air-defense systems.

Ukraine's General Staff said Ukrainian forces hit a Russian S-400 antiaircraft missile unit and two S-300 antiaircraft missile units on the Russia-annexed peninsula overnight on Sunday into Monday, and that they immediately stopped working.

It did not say what type of missiles were used, but Washington DC-based think tank the Institute for the Study of War said it was "likely with ATACMS" — US-made tactical ballistic missiles.

Rybar, an influential Russian military blogger, said on Monday that Ukraine had attacked Crimea with at least 12 ATACMS missiles.

The S-400 is Russia's most advanced air defense system. It first became operational in 2007, more than two decades after the ATACMS, which have been in service since 1986.

Ukraine said none of its missiles were downed in the attack, while mocking Russia's descriptions of its own air defenses.

"None of our missiles fired were intercepted by the enemy's 'highly effective' air defense," Ukraine's General Staff said.

The S-400 is Russia's best

Rajan Menon, director of the Grand Strategy program at the US think tank Defense Priorities, described the S-400 to BI earlier this year as Russia's "top-of-the-line air defense system."

But he said its performance in Ukraine has been "mixed," with Ukraine able to take some out.

Ukraine's General Staff said on Wednesday that it destroyed another S-400 and another S-300 in Crimea, without detailing what it used in the attack.

The S-400 was developed as a rival to the US' Patriot system, and the head of Rosoboronexport, the Russian state-owned military company that oversees much of Russia's military exports, has called it the "best long-range air defense system in the world."

Experts told BI that the system is clearly very capable and feared by Ukraine.

But they said it has proved vulnerable in Russia's ongoing invasion, and credited Ukraine with using skilled and creative tactics to go after the weapons.

Last November, the UK Ministry of Defence said that Ukraine had likely destroyed at least four of the systems in just a week.

A Russian Telegram channel that claims to have sources in Russia's police and military agencies said at the time that ATACMS were used.

Ian Williams, the former deputy director of the Missile Defense Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said last year that the S-400s "seem to have struggled against Storm Shadows," referring to missiles supplied to Ukraine by the UK and France, which were first used in 2003.

Fredrik Mertens, an analyst at the Hague Center for Strategic Studies, told BI that "we clearly know that Ukrainian missiles are getting through and at rates that they really pose a problem for the Russians."

Meanwhile, George Barros, a Russia analyst at the Institute for the Study of War, told BI this week that the problem could actually become worse for Russia.

He said that new permissions given by some allies to allow Ukraine to use Western-donated weapons to strike military targets in Russia will put its S-400s and other air defenses — those once outside Ukraine's strike range — at risk.

Crimea at renewed risk

At the same time, Ukraine said last month that it used Western-supplied ATACMS to strike the Russian Kerch ferry crossing into Crimea.

Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began, in a move that was condemned around the world. Most countries do not recognize the territory as part of Russia.

Ukraine has vowed to retake the region, which Russia uses to launch attacks on Ukraine.

Philip Karber, a military analyst with expertise on Ukraine, said in April that Ukraine is now in a position to use ATACMS to make Crimea "militarily worthless."

• The Wall Street Journal reported a former SpaceX intern's account of having sex with Elon Musk.
• The woman, who met Musk during her internship, later joined his executive team, the report said.
• The woman told the outlet she had no "romantic relationship" with Musk during her full-time role.

A new report by The Wall Street Journal includes a former SpaceX intern's story of having a brief relationship with Elon Musk that included sex.

Musk was said to have first met the woman in the early 2010s during her internship at the rocket company while she was still in college, according to the report. She told friends that she approached him with ideas for improving SpaceX and that it led to a date where the two bonded over "Star Wars" and kissed, the report said.

Musk later flew the woman to Sicily to visit him at a resort, the Journal reported, citing documents.

The report said Musk personally contacted the woman in 2017 to discuss a role on his executive staff.

The woman went on to work at SpaceX until 2019, leaving the company after an executive she reported to was included in a layoff, she told the Journal through her lawyers.

In affidavits provided to the outlet by the woman's lawyers, she said she had no "romantic relationship" with Musk during her employment at SpaceX from 2017 to 2019.

"Nothing that Elon Musk did towards me during either of my periods of employment at SpaceX was predatory or wrongful in any way," the woman said.

The woman's lawyers also represented Musk. The affidavits said she had previously had a romantic relationship with the SpaceX CEO.

People familiar with the matter and friends of the woman told the outlet she visited Musk at his home multiple times during her employment at SpaceX.

The woman was not named by the Journal. The newspaper said lawyers representing both her and Musk sent legal letters demanding her removal from the article. She also was said to have advised friends not to talk to reporters.

Representatives for Musk and SpaceX did not immediately respond to requests for comment, made outside normal working hours. Business Insider was unable to contact the woman for comment.

SpaceX has been under scrutiny in recent years amid reports of sexual harassment at the company.

Earlier this year, seven former SpaceX employees claimed executives discriminated against women and joked about sexual harassment. They detailed the accusations in California civil-rights complaints.

Musk has also faced personal accusations of sexual misconduct. In May 2022, BI reported that SpaceX paid a former flight attendant $250,000 in 2018 after she accused Musk of sexually harassing her.

Musk denied the claims and claimed the story was false.

• A bird strike delayed an easyJet flight, preventing Swifties from attending the Eras Tour.
• The flight from Belfast to Edinburgh was delayed by seven hours due to safety checks.
• Kathryn Gallagher worked two jobs to afford the trip but missed the show despite her efforts.

A Taylor Swift fan from Northern Ireland said she and her fellow Swifties were prevented from attending the Eras Tour after a bird flew into their plane.

Kathryn Gallagher, 25, planned to fly from her hometown of Antrim, Belfast, to Edinburgh on Sunday for the third and final night of Swift's Scotland shows.

Gallagher told Business Insider that she originally planned to attend the show with a friend who lives in the Scottish capital. But she said she had to miss it after her easyJet flight was delayed by around seven hours.

"When I spoke to people in the airport, most people were on that flight to go specifically to the Eras Tour," Gallagher said in a video on TikTok.

Gallagher said staff explained that safety checks were required to ensure the plane would be able to fly.

The Federal Aviation Administration reports that the number of wildlife that striking aircraft is increasing. In 2023, the agency recorded around 19,400 strikes at 713 US airports.

Bird strikes can cause aircraft damage, delays, and cancellations, all of which can cost US airlines around $1.2 billion each year, BI previously reported.

Speaking to BI, Gallagher estimated that at least 100 other people waiting to board the flight had also planned to see the concert. (BI could not verify this number).

According to Gallagher, the 55-minute easyJet flight was originally due to take off from Belfast at 12:45 p.m., but it didn't leave the airport until 8 p.m. Swift took the stage at around 7:15 p.m., and the show ended just after 10:15 p.m.

After waiting for more than six hours, Gallagher gave her ticket away and returned home at 6 p.m.

Gallagher said she worked 2 jobs to be able to afford the Eras Tour

Gallagher said she spent an estimated £400, or around $510, on her round-trip flight, the concert ticket, and outfit: A purple dress embroidered with butterfly pins, inspired by Swift's "Speak Now" album.

The 25-year-old said she had been able to afford the trip by working two jobs. During the week, Gallagher works full-time as a sales consultant; at the weekend, she works at a bar.

"With the cost of living and stuff at the minute, one salary really isn't enough to enjoy the little luxuries you might've enjoyed a couple of years ago," she said.

A previous BI report showed that some fans in the US spent up to $20,000 on Eras Tour expenses in 2023. According to a Forbes estimate, the show grossed around $1.04 billion from the first 60 shows in 2023.

Gallagher said easyJet informed her that she wouldn't be eligible for compensation because "it was out of their control that a bird hit the plane."

"We are very sorry that flight EZY326 from Belfast to Edinburgh yesterday was delayed," an easyJet spokesperson said in a statement to BI on Monday.

"This was due to a bird strike on the aircraft's previous flight which meant the scheduled plane was unable to operate and so we flew an alternative aircraft in from Luton to operate the flight later in the day," they said.

"While this was outside of our control, we did all possible to minimise the disruption for customers and provided refreshment vouchers.

" We understand the disappointment this will have caused to customers and we always advise customers to have travel insurance in place to cover unforeseen issues. The safety and wellbeing of our customers and crew is easyJet's highest priority," the statement concluded.

• Starbucks has launched two breakfast combo deals, pairing a coffee or tea with a croissant or breakfast sandwich.
• Only a limited range of drinks appear to be included, but you can pay extra to customize them.
• Bundling has long been standard practice in fast-food, but it's a surprise move for Starbucks.

In an unusual move for the coffee giant, Starbucks is getting into bundling by offering new $5 and $6 deals.

The chain launched the two combo deals on Tuesday under what it calls its "pairings menu."

Customers can get a 12-ounce iced or hot coffee or tea paired with a butter croissant from $5, or with a breakfast sandwich from $6.

Starbucks' US sales have been slumping

Bundling has long been standard practice in the fast-food industry — think of all the burger chains that let you make your order a meal by adding fries and a drink for a couple of extra dollars — but it's a surprise move for Starbucks. In its marketing, the coffee chain has tended to focus on the quality and range of its products rather than pricing.

David Henkes, senior principal at foodservice research company Technomic, told CNN that Starbucks had "in many ways been a symbol of affordable indulgence" and the company seemingly now felt that "their affordability has softened to the degree that they need to use deals to drive traffic."

Starbucks posted poor earnings earlier this year. In the first three months of 2024, Starbucks' comparable US sales declined 3% year-over-year, with a 7% drop in the number of comparable transactions. CEO Laxman Narasimhan called the results "disappointing."

"We continue to feel the impact of a more cautious consumer," Narasimhan told investors at the company's latest earnings call, adding that some customers had been saving money by eating more at home.

It's not just Starbucks. Other restaurant executives have echoed Narasimhan's comments, saying that diners are cutting back. Some fast-food chains have introduced new offers and vowed to stop hiking prices to win back customers.

It's easy for the price of Starbucks' combo deals to rack up

Starbucks has six items in its breakfast sandwich range. Choosing the double-smoked bacon, cheddar, and egg sandwich and the Impossible breakfast sandwich puts the bundle's price up by $1 to $7.

Starbucks' prices vary considerably by location. At a Starbucks in Manhattan, ordering a butter croissant costs $4.45, while two of the breakfast sandwiches cost $5.45, and four cost $6.45.

If you're in the mood for a croissant or sandwich and a drink, the combo can save you considerable money.

But if you want to customize your drink then the prices start to rack up. When Business Insider added sauce and cold foam to a tall Starbucks Iced Coffee Blend, the price of the croissant and coffee deal went up from $5 to $7.45 at the Manhattan location.

You can also upgrade the size of your drink for an extra charge, though it appears you get less of a discount overall. Upgrading a tall Iced Coffee Blend with no modifications to the 24-ounce venti version brings the croissant deal to $6, an increase of $1, despite a venti Iced Coffee Blend only costing $0.50 more than a tall.

Other drinks included in the deal include some hot coffees, like Starbucks' Decaf Pike Place Roast and Veranda Blend Clover Vertica, hot teas, like its Royal English Breakfast tea, and iced teas, like its iced black tea.

A number of drinks didn't appear to be eligible when ordering for collection via Starbucks' website, including cappuccinos, Americanos, cold brew, tea lattes, and some of its iced green tea.

Starbucks notes that the two combos are only limited-time offers, although it doesn't say how long the promotions will last. CNN reported that the offer is available all day.

Is fast food too expensive? Email this reporter at gdean@insider.com.

• I moved from Venezuela to the US two years ago. 
• I miss Venezuela a lot, but the US has taught me many valuable lessons. 
• Moving to Vermont made me appreciate the changing of the seasons in a way I hadn't before. 

As an immigrant who moved from Venezuela to the US less than two years ago, longing has become a constant part of my daily life. After college, I had to leave my country for personal reasons, not to mention the political and economic instability there.

The decision was not easy; it meant leaving behind my family, friends, and the culture that shaped me.

I deeply miss Venezuela — the warmth of my grandparents' home every Sunday, the streets filled with people I know, and the community I simply felt part of. This move has highlighted the cultural differences between my home and my new environment, reminding me of the memories that keep me connected to my country.

It's all so different here — but these are the biggest differences between Venezuela and Vermont.

I learned to appreciate the weather

Due to my limited travel experiences, I didn't know the privilege of having sunshine slip through my window every morning until I moved to Vermont in an autumn week. I was born in Los Llanos, a region in Venezuela known for its grasslands and ranches, rich folklore, and sunny climate. Even during the rainy season, the days are generally hot with only brief interruptions of heavy downpours — that was my winter.

I went to a more urban town to attend college, surrounded by mountains, buildings, and universities. However, even in the city, the weather remained stable, with a light breeze and plenty of sunshine. The climate was still nothing compared to the cold and snowy winters of Vermont.

I learned to appreciate the changing fall leaves and prepared myself with thicker knit sweaters in advance, but adjusting my body and mind to this weather is a work in progress. I like to think about how seasons represent a much-needed change in life every few months. It's nice to structure the year knowing you can only sled around Christmas, and the beach only looks inviting during a hot July weekend.

I have more career opportunities in the US

I was impressed by the range of career opportunities available and the freedom to explore different industries. In Venezuela, I had the expectation to follow a linear career trajectory, I felt pressured to stick to my planned career path and become a clinical psychologist, and deviating from that path felt like I'd be failing my plan.

Living in Vermont has allowed me to reconsider my professional goals. Here, I've discovered opportunities in fields I had never thought of before, such as my current role in a local B2B SaaS company.

I used to hold myself to high standards, believing that success meant sticking to a single, well-defined career. However, embracing a more flexible perspective has helped me to seek out workplaces that align with my values, and it has made my professional journey much more fulfilling.

It's been hard to make friends here

In Venezuela, I was part of a community where I truly felt I belonged, even as a shy girl. From my family in my small town to my friends in college, I was familiar with my surroundings and the cultural norms that were part of my identity. Social bonds were a regular and easy part of my life, providing inclusion and support.

Here in the US, I've had to build connections in different ways, appreciating the independence that characterizes the community. Making friends wasn't as easy as meeting a friend of a friend. Instead, I've turned to Facebook groups and Bumble BFF, besides work, to get to know people.

While I've had my ups and downs, this experience has made me more empathetic toward others experiencing similar feelings of displacement.

I'm more independent now

Moving to the US introduced me to a culture that highlights independence and self-reliance, whereas in my small town, nuclear families were the norm. This shift required me to rethink my understanding of support and connection. It still feels isolating not to have the same level of familial involvement in daily decisions and activities here in the US.

Over time, I've come to value the empowerment of autonomy. Yet, this doesn't mean disconnecting from my roots. Instead, it means maintaining regular communication with my family, seeking their advice and emotional support while also making my own decisions and navigating my life independently.

Adapting to a new culture requires constant self-evaluation. Slowly but surely, I've become more patient with myself and more appreciative of the small victories along the way.

• Sam Dogen retired from his VP role at Credit Suisse in 2012 after over a decade of intense saving. 
• He planned to live of the passive income from his investments in stocks and real estate. 
• After having two children, Dogen is looking to work again to meet his family's financial needs.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Sam Dogen, a 46-year-old in San Francisco. It has been edited for length and clarity.

Even as a child, I knew I didn't want to be poor. I'd lived in five countries before settling in Virginia, USA, and saw the clear dichotomy between the wealthy and the poor. I wanted to understand how people made money so I could live like the rich.

I studied economics at the College of William and Mary in Virginia because it was the cheapest option.

After graduation, I landed a job as a financial analyst with Goldman Sachs on Wall Street in 1999.

My first day in the office lasted 14 hours. The first month was tiresome and stressful, and I realized I wouldn't last another 40 years on Wall Street.

I was making $40,000 a year in twice-monthly payments. If I invested 50% of my income for 20 years, I would save at least 20 years of living expenses. I could work until 42, then live on 5 to 8% of my savings, stocks, and potential real estate income each year to get to 62. I'd be set for life.

It was easy to save money because I was working so much

I started saving only a month after starting at Goldman Sachs. Every month, I invested half my paycheck into the S&P 500, a smattering of random tech stock, and 5% of that half into a general savings account.

After being advised by someone in our HR department, I maxed out my 401(k). The fewer taxes I had to pay, the better for my savings goals, and there was a 401(k) match at my company.

I was able to save so much because I was very frugal. For the first two years at Goldman Sachs, I lived in a studio apartment in Manhattan, paying $700 monthly rent.

One of the perks of working past 7 p.m. was that you could go into the free cafeteria. I would eat dinner there and bring home leftovers for the next day. I also stuck to a spending budget for myself.

It was a plan born out of misery. I was working 60-plus hours a week, every week.

A promotion and move to San Francisco got me on the property ladder

In June 2001, I was recruited to join Credit Suisse and moved to San Francisco. My base salary jumped to $85,000. Now I was making more, I saved 60% of each paycheck, putting money into long-term CDs, which are savings accounts with a high fixed interest rate that you can't withdraw money for a fixed period.

In 2003, at age 26, I decided to buy a two-bedroom apartment in San Francisco using the money I had earned and saved from 1999 to 2003.

My goal was to diversify my wealth away from equities into real estate. I used 80% of my savings and liquid investments to put a 25% down payment on a condo. I lived there with my then-girlfriend, who helped pay for some expenses.

By 27, I was promoted to vice president at Credit Suisse, and my income jumped to six figures plus larger potential bonuses. I saved and invested around 70% of my after-tax income in 2003, 2004, and 2005. In 2005, I bought a house for $1,520,000 in San Francisco and rented my condo until I sold it in 2017. I had used up all my savings and investments to buy the house. It was a huge risk.

The 2009 crash slashed my net worth but launched my blogging career

I continued my saving plan until the housing and stock markets crashed in 2009. I didn't get laid off in the crash, but I did lose between 35 and 40% of my net worth in six months when stocks and real estate prices cratered.

I started my blog, Financial Samurai, in 2009 to heal. The more I wrote, the better I felt because I had connected with other people going through the same fears on the road to financial independence.

In October 2011, at 34, I was making a $250,000 base salary. Credit Suisse had undergone several layoffs during the global financial crisis. I spoke with my HR manager, who said more layoffs were coming. This was my exit to early retirement. I talked to my manager and asked him to consider laying me off with a severance package and deferred compensation if I stayed on to train my junior employee.

By April 2012, I was laid off and received the severance package I'd negotiated. It felt scary, but also like I had won the lottery. The severance covered multiple years of my projected living expenses.

Retiring at 34

I retired at 34 with a net worth was around $2.5 million after saving and investing 50 to 75% of my income for 12 years. I made around $80,000 of passive income from rent, stock dividends, and CD income a year. I continued to save 50% of my income and live on $40,000.

In my final year at work, I'd been saving even more of my income, around 80%, so the adjustment to living off less wasn't huge. It was outweighed by the increased freedom I had. After I retired, I realized I didn't need as much money as I'd thought to be happy.

In 2015, my wife also retired. She's three years younger than me, and we planned for her to retire by 35.

Once she left, we had to pay for full healthcare benefits. It cost us around $1,680 monthly in healthcare premiums because we didn't qualify for subsidies.

Having kids took up a lot of our passive income budget

Once our son was born in 2017, we began spending more of our passive income. We spent even more of our passive income when our daughter was born in 2019. We now pay $2,500 monthly for unsubsidized healthcare premiums for a family of four. Preschool for each child was as much as $3,200 a month. We are spending nearly 100% of our passive income now.

I believe I've failed early retirement. Despite lasting 12 years without a job, I recognize I need to save and earn more to generate more passive income. I didn't anticipate having two kids after trying so long for one.

When we retired, my wife and I were looking forward to living off less than $100,000 a year in early retirement. But our annual expenses are over $250,000 a year. We chose to have two kids and to remain in expensive San Francisco. As a result, we must pay the price accordingly.

I want to get into part-time tech consulting

I promised to be a stay-at-home father until my children were in school full time. My second child is starting school in September, so I am considering returning to work part-time.

I'd like to do part-time consulting for a tech startup in San Francisco, where there is a lot of buzz around tech and AI.

In retrospect, retiring at age 34 was too early. If I could retire again, I would have tried to stick it out until age 40. But I'm not sure if my health would have cooperated or if we would have been able to have children if I did. I was very stressed at work.

My challenge now is finding meaningful part-time work. I tried consulting part-time at a fintech startup earlier this year, but it became all-consuming and interfered with my duty as a father. At least I know better what to look for this fall when my daughter begins school full-time.

• Airlines take into account safety and cost when deciding how to divert flights.
• British Airways typically sends flights back to London when possible, making repairs and rerouting easier.
• American Airlines has an automated tool called HEAT that helps it make calls on where to divert.

Plane diversions can be a nuisance for passengers and costly for airlines, especially if they end up back where they started in a so-called flight to nowhere.

On Monday, a British Airways flight destined for Houston made it across the Atlantic Ocean before turning back over the coast of Newfoundland, resulting in a nine-hour flight to nowhere.

An airline spokesperson said the diversion was "a precaution due to a minor technical issue."

The Boeing 787 returned to London Heathrow, where BA has maintenance facilities. In fact, returning to London is a relatively common practice in such situations for the UK flag carrier: it would be cheaper and easier to rearrange replacement flights for customers as well as repair any issues.

For European carriers, a flight to nowhere is likely preferable to the situation involving an Air France jet last month. A burning smell in the cabin prompted an emergency landing in Canada's far north — causing a different flight to be canceled so that plane could rescue the passengers. It took them to New York, where they again had to be re-routed to Seattle, the intended destination.

Diversions usually occur due to safety issues.

Last month, a United Airlines flight from Switzerland to Chicago turned around over the Atlantic before landing in Ireland, after a passenger's laptop got stuck in their seat.

This posed a safety risk due to the potential for a lithium battery fire. Travelers are told to pack electronic devices in their carry-on instead of in the hold so that the crew can notice if it catches fire. If a fire happened over the ocean, there would be nowhere convenient to land.

The laptop was removed and the plane took off the following day. The delay in the second flight — more than 24 hours later — was due to the flight crew reaching their maximum time on the clock.

Pilots also typically land at the nearest airport in cases of medical issues and unruly passengers, due to the urgency required.

However, when it comes to bad weather, it isn't always a clear decision between returning to the original aiport or landing at an alternative airport. Such confusion was seen during a storm in January when a Ryanair flight between Ireland and Scotland landed 540 miles away in Germany.

Some carriers have their own automated software that helps in these situations. In 2023, American Airlines launched its tool, the "Hub Efficiency Analytics Tool," or HEAT, to help dispatchers, coordinators, and other employees make decisions.

It considers when a crew member exceeds their regulated duty period, which flights have the greatest number of connecting passengers, and how many top-tier loyalty customers are flying.

In short, decisions about diversions are made on a case-by-case basis. From bad weather to technical issues, the cost of rerouting passengers is often at the forefront except in an emergency.

• Tesla says Optimus is working on its factory floor.
• The company said in an X post that two of the humanoid robots had been deployed in a factory.
• Elon Musk has called Optimus Tesla's most valuable product, but it's still got a long way to go.

It sounds like Optimus, Tesla's humanoid robot, may finally be helping to build the company's cars.

In a rundown on X of what the company has achieved since 2018 ahead of the shareholder vote on Elon Musk's multi-billion dollar pay package, Tesla said it had deployed two Optimus robots "performing tasks in the factory autonomously."

It is unclear which factory the robots are operating in or what tasks they are completing.

Business Insider contacted Tesla for confirmation but didn't immediately hear back.

In Tesla's most recent earnings call in April, Musk said Optimus would be able to perform factory roles by the end of the year, and could go on sale by the end of 2025.

Musk has made some grand predictions about Tesla's AI-powered humanoid, suggesting in the same earnings call that Optimus was more valuable than anything else Tesla is doing.

Musk told shareholders that once the "sentient humanoid robot" was a reality, there would be "no meaningful limit to the size of the economy."

Optimus has come a long way from a man in a robot suit, but still falls short of Musk's vision.

Tesla has released a series of videos showing the humanoid robot doing the squats, picking up an egg, and folding a shirt — although Musk later clarified that Optimus wasn't capable of doing the latter autonomously.

The billionaire faces competition in his mission to staff his factories with an army of automatons.

Tesla rival BMW signed a deal with robotics startup Figure in January that will see its robots deployed in the carmaker's South Carolina factory.

China's EV builders, which Elon Musk has identified as Tesla's greatest threat, are also experimenting with the technology.

Dongfeng Motors recently struck a deal with Chinese robotics firm Ubtech to deploy its robots on production lines. Nio has also piloted the use of Ubtech's "Walker S" humanoid robot.