• The Air Force is redesigning its new stealth fighter as it struggles to fund its high-cost programs.
• The sixth-gen fighter's redesign aims to better integrate it with AI-piloted aircraft and cut costs.
• The new fighter jet may feature a less complex engine to lower its roughly $300 million price tag.

America's new stealth fighter, being developed under the name Next Generation Air Dominance (or NGAD), is not being canceled but will be redesigned to bring costs down and better integrate the new aircraft with its AI-enabled drone wingmen that are also in development.

After a decade of development, the future of what many have called the world's first 6th-generation fighter was suddenly called into question in recent weeks as the Air Force struggles to fund a laundry list of high-dollar modernization programs, including a new stealth bomber in the B-21 Raider, and a new nuclear intercontinental ballistic missile in the LGM-35A Sentinel program.

However, Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall has told Defense News that the effort to field a new stealth fighter is not dead but will see changes — including the possibility of using a less complex engine than the new adaptive cycle powerplants that have been in development for this new fighter.

"The family of systems concept of Next Generation Air Dominance is alive and well," Kendall told Defense News. "I can tell you that we are looking at the NGAD platform design concept to see if it's the right concept or not. We're looking at whether we can do something that's less expensive and do some trade-offs there."

This news is sure to cause some concern within America's airpower apparatus. This new fighter, after all, is arguably only in development today because of the seemingly short-sighted decision to cancel production of the F-22 Raptor.

As a cost-saving measure amid the Global War on Terror, America's current top-tier air superiority fighter saw its production run slashed from 750 fighters to just 186. This doomed the Raptor to a short service life, with ever-increasing operating costs and no way to replace airframes as they age out of service or are lost in combat.

Despite being the oldest stealth fighter in service today, the F-22 Raptor is still arguably the healthiest and most dominant in air-to-air combat, thanks in no small part to its advanced Pratt & Whitney F119 afterburning turbofan engines that are so powerful they can produce more thrust without their afterburners than the F-15 Eagle can with its afterburners at full tilt. They also offer significant thermal and radar signature reduction for improved stealth and thrust vector control (or the ability to orient the outflow of thrust independent of the airframe) for improved aerobatic maneuverability.

This advanced engine also serves as the basis for the F-35's F135 turbofan, which is the most powerful turbofan engine ever affixed to a fighter to date. Yet, over the past year, both China and Russia have begun production on their own seemingly comparable fifth-generation engines, eroding the technological advantage the already endangered F-22 enjoys.

GE and Pratt & Whitney have been hard at work for years developing new engines for America's new fighter as a part of the Next-Generation Adaptive Propulsion (NGAP), with both of the competing designs promising to offer a significant leap in both fuel economy and power production. And although testing has been promising with these engines (particularly for GE's XA100), it seems this may be one of the areas the Air Force believes it can reduce costs.

"The last numbers I saw on NGAP [Next Generation Adaptive Propulsion] were pretty high," retired General Clint Hinote, who was previously in charge of the Air Force Futures organization, told Defense News. "I do think that's a factor. I don't know if that's the only factor or the factor that's really contributing to this decision. But it is true that the NGAP program, the development of an adaptive engine for the NGAD, was very costly."

To be certain, NGAD has always promised to be a very expensive aircraft, with Secretary Kendall himself saying that it will likely ring in at around $300 million per aircraft — roughly three times the F-35's cost. Although, as Sandboxx News has covered in the past, when adjusted for inflation, this isn't very far off from the price tags of previous top-tier fighters, including the F-22 and F-14, and is less than half the per-unit price of the forthcoming B-21 Raider stealth bomber.

"Ideally, I'd like to get it down to less than an F-35, or at least in the ballpark of an F-35. F-35s, as you know, are not cheap airplanes," Kendall said.

READ MORE FROM SANDBOXX NEWS

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• A South Korean outlet said that North Korea executed dozens of teens for watching South Korean dramas.
• It said the shows were reportedly stored on USBs that were floated over the border by defectors.
• North Korea has been accused of using harsh penalties for those caught watching South Korean media.

In North Korea, watching your favorite Korean dramas could end in tragedy.

According to a report by South Korean broadcaster Chosun TV, around 30 middle schoolers were publicly shot last week for watching South Korean dramas.

The shows were reportedly stored on USBs that were floated over the border by North Korean defectors, it said.

Business Insider was unable to independently verify the report.

South Korean officials did not comment directly on the report, but according to Korea JoongAng Daily, one unnamed South Korean Unification Ministry official told reporters that "it is widely known that North Korean authorities strictly control and harshly punish residents based on the three so-called 'evil' laws."

One of these is North Korea's Reactionary Ideology and Culture Rejection Act, which forbids individuals from disseminating media that originates in South Korea, the US, or Japan.

It is unclear whether those restrictions apply to foreigners visiting the country, like the Russian schoolchildren preparing to attend summer camps in the country.

Greg Scarlatoiu, the executive director of the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, told BI that "under the circumstances created by the intensified crackdown on information from the outside world, initially conducted under the pretext of COVID, these reports are definitely plausible."

This is not the first instance of North Koreans reportedly being killed for their association with content from their southern neighbor.

According to a 2022 UN Secretary-General report, a man in Kangwon Province was killed by a public firing squad after his neighborhood watch unit saw him selling digital content from South Korea.

A 2024 report on North Korean Human Rights, released by South Korea's Ministry of Unification, claimed that phones in North Korea are regularly checked for "South Korean-style language" and that wearing white wedding dresses is punished for being "reactionary".

A video was released earlier this year showing two teenagers being sentenced to 12 years of hard labor for watching a K-pop video.

Despite eyewitness accounts compiled by Amnesty International, the North Korean government has denied that public executions take place in the country.

According to North Korean authorities, the last execution took place in 1992.

North Korea is still technically at war with its southern counterpart, with their conflict in the 1950s ending in a truce rather than a peace treaty.

A defector told the Korea Herald that in 2020, North Korean parents were forced to sign a pledge stating they would ensure their children do not watch "impure video content" at home.

Recently, experts have speculated that North Korean military personnel could be sent to aid Russian efforts in Ukraine, following closer ties between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russia's President Vladimir Putin.

Representatives from North Korea didn't immediately reply to requests for comment.

Correction: July 16, 2024 — An earlier version of this story stated that more than one news outlet had reported the initial claim, rather than a single broadcaster.

Ohio Sen. JD Vance once called Donald Trump "America's Hitler." Now, he's the GOP candidate for vice president. Here's how he did it.

• As the 2024 race heats up, Trump has gained support from billionaires and wealthy business leaders.
• Elon Musk and a handful of Silicon Valley elite are among those rallying around the former president.
• Here are some of Trump's richest donors and how much they've contributed to the 2024 campaign.

As former President Donald Trump seeks a second term in the White House, he's increasingly turning to billionaires to power his campaign.

Some of them are longtime associates and supporters — true believers who know the former president from his days in the business world — while others are relative newcomers, such as longtime GOP megadonors who backed his 2024 rivals or even previously supported Democrats.

The backers represent diverse industries, from traditional red-state oil titans to formerly left-leaning Silicon Valley elite like Elon Musk and Marc Andreessen.

Each lists different reasons for their choice: Some take issue with Joe Biden's proposed "billionaire tax," while others prefer Trump's tough stance on immigration.

"I share the concern of most Americans that our economic, immigration and foreign policies are taking the country in the wrong direction. For these reasons, I am planning to vote for change and support Donald Trump for President," Blackstone CEO Steve Schwarzman said in a statement to Axios.

In 2022, the finance billionaire had said he would not support Trump in the primary and called on "the Republican Party to turn to a new generation of leaders."

Here are some of the most notable billionaires contributing to Trump's 2024 campaign, including to his "Trump 47" joint fundraising committee, which splits proceeds between the Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee, and the MAGA Inc. super PAC.

Elon Musk

Elon Musk, the richest man in the world with a net worth of $253 billion, per Forbes, endorsed Trump in July following the assassination attempt on the former president.

Soon after, it was reported he'd be donating $45 million to a new super PAC called America PAC, which has garnered support from others in Silicon Valley.

Musk has never been a major political donor before, though he has ramped up his rhetoric in recent years.

"Arrogant billionaires only out for themselves are not what America wants or what America needs," James Singer, a spokesman for the Biden campaign, told Bloomberg in response to news of Musk's donation.

Steve Schwarzman

Blackstone CEO Steve Schwarzman seemed to rebuke Trump following the 2022 midterm elections when he said the Republican Party needed "a new generation of leaders."

But in May, he said he will vote for the former president in November. Axios, which first published the news, reported that he will donate to Trump. In 2020, Schwarzman, who is worth $41.1 billion, per Forbes, contributed millions to his reelection campaign.

"The dramatic rise of antisemitism has led me to focus on the consequences of upcoming elections with greater urgency," he said in his statement.

A long-term Republican donor and powerful influence on Wall Street, Schwarzman has thus far donated $419,600 to the Trump 47 Committee.

Miriam Adelson

Miriam Adelson — the widow of casino mogul Sheldon Adelson who received a Presidential Medal of Freedom from Trump — has officially announced she would once again back the former president — a coup for his campaign finances.

Her endorsement comes with quite a bit of cash: Adelson, whose net worth stands at $28.9 billion, according to Forbes, is bringing back her Preserve America super PAC and will donate more than $90 million to reelect Trump.

In 2020, she and Sheldon were Trump's biggest donors, contributing more than $120 million to his campaign, as well as to other Republican causes and candidates.

Diane Hendricks

Diane Hendricks, the cofounder of roofing company ABC Supplies, has donated $844.6 million to the Trump 47 Committee.

Worth $20.9 billion, per Forbes, she is a regular Republican donor. In 2016, she served as the vice chair of one of Trump's fundraising committees and has given six figures to various Republican state parties and the Republican National Committee. She has donated more than $425,000 to Trump and the RNC this year alone.

Harold Hamm

Harold Hamm, an oil and gas magnate worth $18.5 billion, per Forbes, has contributed $614,000 to the Trump 47 Committee and $200,000 to the Trump-aligned MAGA Inc. super PAC.

Like several other billionaire donors, Hamm wasn't always convinced Trump was the right man for 2024. He contributed thousands to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former Ambassador Nikki Haley in the primaries.

It's even been reported that he told Trump to end his presidential campaign last year, citing the "chaos" the former president caused.

Hamm's support may give some insight into how Trump is doing with oil and gas money, which he has been courting for months.

"Republican, Democrat… I'm an oilocrat," he told the Financial Times in 2022.

Richard and Elizabeth Uihlein

Richard and Elizabeth Uihlein — who are worth a combined $13 billion, per Forbes, thanks to their packing and shipping company Uline — have long been reliable donors to a variety of conservative causes and candidates, including bankrolling an effort to make it harder to amend the Ohio constitution in 2023.

The Uihleins started this cycle supporting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis's presidential bid, and each gave $1.5 million to DeSantis's super PAC, Never Back Down. In May, they each gave $5 million to the Trump-aligned MAGA Inc. super PAC.

In March, Elizabeth bemoaned the fact that she and her husband had to spend money on the presidential race at all.

"These two guys are very well-defined. I don't understand why everybody has to give all this money," she told the Financial Times, referring to Trump and Biden. "Neither of them have to spend a penny. We all know who they are. It's ridiculous."

Douglas Leone

Venture capitalist Doug Leone, a partner at and former head of Sequoia who Forbes estimates is worth $8.4 billion, announced in June that he'd once again be backing Trump — despite saying in 2021 that the former president had lost his support after the January 6 attack on the capital. That month, he donated $2 million to the Right for America super PAC. He's also donated $1 million to the America PAC.

In 2020, Leone donated about $700,000 to Trump's reelection campaign.

"I have become increasingly concerned about the general direction of our country, the state of our broken immigration system, the ballooning deficit, and the foreign policy missteps, among other issues," he wrote on X. "Therefore, I am supporting former President Trump in this coming election."

Leone represents a growing Silicon Valley sect that has turned to the former president. Venture capitalists David Sacks and Chamath Palihapitiya, as well as Leone's fellow Sequoia partner Shaun Maguire, have endorsed Trump for the first time this election cycle.

Kelcy Warren

Kelcy Warren, the chairman and former CEO of the pipeline company Energy Transfer Partners with a net worth of $6.4 billion, according to Forbes, has given $814,600 to the Trump 47 Committee and $5 million to the MAGA Inc. super PAC. In 2020, he contributed $10 million to a pro-Trump super PAC.

Warren's company is the owner of the Dakota Access Pipeline, the construction of which spurred major protests by environmental activists and the Standing Rock Indian Reservation in 2016.

Though he was a major Trump donor in 2020, he donated $26,400 to a pro-DeSantis super PAC in June 2023. By May, Trump had his full backing. He co-hosted a fundraiser for Trump in Houston that month that, along with another event in Dallas, brought in $15. million for Trump, the campaign told Reuters.

Ike Perlmutter

Isaac "Ike" Perlmutter, the former chairman of Marvel Entertainment, has long been an informal advisor and friend to Trump, including on veterans' affairs.

The Mar-a-Lago member, who has a net worth of $4.2 billion, per Forbes, and his wife have each given $10 million to Right for America, a pro-Trump super PAC.

Nelson Peltz — Perlmutter's fellow billionaire and partner in a failed Disney takeover — told the Financial Times he would also vote for Trump, despite apologizing for backing the candidate in 2020 following January 6.

Joe Ricketts

Joe Ricketts, the founder and former CEO of TD Ameritrade, is worth $3.9 billion, according to Forbes. He has given $824,600 to the Trump 47 Committee, and his wife, Marlene, gave $814,600. They are big-money donors, giving more than $20 million to GOP causes in 2020, Forbes reported.

In 2019, Ricketts — whose family owns the Chicago Cubs — was found to have sent racist and Islamophobic emails during the 2012 election, for which he later apologized.

"Christians and Jews can have a mutual respect for each other to create a civil society. As you know, Islam cannot do that," Ricketts wrote in one 2012 email. "Therefore we cannot ever let Islam become a large part of our society. Muslims are naturally my (our) enemy due to their deep antagonism and bias against non-Muslims."

Last year, one of Ricketts' sons — former Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts — was appointed to the US Senate after former Sen. Ben Sasse opted to retire. The younger Ricketts will likely be elected to the remainder of Sasse's term in November.

John Paulson

John Paulson, a hedge fund manager with a $3.5 billion net worth, per Forbes, has contributed $806,300 to the Trump 47 Committee.

He's long been an associate of the former president and has advised him on economic matters. Bloomberg recently reported that he could serve as Treasury Secretary under a second Trump administration.

In April, Paulson hosted Trump and his wife, Melania, for a fundraiser at his Palm Beach home. That event, attended by several other billionaires on this list, raised more than $50 million, according to the campaign.

Steve Wynn

Casino mogul and real estate developer Steve Wynn has given $806,300 to the Trump 47 Committee this year.

Wynn, a longtime GOP megadonor with a $3.4 billion net worth, according to Forbes, served as the vice-chairman of Trump's inaugural committee in 2017. In 2020, he donated at least $12 million to various Republican races and causes.

He has been accused of both sexual misconduct and of acting as a foreign agent on behalf of China, though a judge tossed out the latter charge.

Woody Johnson

Woody Johnson, an heir to the Johnson and Johnson pharmaceutical fortune and a co-owner of the New York Jets with his brother, has used his $3.2 billion fortune, per Forbes, to become one of Trump's biggest backers.

He's given $1 million to the Trump-aligned MAGA Inc. super PAC, and both he and his wife Suzanne recently contributed $806,300 apiece to the Trump 47 Committee.

Johnson served as the US Ambassador to the United Kingdom during Trump's presidency.

Geoffrey Palmer

Geoffrey Palmer, a Los Angeles-based real estate developer worth $3.1 billion, according to Forbes, has given $2 million to Trump's MAGA Inc. super PAC and $814,600 to the Trump 47 Committee.

Palmer has rallied his rich Los Angeles friends to donate to the former president, hosting multiple fundraisers, including one in September 2023.

Linda McMahon

Linda McMahon, who founded World Wrestling Entertainment with her husband Vince — whose net worth is $2.9 billion, according to Forbes — has given at least $10 million to the Trump-aligned MAGA Inc. super PAC, along with $814,600 to the Trump 47 Committee.

She gave millions to Trump in 2016 and more than $15 million to his 2020 reelection super PAC.

Her generosity served her well: Under Trump, McMahon was appointed head of the Small Business Administration from 2017 to 2019. She's also the chair of the board of the America First Policy Institute, a Trump-aligned think tank.

Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss

Each of the Winklevoss twins donated just over $1 million each to the Trump 47 Committee and $250,000 each to the America PAC. The twins, who run the cryptocurrency exchange Gemini, are each worth $2.7 billion, per Forbes.

In June, when they endorsed Trump, Tyler called him "pro-Bitcoin, pro-crypto, and pro-business," adding that Biden had "openly declared war on crypto."

Timothy Dunn

Oil magnate and pastor Timothy Dunn, worth $2.2 billion, according to Forbes, donated $5 million to the MAGA Inc. super PAC last year.

In 2022, he donated over $1.8 million to Republican causes and also gave to Trump in 2020. He's an active donor in Texas politics, giving nearly $10 million to the conservative Defend Texas Liberty PAC, according to Texas Monthly, which reported on his involvement in the Christian nationalism movement.

Phil Ruffin

Phil Ruffin, a casino magnate worth $2.6 billion, per Forbes, has contributed $2 million to Trump's MAGA Inc. super PAC and $814,600 to the Trump 47 Committee.

Ruffin is a longtime associate and business partner of Trump's — he co-owns the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas alongside the Trump Organization.

Ruffin also accompanied Trump to Moscow in 2013 for the Miss Universe Pageant.

That trip figured prominently in the largely unverified Steele Dossier, which alleged that the Russians may have blackmailed Trump by filming him being urinated on by Russian prostitutes.

Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz

Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, the cofounder of venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, announced to their employees that they'd be donating to Trump-aligned PACs, the Information reported. It's unclear which PACs or how much they plan to give.

Andreessen is worth $1.9 billion, according to Forbes. It's a shift for the Silicon Valley titan, who in 2016 said he'd be voting for Hilary Clinton.

Timothy Mellon

Timothy Mellon, who is worth at least $1 billion, according to Forbes, is Trump's biggest donor yet this campaign cycle.

The secretive billionaire, who is heir to the Mellon banking fortune, has donated at least $75 million to Trump, including $50 million the day after his felony conviction. A former liberal, he has also been a major backer of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., donating $25 million to his campaign.

Mellon has contributed to other GOP causes, including donating $53 million to Republican Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas' effort to build a wall along the US-Mexico border, $20 million to a pro-Trump super PAC in 2020, $45 million to a super PAC for GOP House leadership, and $30 million to a super PAC tied to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Kelly Loeffler and Jeff Sprecher

Former Sen. Kelly Loeffler and her husband, Jeff Sprecher, who was worth $1 billion in 2022, according to Forbes, have each contributed $834,600 and $844,600, respectively, to the Trump 47 Committee. In 2020, he wrote a $1 million check to Trump's super PAC.

Loeffler was appointed to the Senate by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp at the end of 2019 after Sen. Johnny Isakson's death. She later lost in a runoff election in January 2021 to Democrat Raphael Warnock, who won a full term in 2022.

Sprecher, meanwhile, is the CEO of Intercontinental Exchange and previously served as the chairman of the New York Stock Exchange.

Robert and Rebekah Mercer

Robert Mercer, a former hedge fund CEO who, according to The New York Times, is a billionaire, has given $814,399 to the Trump 47 Committee.

Both Robert and his daughter Rebekah have been major contributors to pro-Trump and influential anti-establishment conservative causes, including funneling money to the right-wing Breitbart website and the conservative social media app Parler. In 2016, they helped connect Trump to his campaign team, and while they were not vocal supporters of the former president in 2020, they have reemerged as fundraising hosts in this cycle.

Robert Bigelow

Robert Bigelow, the hotel chain mogul who launched a spaceflight company in 2018, was originally a major DeSantis donor this cycle.

"I will give him more money and go without food," Bigelow told Time after pouring more than $20 million into the Florida governor's "Never Back Down" super PAC in March 2023.

The billionaire, per the Las Vegas Sun, has since pivoted, donating more than $10 million to Trump-aligned PACs since February 2024. He told Reuters in January that he would also contribute $1 million to pay Trump's mounting legal fees.

"I was just sympathetic. They didn't solicit anything from me," Bigelow told the outlet.

José "Pepe" Fanjul

José "Pepe" Fanjul, a sugar magnate, has given $814,600 to the Trump 47 Committee. A billionaire, according to NBC, he hosted a fundraiser for the former president the same day Trump's guilty verdict was announced.

While Fanjul has long been a GOP megadonor, his brother Alfonso has a history as a major Democratic megadonor.

• I'm American but I married an Argentine and we have a son together. 
• Soccer is a passion in Argentina, and it was refreshing to see the players openly cry. 
• Messi was seen sobbing at the Copa America final in Miami, while millions of little boys watched. 

I hadn't realized how much I had hoped for a girl until I found out the sex of our first child. I was shocked and completely overwhelmed when I read the results of our genetic testing on a cold, gray day in October, snuggled next to my husband on the couch.

It took me about 15 minutes to find a way to ground myself and realize this was real life: I was having a boy. It took me even longer, months of the pregnancy, to come to terms with it because I knew how to raise a girl to be strong, but I realized I had no idea how to teach a boy how to feel safe enough to feel soft, connected, and vulnerable.

What ended up being the most surprising solution was fútbol, or soccer as we call it in the US.

I married into an Argentine family that loves soccer

My husband is Argentine and loves soccer. Their national team has collected quite a number of trophies over the last few years. The biggest, of course, is the World Cup that they won in penalties in December of 2022.

I was in my second trimester at the time, and we were in Argentina watching the final with our whole family. Everyone was swearing, stressed, celebrating, focused, and, at several points, crying. The emotional roller coaster of that game was so intense that I was worried I might start having contractions.

It wasn't until the end of the game that everything changed for me. Lionel Messi fell to his knees after the final goal was scored, and his teammates surrounded him in a tender embrace. They were all heaving and sobbing, crying beautiful tears after a hard-earned victory that had been decades in the making.

Everyone around me in Argentina was also crying.

It was inspiring to see the players and the fans cry

After we saw Messi lift that trophy in the air with all his teammates flanking him, their eyes filled with tears, I realized something: What a beautiful gift to see grown men crying so freely.

Here are incredibly famous men at the pinnacle of what society paints as the only acceptable form of the masculine to be — victorious, heroic, peak physical condition, powerful, successful — and they are all crying, showing their emotions, uninhibited, for the world to see and join in with.

My husband cried holding my belly after the game and I knew at that moment I was bringing my son into a world that I hadn't known or ever seen before: a culture that was open to men's tears, to them feeling deeply and passionately without shame.

It's a beautiful culture where I have seen male friends of ours hold each other close, cup each other's faces and look deeply into each other's eyes to share their love. Of course, there are patriarchal and machismo overtones to their culture. After all, Argentina is the birthplace of the Ni Una Menos movement that swept Latin America as a response to femicides in obscenely high numbers.

There is still so much work to be done, but Argentina feels far more emotionally developed than the US because powerful men can not only show vulnerability and emotion; they are also celebrated for it.

Messi sobbed after getting injured in the Copa America

On July 14th, Argentina won the Copa America for the second time in a row, and sadly, Lionel Messi was injured about a third of the way into the game and had to be substituted.

His tears that came when he finally made it to the bench wrecked me. There was clearly so much anguish on his face. Perhaps pain from an injury, but I saw more suffering come from his heart.

As much as I empathized with him at that moment, I was also so grateful to him. Not for the trophies and being an incredible leader of that team, but for showing children everywhere who were watching that it's OK to cry.

You can be the greatest footballer who has ever lived and still be human. Still be sad, scared, disappointed, filled with love and pride. And you can hold all of these feelings at once, even as they break you, and find the strength to keep going.

I can't wait for my son to see these games when he is older. I feel such a relief right now that when he watches these men at peak performance embrace their strength both in their bodies and in the softness of their feelings. It will be an amazing source of validation, telling him he is safe to do the same.

• The southern parts of the United States are booming, with robust economic and population growth.
• We wanted to pinpoint the best cities to live in the South for affordability and quality of life.
• Of the top 15 southern cities, three are in North Carolina,  according to US News and World Report.

The South is booming.

In recent years, the 16 states below the Mason-Dixon line have seen significant population and economic growth.

In 2023, the 10 counties in the US with the most people moving in from other parts of the country were mainly in the South, according to the latest regional migration data from the Census Bureau.

Surely you've read the many tales of New Yorkers and Californians moving to the South in search of better job opportunities and, in many cases, a more affordable cost of living. Other reasons movers cite include better weather and more laid-back atmospheres.

Are you considering a move to the South, too?

You're in luck. Each year, U.S. News & World Report ranks 150 major cities based on criteria including quality of life, education, crime rates, employment opportunities, and housing affordability to identify the best places to live in the United States.

Business Insider compiled the 15 best cities in the South to live from U.S. News' list. They're all places where jobs are plentiful, home prices and rents are relatively affordable, and the standard of living is high.

North Carolina takes center stage, with multiple spots on the list. While Charlotte, ranked No. 3 on the list, and Raleigh, at No. 4, are well-known, the small city of Hickory, at No. 15, is more of a hidden gem.

Known for its breathtaking mountain scenery and coastal charm, North Carolina offers an appealing cost of living, coupled with a low unemployment rate of 3.6% as of May, according to the latest economic data from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

John Yuschak, an engineering manager, told BI that Raleigh's vibrant tech scene and strong job market played a pivotal role in his decision to move to North Carolina from Ohio in 2017.

"If you work in the technical sector in any way, this is a very forgiving area," Yuschak said. "You can lose your job today and you can be working somewhere else within a week or two."

Here are the 15 best places to live in the South, according to US News & World Report.

Data sources: Population is from the US Census for 2023, income is from the US Census for 2022, median home price from Realtor.com for May 2024, and median rent from Zillow for July.

15. Hickory, North Carolina

Population of the metro area: 44,415

Median home price: $317,500

Median monthly rent: $1,229

Median household income: $58,251

14. Greensboro, North Carolina

Population of the metro area: 302,296

Median home price: $290,000

Median monthly rent: $1,600

Median household income: $55,051

13. Fayetteville, Arkansas

Population of the metro area: 101,680

Median home price: $365,000

Median monthly rent: $1,695

Median household income: $56,881

12. Asheville, North Carolina

Population of the metro area: 95,056

Median home price: $506,250

Median monthly rent: $2,200

Median household income: $63,810

11. Oklahoma City

Population of the metro area: 702,767

Median home price: $270,000

Median monthly rent: $1,375

Median household income: $64,251

10. Lexington, Kentucky

Population of the metro area: 320,154

Median home price: $329,000

Median monthly rent: $1,600

Median household income: $66,087

The population and income data for Lexington is for Lexington-Fayette Urban County.

9. Charleston, South Carolina

Population of the metro area: 155,369

Median home price: $635,000

Median monthly rent: $1,958

Median household income: $83,891

8. Sarasota, Florida

Population of the metro area: 57,602

Median home price: $569,000

Median monthly rent: $2,850

Median household income: $68,870

7. Austin

Population of the metro area: 979,882

Median home price: $586,000

Median monthly rent: $2,295

Median household income: $86,556

6. Virginia Beach

Population of the metro area: 453,649

Median home price: $398,000

Median monthly rent: $2,290

Median household income: $87,544

5. Huntsville, Alabama

Population of the metro area: 225,564

Median home price: $325,000

Median monthly rent: $1,450

Median household income: $67,874

4. Raleigh, North Carolina

Population of the metro area: 482,295

Median home price: $441,000

Median monthly rent: $1,900

Median household income: $78,631

3. Charlotte, North Carolina

Population of the metro area: 911,311

Median home price: $428,000

Median monthly rent: $2,015

Median household income: $74,070

2. Greenville, South Carolina

Population of the metro area: 72,824

Median home price: $455,000

Median monthly rent: $1,800

Median household income: $65,519

1. Naples, Florida

Population of the metro area: 19, 704

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• JD Vance wrote in "Hillbilly Elegy" that he once became convinced  he was gay when he was a kid.
• "The only thing I knew about gay men was that they preferred men to women," he wrote.
• His grandmother quickly put that notion to rest, asking him: "JD, do you want to suck dicks?"

According to Sen. JD Vance's best-selling "Hillbilly Elegy," the Ohio senator once told his grandmother that he thought he might be gay.

Vance, now former President Donald Trump's vice presidential nominee, recounted the tale in his 2016 autobiography as he discussed his grandmother's relatively tolerant approach when it came to Christian teachings.

In Vance's telling, the episode occurred when he was just a kid. As he wrote:

"I'll never forget the time I convinced myself that I was gay. I was eight or nine, maybe younger, and I stumbled upon a broadcast by some fire-and-brimstone preacher. The man spoke about the evils of homosexuals, how they had infiltrated our society, and how they were all destined for hell absent some serious repenting. At the time, the only thing I knew about gay men was that they preferred men to women. This described me perfectly: I disliked girls, and my best friend in the world was my buddy Bill. Oh no, I'm going to hell."

When he brought up the issue with his grandmother — known to Vance as "Mamaw" — she replied bluntly: "Don't be a fucking idiot, how would you know that you're gay?"

When Vance explained his reasoning, she laughed.

"JD, do you want to suck dicks?" she said, according to the book.

The young Vance, apparently "flabbergasted," said: "Of course not!"

"Then you're not gay. And even if you did want to suck dicks, that would be okay," she replied. "God would still love you."

Vance wrote that the episode helped him recognize that "gay people, though unfamiliar, threatened nothing about Mamaw's being. There were more important things for a Christian to worry about."

Vance contrasted that approach with the one taken by his biological father, Donald Bowman, who he reconnected with when he was 11. Vance's father was a member of a more religiously conservative church, the ideology of which had "made the world a scary and foreign place," in Vance's recounting.

Now a 39-year-old US senator, Vance has largely opposed LGBTQ rights, including opposing the Respect for Marriage Act, a bill to protect same-sex marriage that passed before he was sworn into office.

Over the course of his 18-month Senate tenure, Vance's focus has been directed more toward curtailing transgender rights, rather than gay rights. Last year, he introduced a bill to criminalize gender-affirming care for minors.

"Most Americans, I think, don't really care about same-sex marriage," Vance told Business Insider last year.