• Biden reportedly blew up at a House Democrat who's skeptical of his candidacy on a Zoom call.
• "Tell me who did something that you've never done with your Bronze Star like my son," Biden said.
• Biden has insisted he will remain in the race, despite congressional Democrats' concerns.

During a tense Zoom call with members of the centrist New Democrat Coalition on Saturday, President Joe Biden reportedly took a swipe at Rep. Jason Crow's military service.

The exchange, according to Puck News, took place after Crow, a Colorado Democrat who's been publicly skeptical of Biden's continued viability in the wake of a disastrous debate performance last month, asked the president a question about national security.

Biden reportedly replied:

"I put NATO together. Name me a foreign leader who thinks I'm not the most effective leader in the world on foreign policy. Tell me! Tell me who the hell that is! Tell me who put NATO back together! Tell me who enlarged NATO, tell me who did the Pacific basin! Tell me who did something that you've never done with your Bronze Star like my son—and I'm proud of your leadership, but guess what, what's happening, we've got Korea and Japan working together, I put AUKUS together, anyway!"

Crow, a former Army Ranger elected to Congress during the 2018 "Blue Wave," earned the Bronze Star Medal for his service during the Iraq War. The award is given to members of the military who show acts of heroism in the field or had an otherwise praiseworthy tenure.

Biden's son Beau, who died in 2015, also served in Iraq and received a Bronze Star.

According to the report, Crow then said that Biden's message wasn't "breaking through" to voters.

"You oughta talk about it!" Biden reportedly replied. "On national security, nobody has been a better president than I've been. Name me one. Name me one! So I don't want to hear that crap!"

The day after the call, Crow said on CBS's Face the Nation that Biden "heard our message very clearly" and that the president "promised to come back to us with more information to address our concerns and to answer our questions."

A source familiar with Biden's calls with congressional Democrats — which in recent days have also included the Congressional Progressive Caucus, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, and the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus — emphasized that Biden has open to feedback from lawmakers, rather than merely defensive.

While some of the conversations around Biden's viability have grown muted in the wake of the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, they have yet to fully dissipate.

As of Wednesday, 19 House Democrats and one Democratic senator have publicly called on Biden to withdraw from the race, while others have flatly declared that they no longer believe he will be able to defeat Trump in November.

• Gavin Newsom slammed Elon Musk for supporting Donald Trump after Trump trash-talked him.
• California Gov. Newsom said Musk 'bent the knee.' Musk retorted: 'You never get off your knees.'
• Musk earlier announced he was moving SpaceX and X's HQs out of California.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Elon Musk are sparring on X — with Newsom saying Musk "bent the knee" in endorsing Donald Trump for president after Trump trash-talked him.

On Tuesday, Newsom reposted a Truth Social post by Trump in 2022, where the former president claimed he could have made tech billionaire Musk drop to his knees and beg for help during a visit to the White House.

In that post, Trump slammed Musk for making "electric cars that don't drive long enough" and "rocketships to nowhere."

Newsom's tweet came after Musk denounced the governor earlier in the day for signing a bill preventing California schools from being required to notify parents if a child changes their gender identity at school.

Musk — who had a falling out with his transgender daughter — said the bill was "the final straw" spurring his decision to move SpaceX and X's headquarters from California to Texas.

In response to Newsom's jab about his supposed deference, Musk retorted, saying: "You never get off your knees."

Neither Newsom's press office nor representatives for Musk's X immediately responded to Business Insider's requests for comment.

Trump has had contentious relationships with both Musk and Newsom.

Musk, who recently pledged $45 million a month to support a pro-Trump super PAC, previously served on two advisory councils for the former president but resigned in 2017 after Trump pulled out of the Paris climate agreement. Musk pledged his full support for Trump on July 13, after an assassination attempt on the former president.

Meantime, Trump in February slammed Newsom, saying he would be an "easy" opponent if Joe Biden weren't the Democratic nominee "because California is a disaster."

• I recently visited Belfast, Maine, which is full of history, local culture, and coastal views.
• Belfast offers a stark contrast to busy urban life and is perfect for city escapes.
• I think it's an underrated travel destination.

When I went to Belfast, Maine, for the Fourth of July, I expected nothing more than a wholesome, long weekend with my friends to take a break from the hustle and bustle of my life in NYC.

I got all that — and more.

It was my first time in Maine, and this particular small town, which I'd never heard of before my friends moved there last winter, surprised me with its history, local culture, and dramatic coastal views.

According to the city's website, Belfast is a budding town on the rise.

After my trip, I've decided that Belfast is a hidden gem for tourists, and I'll go back again and again for my big-city escapes.

Belfast, Maine, is about 100 miles up the coast from Portland.

To reach the small town on Penobscot Bay, we flew from NYC to Portland, Maine, and our friends picked us up from the airport for a two-hour drive up the coast to their abode.

The town is rooted in maritime history.

Belfast was incorporated as a town in the 1700s, but it started to prosper in the 19th century as a hub for maritime workers, according to the city's website. For about 100 years, Belfast residents built wooden sailboats, operated steamships, and transported goods from ice and apples to hay and fertilizer.

Then, in the 1980s, creatives flocked to the town and transformed it into an artist's oasis with galleries and warehouse studios.

Today, Belfast maintains the same 19th-century seaside feel.

The waterfront town has 7,000 residents, according to World Population Review.

The architecture in Belfast combines traditional New England-style homes with old-world styles from the Italian and Greek Revival eras, according to the Boston Globe. I thought this gave the town a European twist on the classic New England aesthetic.

My friends said Belfast gets tourists in the summer, but it didn't feel crowded overall. We never waited too long for a table at a restaurant, and I didn't see many large clusters of people.

The town is filled with historic inns.

Strolling through the town, I saw more historic inns than traditional hotels, which made me think that tourists visit Belfast for unique accommodations.

These accommodations look like gigantic mansions, and seeing them up close made me wish I'd booked just one night in one of them, like the Jeweled Turret. The bed and breakfast, decorated with antiques, is a 19th-century Victorian landmark on the National Register of Historic Places, according to the inn's website.

There's also the Alden House Inn, a Greek Revival building dating back to 1840. On a weekend afternoon, I spotted its porch filled with guests and longed to hang out there.

But I stayed with friends. Their neighborhood was surprisingly walkable for a small town.

According to Walk Score, Belfast is pedestrian-friendly, scoring 74 out of 100.

From my friends' apartment, we got to hiking trails, the waterfront, and the downtown area — all on foot.

My friends also live steps away from a farmers market and the Belfast Armistice Bridge, which pedestrians use to cross the Passagassawakeag River.

We went hiking without having to hop in a car.

My friends live less than five minutes from the Rail Trail that lines the Passagassawakeag River.

I spent one day working remotely from Belfast, and we took a quick hike during my lunch break.

I was impressed with the hillside views and land masses covered in rich green trees in the distance. It was an ideal place to refresh in the middle of a shift.

We could also walk to the town's many small businesses and shop for locally sourced food.

My friend told me that one of the coolest things about Belfast is that there are so many local shops. There's no Walmart, Target, or Costco in town. The only brand-name stores I saw were Walgreens, CVS, and Dollar General.

According to the Press Herald, Maine towns are known for their small businesses. Belfast, in particular, has a plethora of locally owned retailers, from a general store and a DVD rental store to shops selling vintage dollhouses and handmade clothing and furniture.

The Press Herald reports that these independent stores draw customers with a unique personalized shopping experience as store owners get to know their regulars.

We went to a farmers market selling local produce and foods during my trip, and my friends cooked up a feast.

We had a watermelon and feta salad, roasted duck, lobster mac-and-cheese, and potato salad with duck fat and herb-infused dressing, dill, parsley, and garlic scapes.

The ingredients tasted so fresh, and so did the local pastries and bagels we got there for breakfast.

There were some places we drove to, like Acadia National Park.

Acadia National Park is just a 90-minute drive from Belfast. We took a day trip there on a foggy Saturday, and I was surprised to find that the park wasn't as crowded as most national parks I've visited on weekends.

The coastal park, surrounded by islands, looked majestic in the hazy weather. We hiked through forests to the rocky coastline, where we went tide-pooling and found a massive cave. It was even more picturesque than the trails in Belfast, and it helped me see how the state of Maine inspired my favorite American writer, Stephen King.

Belfast and surrounding areas are dog friendly.

My friends in Maine have a super sweet and active dog, Zeus. He accompanied us on nearly every adventure during our trip, from restaurants to the Rail Trail and even Acadia, one of the most dog-friendly national parks in the US, according to the National Parks Service.

Taking Zeus with us made the trip so much more goofy and fun. It wouldn't have been the same without him. And it made me want to bring my dog next time I trek to Belfast.

I could have stayed so much longer, and I'll definitely be back.

Aside from being a unique town with so much to offer, I thought Belfast would be an ideal destination for tourists looking to travel sustainably. Eco-travel experts say that supporting local businesses and getting around without a car are responsible practices for the health of our planet.

Next time I go to Belfast, I'll spend more time browsing local shops, book a stay at a historic inn, and take more day trips to places like Portland. Plus, I'd love to see Acadia on a day with clear skies.

• Bob Iger is now a controlling owner of the Los Angeles-based Angel City FC.
• Iger and his wife Willow Bay reached a deal with the soccer franchise worth $250 million.
• The deal is a win for the star-studded ownership group of the club.

Bob Iger and Willow Bay are the new majority owners of Angel City FC.

Iger, the CEO of The Walt Disney Company, and his wife Bay, a journalist and the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism dean, have agreed to purchase a controlling stake in the Los Angeles-based franchise at a valuation of $250 million, the club said.

The deal makes Angel City FC the most valuable women's sports team in the world, and the couple will invest an extra $50 million into the club.

"It's actually an historic moment in sports and an historic moment for women's sports," Bay told ESPN.

"I think to be part of the team, to be part of the future trajectory of this team, this sport and women's sports, is incredibly exciting," she added.

Iger and Bay are joining a slate of recognizable names in the ownership group, including actors Natalie Portman, Jessica Chastain, and several former US Women's National team players.

Venture capitalist and Reddit cofounder Alexis Ohanian is one of the founding investors of Angel City FC. In 2020, his daughter with tennis star Serena Williams became the youngest team owner in professional sports at 2 years old.

"Needless to say, we're just getting started and I couldn't ask for better partners than Willow & Bob who will have the board control necessary to be true control owners," Ohanian said in a post on X. "I'm excited to continue to serve on the board and support this team in the new chapter."

• I took a boat tour that cruised by nearly all the major monuments in Paris and only cost about $20.
• It was crowded, and some buildings were difficult to see, but I found the guide informative.
• I'd go on the tour again, and I recommend it to anyone visiting Paris.

I'm an American who's lived in Paris for almost three years. After all this time, I still had one thing on my bucket list: Tour the city by boat.

I took advantage of a good summer weather day and went on an hourlong tour with Vedettes de Paris that cost 20 euros, or about $22.

Over 15 million tourists are set to flood the city this month for the Summer Olympics, and I'm not that interested in fighting through crowds on the streets. Luckily, the boat tour sails by several of Paris' most famous landmarks, so I thought it would be a good way to get my fix from a more comfortable distance.

Here's what it was like.

I made sure I had plenty of time to get to the boat.

I chose to sail on a 6:30 p.m. boat tour and booked my ticket the day before to save some time at the docks.

The tour company recommended arriving 20 minutes early — they start letting people on the boats about 15 minutes before. Because of the construction happening around the Paris Olympics, I gave myself plenty of time to get there.

Being early also allowed me to get a seat on the top deck, where I could enjoy the best view.

We left on time, and a few people missed the boat because they had arrived just a few seconds before departure.

I learned a lot in just one hour.

I've hesitated to go on the boat tour in the past because things like this tend to be very touristy. But I was surprised by how many iconic French monuments I saw and learned about in one hour.

Our path started at the Eiffel Tower and went past Notre Dame before turning around after the Arab World Institute. A live guide spoke about nearly all the monuments we passed in English and French — the company's app also provided translations in other languages.

I wasn't expecting to learn much since I've lived in Paris for a few years, but I actually really enjoyed the guide. The tour was very basic but a good starting point for learning more about a city with so much history.

Although some were slightly obscured, I spotted many of the city's major monuments.

The boat tour started with a history of the Eiffel Tower before passing by the Grand Palais and the Petit Palais. We also passed by the National Assembly, the Louvre Museum, and the French Academy.

Because of the preparations for the Olympics, some areas were slightly obscured by scaffolding. I was barely able to see the obelisk at Place de la Concorde as it was hidden behind stands.

I was also only able to quickly glance at other monuments like the Tour Saint-Jacques before they disappeared behind buildings.

My favorite part was seeing Notre Dame appear after going under a bridge.

Notre Dame is one of my favorite monuments, and seeing it appear as the boat came out from under a bridge was incredible. The cathedral is set to reopen in December after a damaging fire in 2019, and they've made a lot of progress on the restorations.

As we continued down the river, many people were having picnics and dancing by the Seine — a popular summertime activity in Paris. Our guide also pointed out the nearby La Tour d'Argent, a famous restaurant with a rooftop terrace.

I think I figured out how to make the tour even better next time.

Paris is one of the most beautiful cities in the world, and seeing it by boat felt very special. The boat was a bit crowded, and there were a lot of families and tourists, but that didn't interfere with my experience at all.

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the tour. One thing I'd do differently next time is to go around sunset. If you time it right, you'll return as the Eiffel Tower starts sparkling, which happens on the hour after sunset every evening.

Whether you're on a budget or just looking for a good value, the boat tour is worth it. I definitely plan to take any visiting friends and family in the future.

• Andreessen Horowitz's founders are supporting Donald Trump's presidential bid.
• Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz explained their choice in a podcast released on Monday.
• They pointed to Trump's policies on crypto, taxes, and other tech-related areas.

The founders of Andreessen Horowitz say their choice to support Donald Trump's presidential campaign came down to a few issues, including taxes and cryptocurrency regulation.

Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz explained their choice in an episode of "The Ben & Marc Show" released on Monday.

The episode came the same day as a report that Andreessen and Horowitz are preparing to donate to PACs that are supporting Trump's presidential campaign.

Andreessen recounted his decades of support for Democratic presidential candidates, including an endorsement of Barack Obama in 2008 and his support for Hillary Clinton in 2016.

But in the early 2010s, he said, he started noticing criticism of tech billionaires who were donating their wealth through philanthropy instead of paying more in taxes.

Andreessen said that the "final straw" for switching his support to Trump was Biden's plan for taxing unrealized capital gains. The plan would mean that venture capitalists' equity stakes get "whittled down to nothing," he said.

"This makes startups completely implausible, because why on Earth is anybody going to go do this instead of going to work for Google and getting paid a lot of money every year in cash?" Andreessen said.

Trump isn't the first GOP presidential candidate that Andreessen has supported. He donated money to a political action committee, or PAC, to back Mitt Romney's 2012 campaign.

Andreessen also said he isn't happy with the proposals in Washington, largely from Democrats, to regulate cryptocurrencies.

By contrast, he said, he and Horowitz were impressed by the Republican stance on crypto in the party's latest platform. Under the heading "Champion Innovation," the document says that the GOP "will end Democrats' unlawful and unAmerican crypto crackdown and oppose the creation of a Central Bank Digital Currency."

"We will defend the right to mine Bitcoin, and ensure every American has the right to self-custody of their Digital Assets, and transact free from Government Surveillance and Control," it continues.

"It's just like a flat-out blanket endorsement of the entire space, like a complete across-the-board uniform embrace of the entire thing," Andreessen said. "It's an absolute 180 from what we've been experiencing."

The pair said that they haven't been able to meet with President Biden, but they have had dinner with Trump and discussed a variety of topics, from AI to crypto, Horowitz said.

Andreessen and Horowitz are the latest wealthy figures in Silicon Valley to throw their support behind Donald Trump. Elon Musk formally endorsed Trump following the assassination attempt on the former president and has reportedly said he'll give $45 million each month to a pro-Trump PAC.

Silicon Valley executives, venture capitalists, and others have often lent their support to Democratic candidates in the past. But the recent move toward Trump's GOP marks a shift — and a friction point — for the industry.

Horowitz acknowledged that friction in the episode.

"For Little Tech, we think Donald Trump is actually the right choice," he said.

"And sorry, Mom, I know you're going to be mad at me for this, but we had to do it," he added, looking into the camera.

• Russia has moved much-needed air defenses close to Putin's Valdai Palace, Radio Liberty reported.
• The palace is said to be the residence of Putin's rumored girlfriend and children.
• The move comes amid an ongoing campaign of Ukrainian drone strikes over western Russia.

Russia appears to be straining its air defenses to better protect one of President Vladimir Putin's palaces.

Russia has moved another air defense installation close to Putin's lakeside Valdai Palace to protect it from Ukrainian drones, Radio Liberty reported.

It concluded that the installation appeared in March 2024.

The Pantsir-S1 system is located on Ryabinovy Island, the outlet reported, about 3.3 miles from Putin's famed Valdai Palace complex.

According to investigative outlet Proekt, Valdai Palace is the home of Putin's rumored girlfriend, Alina Kabaeva, as of early 2023.

Putin has denied any connection to the property, but an investigation by the now-deceased opposition figure Alexei Navalny alleged presidential ties to the extensive luxury compound in 2021.

The Pantsir-S1 spotted by Radio Liberty is one of at least seven air defense installations placed within reach of the palace, according to the outlet.

It's unclear exactly when they all appeared, but most have been spotted since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Business Insider was unable to independently verify the report.

An analysis by the Institute for the Study of War, which noted the Pantsir site at Valdai, said that Ukraine's ongoing drone strike campaign had pressured Russia into redistributing "limited" air defense assets over high-value locations.

"The Russian military apparently lacks the required conventional air defense systems to protect all critical facilities within western Russia and has even struggled to cover important potential targets in reportedly well-defended areas within Russia," the ISW wrote.

Ukraine has largely focused on Russia's oil infrastructure and military bases in a series of drone attacks that intensified at the start of this year.

In one such attack, on January 17, Ukraine sent a barrage of drones against a St Petersburg oil depot.

En route, one of the drones penetrated the airspace over the Valdai palace, Ukrainian officials claimed at the time.

A few days later, the Russian Telegram channel VChK-OGPU said that western Russia was struggling to find the technical means to fend off small, slow-moving objects like drones.

VChK-OGPU is a widely read channel that claims to have sources within Russia's state security services.

The channel also stated that since the start of the war, almost all of the region's Pantsir-S1s had been deployed to protect what it called a particularly important facility in Valdai.

According to the ISW, the resulting strains have had a knock-on effect on Russian enterprises and civilian regions.

"Continued pressures on Russia's air defense umbrella have led select regional authorities to explicitly state that Russian companies and local authorities cannot rely on federal-level Russian air defenses and need to provide for their own anti-drone capabilities," it said.

Russia, too, has waged a devastating campaign of drone strikes that have decimated Ukraine's power grid.

This is believed to be a consequence of the near-stalemate on the front lines, with both sides seeking to make deep strikes in place of being able to secure significant territorial gains.

• Spirit Airlines lowered its revenue estimate, citing a decline in non-ticket revenue.
• That refers to things like bag fees and picking your own seat, which can cost hundreds of dollars.
• In June, United's CEO criticized the ultra-low-cost carrier business model, saying customers "hate it."

Passengers are getting fed up with Spirit Airlines' additional fees, the carrier's latest financial filing suggests.

On Tuesday, Spirit filed an 8-K, which warned of a decline in revenue for the second quarter of this year.

It said it expected revenue of $1.28 billion, whereas previous estimates suggested it could be $1.34 billion. Spirit said this was "primarily due to lower-than-expected non-ticket revenue."

Non-ticket revenue refers to all the add-ons that are a mainstay of the budget airline business model.

That includes things like snacks on board, as well as extra fees for checked bags or picking your own seat.

Spirit estimates that it will earn $64 in non-ticket revenue per passenger segment, which is "several dollars lower than anticipated."

Ultra-low-cost carriers like Spirit and Frontier have recently come under increased scrutiny. In June, United CEO Scott Kirby told "The Air Show" podcast they are "going out of business" because their business model is flawed and "customers hate it."

However, Deutsche Bank analysts pointed to Spirit's decision to remove most of its change and cancellation fees from May, as well as raising the weight limit of checked baggage.

Looking at the airline's website, there are huge ranges for seat pricing.

Spirit says that requesting a regular seat can cost anywhere from $1 to $200, while its Big Front Seats can cost as much as $900.

The upper limits are likely only in rare circumstances, but the upgrade might still not be worth it. In 2022, Business Insider's Taylor Rains paid $35 for a Big Front Seat on top of a $30 ticket fare.

Snacks and drinks also have a broad pricing range, between $1 and $15.

The airline's bag pricing varies, but Spirit's online calculator only displayed error messages on Wednesday morning. BI reported last month that a carry-on bag on a Spirit flight between New York and Orlando cost $50.

In Tuesday's filing, Spirit blamed the decreased revenue on "incremental pressure on ancillary pricing due to changes in the competitive marketplace."

In simple terms: passengers are becoming less willing to spend money on extras.

Spirit did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

• A London high school has tried a radical solution to reduce teenagers' reliance on their devices.
• All Saints Catholic College has been testing a 12-hour school day. 
• The experiment has had positive results, with parents and students both welcoming it. 

A London high school has come up with a radical new solution to break teenagers' reliance on their ever-present digital devices: a 12-hour day.

All Saints Catholic College is a government-funded school close to Notting Hill, an area in inner west London that's perhaps best known for the huge annual street party called the Notting Hill Carnival. It's also not far from another tourist mecca: Portobello Road.

The school is in a leafy square less than a mile from Grenfell Tower, the apartment building where 72 people died after a fire broke out in 2017. In just seven years, All Saints has gone from being one of the least popular schools in the city to one of the most oversubscribed in the country.

Headteacher Andrew O'Neil attributes the reversal to several radical initiatives. As we dip between a private organ lesson and a design and technology class printing keyrings with 3D printers, he explains the most recent change: a school day that runs from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

The 10-week trial has drawn the attention of UK media.

Smartphones have long been banned at All Saints, but the extended schooldays mean students are not going home at 3:30 p.m. to jump on TikTok or YouTube.

O'Neil is slightly exasperated by the media attention on the smartphone ban. He thinks it's not so much about taking devices away — but about giving students something else to do with their time.

He says the pandemic fueled a disconnection between some students and the school — he sees smartphones as exacerbating the problems rather than causing them.

"We did this to rebuild the sense of belonging because of the apathy and the disjointedness and the singularity that we were seeing in terms of how kids were behaving post-pandemic," O'Neil says.

"The thing they liked the most was the togetherness. You put kids together, eating or playing, and they just chat, take the mick out of each other, just do all the things that kids like to do — we're just organizing it for them."

Extended schooldays

The premise is the trial is relatively simple: a school day that runs from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Students opt into the program and are given breakfast and dinner at school. They do an hour of homework club from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., followed by an activity such as pickleball, art class, or cooking before eating dinner with their peers.

The program costs families a flat fee of just £10 ($13) a week, regardless of how many days they participate.

Mia Benoit, 12, and fellow Year 7 student Zacariah Pinto are surprisingly upbeat about spending more time at school. They say eating breakfast and dinner with their classmates is "relaxing," and the opportunity to get teachers to help with homework makes them feel less stressed.

"I really enjoyed it," Benoit said. "We had a whole hour of being able to get our homework done, but then after that, we had another hour of getting to do sports or different activities."

Benoit says the extended time away from her phone doesn't bother her given her mother restricts usage anyway. "I'm not allowed to use it for more than two and a half hours, so I don't really mind being without it."

For Pinto, the extended day simply meant he was never going home to an empty house after school; instead he spent his afternoons playing with friends and making new ones.

The flexibility is also a plus, says Pinto, who skipped the longer days on Mondays to get home for piano lessons.

Helping an 'Anxious Generation'

All Saints' experiment with an extended school day comes as concern mounts about the impact of smartphones and social media on teenagers. The bestselling book "The Anxious Generation" by Jonathan Haidt added fuel to the fire by arguing that the rise of smartphones was linked with an uptick in mental illness.

The book (which made JPMorgan's annual list of summer reads) advocates for a ban on social media for children under 16, and the need for phone-free schools.

US Surgeon-General Vivek Murthy also recently called for social media to carry cigarette-style warning labels to warn of the health risks. Writing in The New York Times, he said social media increased the risk that children would suffer anxiety and depression.

Zach Rausch, an associate research scientist at NYU-Stern School of Business and lead researcher for Haidt, called the All Saints trial a "phenomenal" example of the "collective action problem."

"It's giving kids childhood back in many ways," he said. "It just speaks to the collective action problem is that these kids don't necessarily want to be on their phone in their bedroom, but if that is what is happening and that's where everyone is — that's what you're going to do."

While the UK has no formal national rules, several schools including elite college Eton, have taken steps to reduce students' smartphone usage.

Practical problems

Rausch added that while All Saints' initiative was interesting, it could prove difficult to scale.

O'Neil says the school plans to bring back the extended day periodically, rather than on a permanent basis. Practical issues such as funding and the risks of sending kids home late on dark winter nights all need to be considered.

However, the extended school day program has produced some noteworthy results.

Rebecca Fuller, the deputy headteacher, said there was an overall 17% decrease in children not completing their homework and a 15% increase in positive behavior logs from those who participated in the scheme. Students who typically had the most negative logs before the extended school program saw the number fall by 60%.

Rausch said his research had shown that constant access to smartphones and social media only increases social inequality.

"There's an idea that this is closing the digital divide by giving everybody a smartphone," he said. "But in fact, what you're doing is sending the kids who have the hardest time with emotional regulation or who don't have the kind of support structures around them off to manage the time that they're spending alone."

"I worry that it's really setting up a lot of kids for failure in a way that will only increase the divides that we see," he added.

'Transformative' program

Jonathan Brenner, the stepfather of 12-year-old Helena, who took part in the trial, said he noticed a marked difference in his daughter during the program.

Before the longer days, Helena would spend two to three hours on her phone every evening.

"She hardly ever even spoke to her friends verbally on the phone — it's all through digital messaging — which means that her phone was glued to her hand from the time she left school until about 8 on 9 p.m," he said.

He added that she previously had trouble sleeping, which Brenner attributed to the amount of time Helena spent on her smartphone.

The extended days were like an "immediate transformation of our daily lives," he said. "I think the fact that she wasn't on her phone for such a long time helped to calm her down."

Her circle of friends is now more secure, Brenner added: "I think she's realized that her phone doesn't mean her life. She's even started eating with us around the table; she's getting used to not being at home on time and is more interested in our conversations."

• "Ghost jobs" are roles that employers list as open but that they're not actively trying to fill.
• Employers may post them for various reasons, but they can waste applicants' time and sour them on the company.
• Here are some tips on how to sniff out these job listings.

We've all heard of being ghosted in the hiring process: You apply for a job and go through a few rounds of interviews, only for a prospective employer to disappear in the end.

But what about jobs that weren't actually there to begin with? So-called "ghost jobs" are roles that employers say they're actively hiring for when they're really not.

And they're a pain point for many job seekers: Fifty-five percent of respondents said it's the biggest challenge they face in the job search in a June 2024 survey of 2,000 US professionals conducted by FlexJobs and MyPerfectResume.

Employers may post bogus job listings for several reasons: They may be trying to give the appearance they're growing or create the illusion overworked employees will have some relief soon. Or, companies may be trying to build their talent pool for real job openings in the future.

Regardless of the reason, there are some signs candidates can look for that suggest a position is likely just a ghost job. One big indicator is if a job post has been up for several months.

"If the job has been posted for 30 days or more, that's something that you could put in the back of your mind and say, 'Well, this posting's been open for a while and they haven't hired anybody yet. Maybe they're not in a hurry to hire,'" says FlexJobs lead career expert Toni Frana. "The sooner you can apply to a job in relation to when it was posted, the better."

If you saw the role advertised on a job site like LinkedIn or Indeed, double-check it's still posted and active on the company's own careers page.

When reading the job post, you want to see as much specificity as possible.

"Sometimes if job descriptions are vague and don't provide a lot of detail to explain what the role actually is, then it's possible that someone from the company may have quickly typed something up and posted it to see if candidates will apply and to see the quality of those candidates," said human resources administrator and former recruiter Jackie Cuevas. "So pay close attention to the actual quality of the job description — the more information, the better."

If you make it to an interview, ask about the timeline for filling the position, says Charnay Horton, a career coach and CEO of resume writing firm Resume Addict. 

You can say, "Can you tell me more about the interview process, and when the hiring manager is looking to make a decision?" or "Can you provide additional insight regarding why this opportunity is available?"

You could also consider asking, "How does this position contribute to departmental success?" to gauge how important the role is and how urgently it might need to be filled.

If your point of contact is dragging their feet throughout the process, it might be a sign they're not actively trying to fill the position.

"When employers are actively hiring, they move quickly, especially if you are qualified for the role," Horton said. "They want to get you in front of the hiring manager quickly so that they do not lose you mid-process. If you get a sense that the company is lagging with responses, they may not be serious about filling the role."

Ultimately, you want to "be as proactive as you can in your search," said Frana.

"It's not just about reading the job postings and applying," she said. "You can find out a lot of information on a company's website, on social pages like LinkedIn and Twitter, or if you just do a Google search of the company hiring and see what results you get. That is all information-gathering that can be really helpful for you as a candidate, and it's one of those action steps that helps job seekers focus on the things they can control in the process when so much of it is outside of their control."