• "Perfect Match" star Jessica Vestal said Harry Jowsey lied to her for months about kissing Melinda Berry.
• In season 2 of the dating show, Harry kissed Melinda while dating Jessica, but hid it.
• Jessica told the "Viall Files" podcast that she found out the truth when the series finale aired.

Jessica Vestal has opened up about the kissing scandal in "Perfect Match" season two, claiming that Harry Jowsey lied to her about it until the show aired.

Jessica and Harry were initially a popular couple in "Perfect Match" season two, one of Netflix's most-watched shows in June.

But they were at the center of the series' biggest controversy after Melinda Berry, another contestant on the show, claimed Harry kisse her behind Jessica's back.

The kiss scandal started in episode eight, but Harry fiercely denied the rumor. Jessica broke up at the beginning of episode 10.

Netflix never showed the kiss onscreen. But in the final moments of the finale episode, Harry and Melinda were shown trying to sneak off camera, and Harry asked the camera crew if they caught the kiss — suggesting they kissed by he lied.

A few days after the episode aired, Harry admitted to the kiss on his podcast, "Boyfriend Material with Harry Jowsey."

While fans had to wait a few weeks to find out the truth about the kiss, Jessica said she had to wait almost a year.

Jessica told Wednesday's episode of the "Viall Files" podcast that Harry never told her the truth about the kiss.

"They didn't show us that footage at the finale," Jessica said, referring to the clips of Harry and Melinda shown in the finale. "I watched it in real time with everybody else."

Multiple contestants said the series was filmed in the summer of 2023.

Jessica said she and Harry dated for over a month after the series finished filming, but he still didn't tell her the truth.

"He had nothing but time, space, and opportunity to say, 'Hey, this is actually what really happened. I'm telling you so that you don't have to see it when everyone else does, and he didn't give that to me,'" Jessica said.

Jessica went on that she is no longer in contact with Harry.

"After seeing the footage and what actually happened that changed everything. We will probably never speak again," Jessica said.

Jessica added she was "hurt" and "humiliated" when Harry posted about the kissing scandal while she was processing the season two finale.

Jessica didn't specify which post it was but said it was the last post he made. It could be the post below, whihc he made to the sound of Sabrina Carpenter's single "Please, Please Please."

Jessica said she had asked him to stop posting about their relationship on social media on multiple occasions, but he refused.

"His response was, 'I hate that you're experiencing that. Unfortunately, I know how that feels to be beaten up on the internet and I just want you to know that I'm here if you ever need anything," Jessica said, adding that he never deleted the post.

Representatives of Harry Jowsey did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

• New York's viral new trash bins were part of a multimillion-dollar project involving McKinsey.
• Mayor Eric Adams revealed the new bins as part of his "Trash Revolution," launched Monday.
• New York is embracing containerization — putting your garbage bag in a bin, not just on the street.

New York's much-discussed new trash cans were recommended to the city as part of a $4 million project involving consulting giant McKinsey

On Monday, NYC Mayor Eric Adams revealed the wheeled bin alongside NYC Department of Sanitation Commissioner Jessica Tisch, who symbolically put a black bag from his official residence, Gracie Mansion, into the container.

Video of the launch, which saw Adams wheeling a bin onto the street while Jay-Z and Alicia Keys' "Empire State of Mind" played, quickly went viral, drawing memes and ridicule from citizens of cities that have had similar bins for decades.

Under the new rules, which come into force on November 12, 2024, all properties with one to nine residential units will be required by law to use one of the latch-lidded waste collectors, now available to purchase online from $46.

The newly introduced requirement seeks to minimize the number of sidewalk rats. It isn't known exactly how many rats are in NYC, but a 2014 study suggested there were around two million, and a pest control firm in 2023 estimated there were close to three million rats in NYC.

Adams said the program was part of his administration's "Trash Revolution," which aims to clean up the city's streets. Officials estimate New Yorkers produce around 14 billion pounds of trash each year. But with the new rule directed at removing about 70% of this, curbside garbage piles are hoped to become a problem of the past.

Plans for the new bins are partly down to consulting giant McKinsey & Company, which was drafted in to help the city assess how to contain its waste. A Sanitation Department official told New York Streetsblog at the time that the project was worth around $4 million.

According to a 2022 New York Times article, McKinsey spent 20 weeks working with the Sanitation Department to determine what sort of bins would suit different streetscapes, what they should look like, and which vendors to use.

The goal was to design a program capable of combating New York's decades-long garbage problem, looking at waste collection methods used in urban areas around the world and focusing on containerization — or, in simple terms, putting trash bags in bins rather than on the street.

The solution decided upon is similar to systems already used in cities like Barcelona, where fleets of colored, uniform bins are often found on residential blocks.

The bin project is far from the firm's first consultation in New York. The Office of the New York State Comptroller shows that McKinsey has worked on at least 10 other projects with the state.

McKinsey declined to comment when contacted by Business Insider.

• Rep. Ritchie Torres once chided Biden doubters, but now says  Dems must assess "cold hard numbers."
• Sen. Richard Blumenthal supports Biden, but said that he is "deeply concerned" about the election.
• The statements come after new polling numbers indicate Dems are losing ground in key swing states.

On Monday, Rep. Ritchie Torres of New York chided his fellow Democrats for the "drip, drip, drip of public statements of no confidence" about President Biden. On Wednesday, Rep. Torres added to that drip himself, though did not explicitly call on the president to bow out of the race.

Even those who publicly support the president are sounding the alarm: Sen. Richard Blumenthal, who has affirmed that he is behind Biden since the debate, said on Wednesday that he is "deeply concerned about Joe Biden winning this November."

As Democrats remain divided on how to deal with Biden — and vibes on Capitol Hill remain terrible — recent poll numbers are pouring gasoline on an already blazing fire. The Cook Political Report showed Democrats losing ground in six key battleground states, which evidently worried Rep. Torres. Prior to sharing his updated statement, he posted a picture of the new assessment on Twitter with the caption, "Alarming and sobering."

In his statement from Monday, Rep. Torres said that the ongoing debate about Biden's reelection only risked weakening his candidacy, whereas he seemed more focused on quantitative than qualitative assessments in his updated stance.

"What matters is not how we feel but what the numbers tell us," Rep. Torres said Wednesday. "An unsentimental analysis of the cold hard numbers — which have no personal feelings or political loyalties — should inform what we decide and whom we nominate."

Rep. Torres minced no words during an interview Wednesday with CNN, warning of the down-ballot effects of the election and saying that "if we are going on a political suicide mission, we should at least be honest about it."

Rep. Torres and Sen. Blumenthal's offices did not immediately respond to Business Insider's requests for comment.

Other Democrats are growing increasingly nervous, too. Nancy Pelosi failed to forcefully endorse the president during a talk show appearance on Wednesday, instead offering an uncharacteristically vague response.

• A huge Russian attack hit multiple sites in Ukraine, including a children's hospital. 
• The attack came just before a major NATO summit where a big topic is support for Ukraine.
• An expert said Russia's attack "backfired" by highlighting how much Ukraine needs those defenses.

Russia's deadly strikes on Ukraine just days before the NATO summit, including an attack on a children's hospital, have blown up in its face, stirring outrage in Ukraine, gaining international media attention, and fueling support from partner nations at a time when war fatigue threatens Kyiv's fight.

Monday's attack was one of the worst against Ukraine in months. It destroyed part of the Ohmatdyt Children's Hospital in Kyiv, the capital, where children get cancer treatment and organ transplants, and sites in other cities. Ukraine said the attack killed at least 41 people and injured 166 more.

The attack aggressively highlighted Ukraine's critical need for air defenses, something for which it has been begging Western partners.

Russia's attack was met with more attention than most recent developments in Ukraine, and viral images spread of injured and bloodied children and searches in the rubble.

"Russia's missile strikes that today killed dozens of Ukrainian civilians and caused damage and casualties at Kyiv's largest children's hospital are a horrific reminder of Russia's brutality," US President Joe Biden said afterward.

Biden said at the NATO summit Tuesday that a number of alliance members will send Ukraine dozens of air defense systems, including at least four more Patriot systems, in the coming months.

While such an announcement would have been long in the works, the timing of Russia's attack one day before NATO's biggest event massively highlighted Ukraine's need at a key time when the alliance will be weighing next steps, potentially solidifying its convictions.

Air defense priorities

The annual NATO summit kicked off in Washington, DC, on Tuesday with leaders of the 75-year-old Western military alliance gathering to discuss its priorities, including Ukraine.

Ukraine's primary aim for this summit was to secure more air defenses. The missile attacks the day before underscored that need, just before NATO's biggest gathering of the year, where Ukraine and its partners can meet, negotiate, and strike deals.

The deadly Russian missile attack saw child cancer patients evacuated and moved with medical tubes still in their bodies. Rescue workers and volunteers were seen digging through the post-strike debris. Ukraine's presidential office shared an image of a child, awake in a woman's arms, with a head injury of some kind and covered in blood and dust.

Rajan Menon, a senior research scholar at Columbia University's Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies, said Russia's strikes had "backfired" by highlighting how badly Ukraine needs more air defenses.

He said that because one of the sites struck was a children's hospital, it drew far more attention to Russia's attacks and Ukraine's needs. Ukraine's cities have long been bombarded, but this particular tragedy triggered new outrage. "The nature of the site and the nature of the occupants made a very big difference," Menon said.

Ukraine has issued a challenge to its international partners in the wake of the attack, demanding more than just air defenses.

Ukrainian presidential advisor Mykhailo Podolyak said that the Russian missile attack and its timing were meant to show that even with children being killed, the alliance will not do everything necessary to help Ukraine. Ukrainian officials say allies need to drop restrictions on hitting military targets inside Russia, where many attacks originate, and give Ukraine additional support.

Highlighting Ukraine's needs

One of Russia's more brutal tactics in its invasion has been to fire barrages of drones and missiles at Ukrainian cities far from the front lines in the country's east. Those attacks have killed civilians and destroyed power infrastructure and residential and medical buildings.

Ukraine has been asking for more help from allies throughout Russia's invasion and has received many systems from the West. But Ukraine has repeatedly said it needs more, though those requests rarely make international headlines anymore.

Now, more than two years into the war, many of Russia's missile attacks no longer draw huge international reactions. But this week's attack was different. World leaders, including the EU's foreign policy chief and the head of the UN, publicly condemned the attacks.

Menon said that this attack had "without question" drawn more public attention from world leaders than other recent events in Ukraine.

He said that "when you hit not just a hospital or a children's hospital —and not just a children's hospital, but a children's hospital in which there are children were being treated for cancer — it doesn't get much worse than that in terms of brutality."

France's foreign minister called the strikes "barbaric" and "war crimes" and promptly called for Ukraine's allies to strengthen their support.

New UK prime minister Keir Starmer condemned "attacking innocent children" as the "most depraved of actions."

Biden called the strikes "horrific" and said "I will be meeting with President Zelensky to make clear our support for Ukraine is unshakeable."

The Russian missile attacks were also a notable talking point at the NATO summit. The head of Ukraine's parliament started his address by holding up photos of its aftermath and described it as Russian President Vladimir Putin laughing at the red lines the West has set. He added that it showed how the remaining restrictions need to be lifted.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba also spoke at the start of the summit. Blinken acknowledged the hospital attack and said that it "underscores" how Russian aggression continues.

A devastating hit

The children's hospital appeared to have been struck by a Russian Kh-101 missile, something the UK MOD previously described as being among Russia's "most valuable weaponry," but it is unclear if the hospital was Russia's intended target.

War analysts looking at videos of the strike said there were no signs of damage or distress on the missile that would suggest it went off course. Russia has, however, long struggled with intelligence reliability and targeting for its devastating barrages.

A UN investigation found the children's hospital likely took a direct hit from a Russian missile, likely a Kh-101. Ukraine also said it found Kh-101 remnants at the site.

Moscow has denied hitting the hospital, arguing instead that a Ukrainian anti-aircraft missile was responsible. Russia, throughout its invasion, has repeatedly made claims that have been disproven by evidence. War analysts said available visual evidence disputes Russia's claims.

Russia has hit multiple hospitals, medical sites, and civilian sites throughout its war.

Menon said "it doesn't in the end matter whether Russia did it deliberately or it was an errant missile or some commander screwed up. The fact is it was done, and it's a war crime in a legal sense."

Multiple Ukrainian officials have also called the missile attack a war crime, and a UN official said that "intentionally directing attacks against a protected hospital is a war crime and perpetrators must be held to account."

Ukraine's new air defense systems will bolster the country's ability to prevent strikes like this, but they likely won't fully meet its defense needs. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in April that Ukraine needs 25 Patriot systems with between six and eight batteries each to fully protect the country.

That's a tall order as is, but Ukraine wants its international partners to go further still. It wants a clear path into NATO, as well as the lifting of the remaining restrictions on attacking legitimate targets in Russia. It remains unclear if the ongoing NATO summit will produce these results.

Senior defense reporter Jake Epstein contributed to this reporting from the NATO summit.

• Media and tech bosses hate Joe Biden's antitrust policies, which they think are holding them back from buying and selling each other.
• But they tend to be careful about how they express that stuff out loud. What with the upcoming election and all.
• Not WBD CEO David Zaslav, though.

Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav has no opinion about who should win the US presidential election this fall. Except he doesn't want Joe Biden to win.

And no, he didn't come out and use those exact words.

But he got plenty close Tuesday at Sun Valley, the annual media and tech mogul conference:

Via Bloomberg:

Asked about the upcoming presidential election, Zaslav said it mattered less to him which party wins, as long as the next president was friendly to business.

"We just need an opportunity for deregulation, so companies can consolidate and do what we need to to be even better," he said.

To be clear: What Zaslav is saying is what many business leaders — particularly in media and tech — say all the time, but relatively quietly: They don't like Joe Biden's antitrust regime, which has led the US government to question and in many cases try to block all kinds of mergers and acquisitions — from Microsoft's $69 billion deal to buy Activision (which eventually went through) to Adobe's $20 billion deal to buy Figma (which didn't go through) to Meta's $400 million deal for Within, a VR company (which eventually went through, too).

And Zaslav's primary benefactor — billionaire investor John Malone, who put Zaslav in the position to run WBD and sits on its board — has been banging the consolidation drum for years.

The two men frequently bring up the idea that WBD would like to buy something and trial-ballooned a Paramount deal last year. Though lots of people see WBD, whose stock is hovering near an all-time low, as a sale target itself. Comcast is usually floated as the potential acquirer in that scenario.

And it's conventional wisdom that if Donald Trump wins the upcoming election, he'll usher in an era where just about any M&A deal you can dream up can go through (as long as Trump doesn't have a problem with one of those companies — ask AT&T and Time Warner, whose deal was held up in court for years during Trump's first administration.)

But it's one thing to think that kind of thing, and to talk about it with other moguls and people who like them. But if you're the high-profile leader of a very high-profile media conglomerate — which includes a very high-profile news organization — you may not want to weigh in on the election while standing in front of a press gaggle. Especially when you've spent the past few years dealing with self-inflicted PR wounds. (WBD didn't respond to my request for comment.)

Which is a reminder that moguls have a few options when it comes to Sun Valley and the media, which is technically an off-the-record event (though some journalists, like CNN's Anderson Cooper, arrive to host closed-door interviews):

• You don't have to say anything at all! Just wave to the cameras, who will document your fake-dressed-down athleisure wear (a polo for Tim Cook; another guns-out t-shirt/vest combo for Jeff Bezos).
• You can say inscrutable stuff to the press gaggle, like Paramount owner (for now) Shari Redstone. Per Bloomberg, Redstone "pointed to reporters as she arrived at the Sun Valley resort and said: 'We're going to save the world together!'"
• You can hold forth for an actual interview, where you either say nothing at all or create all kinds of havoc, like Disney CEO Bob Iger did last year when he put much of the company up for sale, then had to walk that back.

Looks like Zaslav went for a 3-1 combo, and I give him credit for that. Especially his attempt to zhuzh the place up with a bandana and corduroy trucker jacket. Perhaps it's this $4,500 Brunello Cucinelli one?

• Eva Longoria interviewed Lauren Sánchez for The Hollywood Reporter.
• The longtime friends chatted about Sánchez and Jeff Bezos' work on the Bezos Earth Fund.
• She said she and the Amazon founder are focused on making "systematic change."

Lauren Sánchez shed light on how she and her fiancé Jeff Bezos approach giving back.

On Tuesday, The Hollywood Reporter published a conversation between Sánchez and Eva Longoria, who have been friends for 20 years.

During their chat, Longoria interviewed Sánchez about her philanthropic efforts, which she said had been a passion of hers for decades but may seem new to the public now that she is donating billions of dollars alongside Bezos.

"The giving — monetary giving — is so much bigger now," she told Longoria. "So I can see how, you know, people might think that, but my passion I think for giving back started extremely early."

Sánchez, 54, and Bezos, 60, have been in a public relationship since 2019, and they got engaged in the fall of 2023. He was previously married to MacKenzie Scott, who announced in March that she would donate $640 million to 361 nonprofits.

"Jeff is extremely focused, as you can imagine," Sánchez told Longoria of her and Bezos' "philosophy" for philanthropy. "We really look for organizations that are not only addressing urgent issues but also have a clear, impactful plan for making a difference. That's important."

"We're prioritizing areas where we can help drive a systematic change — it's about making these thoughtful, informed decisions to ensure that the contributions will have the greatest impact," she said.

Lauren Sánchez and Jeff Bezos work on the Bezos Earth Fund together

Much of Longoria and Sánchez's conversation focused on her and Bezos' work on the Bezos Earth Fund.

Bezos launched the fund in 2020, pledging to invest $10 billion through 2030 to combat the climate crisis. The Amazon founder intends to donate the majority of his fortune to charity. However, he is still the second richest person in the world with a net worth of $215 billion, according to Forbes' real-time billionaire list.

Sánchez serves as the vice chair of the Bezos Earth Fund, helping Bezos and the organization's staff determine where to invest.

Sánchez told Longoria that she and Bezos are focused on new technologies, restoring "critical ecosystems," and "protecting nature."

"Jeff always says, 'We have to invent our way out of this,'" Sánchez told Longoria. "And so, investing in these solutions, some may work, some will be a hit, and some won't. But that's how we're going to get out of this, by funding scientific research to develop new technologies like sustainable aviation fuels or what's called green cement."

Likewise, the fund set aside $60 million for the development of meat alternatives that are less costly to produce and tastier than what is currently on the market.

"The meat that they're making now tastes so good," Sánchez told Longoria. "I know that's hard to believe, but I've tasted it. And that's going to, I think, make a big impact."

In addition to her work with Bezos, Sánchez, previously a news anchor, also works with charitable organizations like This Is About Humanity, which supports families that get separated at the US-Mexico border.

• George Clooney called on Joe Biden to drop out of the 2024 race.
• Clooney said that Biden was as diminished at a recent mega fundraiser as he was during the disastrous debate.
• There continues to be uneasiness within the Democratic Party as Biden tries to press on.

George Clooney on Wednesday called on President Joe Biden to drop out of the 2024 race just weeks after co-hosting a star-studded fundraiser for the president's campaign.

"It's devastating to say it, but the Joe Biden I was with three weeks ago at the fund-raiser was not the Joe 'big F-ing deal' Biden of 2010," Clooney wrote in a column for The New York Times. "He wasn't even the Joe Biden of 2020. He was the same man we all witnessed at the debate."

Keeping Biden on the ballot, Clooney said would court disaster for the entire party this November.

"We are not going to win in November with this president," the actor wrote. "On top of that, we won't win the House, and we're going to lose the Senate. This isn't only my opinion; this is the opinion of every senator and congress member and governor that I've spoken with in private. Every single one, irrespective of what he or she is saying publicly."

Clooney's broadside comes as congressional Democrats continue to grapple over what to do about Biden following his disastrous debate performance. Some Hollywood bigwigs, including Netflix cofounder Reed Hastings and IAC chairman Barry Diller, have also backed away from Biden.

Biden has repeatedly declared that he's not going anywhere, but there are still murmurs in Washington and elsewhere about his standing. Before Clooney's column was published, former Speaker Nancy Pelosi notably ignored Biden's declaration that he was staying in the race during an interview on MSNBC. Seven House Democrats, including a pair of the chamber's most vulnerable incumbents, have called on Biden to step aside.

The president has tried to portray the backlash against him as simply "the elites," something Clooney's public break will likely feed into. But the Academy-Award winner is more than just an A-lister. As he wrote, he's been a loyal Democrat. Clooney, Julia Roberts, and Barbra Streisand helped Biden raise roughly $30 million, a jaw-dropping sum, during a June fundraising event that also featured former President Barack Obama.

"I'm a lifelong Democrat; I make no apologies for that. I'm proud of what my party represents and what it stands for," Clooney wrote.

He added that he help put on, "some of the biggest fund-raisers in my party's history. Barack Obama in 2012. Hillary Clinton in 2016. Joe Biden in 2020."

A representative for Biden's campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

• I spent most of my 20s renting in very expensive cities for renters: New York City and Jersey City. 
• Now, I rent in the suburbs of Pennsylvania. It's not quite cheaper but I feel my money goes further.
• My social life is way more bustling and rich in my suburb than it ever was in a city. 

After spending most of my 20s living in some of the most expensive cities in the US for renters, I gave up and headed to the 'burbs at 27.

I was born and raised in Staten Island, a borough of New York City, one of the most expensive cities to live in. I was there most of my life, except for the two years I spent in downtown Jersey City, New Jersey.

Jersey City — nicknamed New York's Sixth Borough by some — has also become one of the most expensive US cities to live in. It's close to Manhattan, so New Yorkers seeking cheaper living costs have driven up its rental prices even more.

To live comfortably in Jersey City or New York City, a single person needs to make over six figures. That's not my reality.

Since I work remotely, I gave up on city life to move to a suburban area of Pennsylvania almost a year ago.

My cost of living hasn't dropped as drastically as I'd hoped. After all, I live in one of the most expensive counties in Pennsylvania, and inflation is taking its toll on most Americans.

But although moving to the suburbs hasn't really saved me money, it's improved my life and made me wish I'd left cities behind sooner.

My living situation is better, and I get more bang for my buck

When I most recently lived in Staten Island, I rented a 300-square-foot studio from a family friend at the discounted price of $850 a month. I was able to park my car on the street for free.

This was a great deal compared to other apartments in the area, even though it was a tiny space with no laundry. Although my rent wasn't the worst, I also paid steep New York City taxes and higher prices for everything, from groceries to utilities to movie tickets.

Before this, I paid $1,275 a month for a rent-controlled two-bedroom basement apartment in downtown Jersey City. I was grateful to score a coveted rent-controlled apartment, but it had no laundry and minimal sunlight.

I also lived next to a park that was noisy all day and night, and my front door opened directly into the building's garbage-collection area.

My building had no lot, and street parking downtown was limited and fickle, so I also paid $275 a month to park my car at a nearby lot.

Now, I pay $1,500 a month for a 950-square-foot two-bedroom apartment in a Pennsylvania suburb about 40 minutes outside Philadelphia.

My apartment has tons of sunlight and laundry in the building. My building has its own free parking lot, and there's ample free street parking nearby.

For context, most apartment listings in Staten Island for $1,500 a month are 700-square-foot-or-less studios in someone's backyard. In downtown Jersey City, I've seen nothing available to rent for even close to that price.

People are so kind here, and it's brought me out of my shell

Though I'm very used to — and enjoy — the no-nonsense approach many New Yorkers and New Jersey locals have, I've been delighted to find that Pennsylvanians are some of the friendliest people I've ever met.

Locals I've met here have been welcoming and quick to help strangers in a way I hadn't experienced in the cities I lived in.

When I moved into my current apartment, each of my upstairs neighbors introduced themselves to me. I couldn't tell you the name of anyone who lived on my block in Staten Island or in my building in Jersey City.

During a snowstorm here, two of my neighbors shoveled out everyone's cars, and I thanked them with homemade cookies. It's easier to be kind and friendly here when I know it'll be appreciated and even reciprocated.

The friendliness may be, in part, because a lot of people I've met here have planted roots and plan to stick around. In Jersey City, it wasn't uncommon to meet someone cool only to find they'd be moving somewhere cheaper (or going all in and heading to New York City) a few months later.

My social calendar has never been more packed, either

The cities I lived in were pretty bustling with lots of local events, and I was worried the suburbs would be as sleepy as so many people say they are.

That hasn't been the case at all. I've already seen multiple local drag shows and live music performances and attended festivals that rivaled any I've been to in a major city.

I'm a regular at local game nights, I go to a monthly potluck club, I attend various meet-up groups, and I even run a book club.

As an introvert, knowing people here are generally friendly has made it easier for me to come out of my shell. I'm not intimidated by going to social events with strangers because I feel confident that people here will make me feel welcome.

I actually spend more time and money socializing now than I did before. I feel like a real part of my community.

Overall, I'm happier and more relaxed here than I ever was in the city

For the first time in my life, I live somewhere that doesn't have constant foot or vehicle traffic right outside my window. I rarely hear sirens.

In my quieter neighborhood, I feel less tense throughout the day, which makes it easier for me to have energy for a social life. After struggling with insomnia for years, I find it easier to sleep through the night because I'm not hearing constant noise.

I don't mind living in a less walkable place, either. Traffic isn't as big of an issue here as it was in the cities, especially during rush hour.

I spend a little more on gas, but I save a lot of time. I prefer driving to and from the post office in 10 minutes instead of having to walk 15 minutes there and 15 minutes back like I did in Jersey City.

In fact, I now drive to most essential places — such as pharmacies or grocery stores — and local events in under 15 minutes.

Life in the suburbs has been good to me, and I can't see myself wanting to go back to a major city anytime soon.

• A basic income program in rural Romania has helped children succeed — and even become Olympians.
• The kids spent the money on food, clothes, textbooks, therapy, and sports gear.
• Researchers reported improved mental and emotional health, financial stability, and other benefits.

A basic income program in rural Romania has helped disadvantaged children build successful careers, overcome family problems and emotional challenges, and even become Olympic athletes.

The initiative is an offshoot of universal basic income — the idea of giving cash to everyone in a society regardless of their wealth and with no strings attached, to provide a safety net and combat poverty.

The Romanian program began in 2007 with a single family of four but has grown to about 80 participants.

Researcher Alexandru Ureche launched it with the support of a nonprofit called the Children Aid and Development Organization. He outlined the results in a paper published in Oblìk ì fìnansi, a peer-reviewed accounting and finance journal.

Ureche and his team gave participants enough money to meet their basic needs, and budgeted for other expenses such as school books, winter clothing, and medical bills. They also provided extra funds for occasional health costs such as dental work.

The amount of money given wasn't disclosed in the paper. Business Insider has contacted Ureche for more details.

The researchers tracked participants' physical, mental, and emotional health, trust, goal setting and reaching, academic progress, engagement in extracurricular activities, personal achievement, and overall financial stability.

Three success stories

1. Christian, who became the program's first participant at age 15, grew up in a cash-strapped household. He excelled in school and graduated with a computer science degree from a top Romanian university.

   He soon landed a job at video-gaming titan Electronic Arts and went on to work at companies including Microsoft. He also volunteered at nonprofits to help impoverished Roma families.

   Christian and his then-fiancée saved enough money to purchase their first home and pay it off completely in four years. They've since bought a second home as an investment and source of passive income to supplement their wages. Christian now works at the United Nations.

   "Christian is happily married, and enjoying the financial stability he always wanted," Ureche wrote.

   Christian's well-being score improved from 6.3 to 8.9 during his nine years in the basic income program. His final scores across nine categories were all 9s except for an 8 in physical health — a stark contrast from his initial scores of 4 in financial stability and 5 in both goal setting and achieving.

2. Laurel, also called Laura Coman, joined the program in ninth grade. Ureche and his colleagues encouraged her to take up a sport, so she tried rifle shooting. She rose to become the national champion, went on to win multiple gold medals at international competitions, and competed in the 2020 Olympics where she ranked in the top 10.

   However, Laurel initially struggled with the intense demands and emotional pressures of elite sports. The researchers worked with her to become more disciplined.

   Off the range, Laurel won entry into Romania's top business school, ASE Bucharest. She needed more money to pay for her schooling and training, so the program organizers boosted her cash stipend to help her afford food, clothes, textbooks, therapy, and sports gear.

   "She is by far the only Romanian woman athlete who has enjoyed this level of success in her sport," Ureche wrote. "Her achievements owe a lot to her newfound physical and mental fortitude, made possible by a modest (at times) basic-income stipend."

   Laurel earns a stable income from her job with the Romanian police. Her well-being score rose from 6.7 to 9.3 after nine years in the program, with scores of 10 in physical and emotional health and extracurricular activities.

3. Gabriel grew up in poverty with divorced parents. He was raised by an alcoholic father and lived with various neighbors during his teenage years. He joined the basic income program in fifth grade.

   "Not having a stable home left some emotional scars, but Gabriel was given outside emotional help and support during this time, and was able to cope well with his situation," Ureche wrote.

   Despite his tough start to life, Gabriel graduated with a law degree from a leading Romanian university and has a steady income working as a clerk for a judge in Transylvania. He's moved in with his partner and they may have children.

   Gabriel's well-being score rose from 6.2 to 8.2 after 10 years in the program. His financial stability score jumped from 3 to 8, and his trust in others rose from 5.5 to 8.

   Plenty of benefits, voluntary exits

   Ureche listed the myriad benefits of receiving a basic income for his program's participants.

   "Recipients have overwhelmingly shown improved mental health, emotional stability, trust and confidence, strong goal setting, as well as the concrete, tangible effects, like improved physical health, school grades, goal-reaching in general, as well as financial stability," he wrote.

   Everyone who's left the program has done so voluntarily, Ureche said. They told the researchers they're confident they can take care of themselves, and they want others to have the same opportunity they did.

• Ian Barnes, turning 90 in December, holds three British records in the over-85s category for running.
• The grandfather of two completed one mile in just eight minutes and 10 seconds.
• His secrets include training five days a week, eating a healthy diet, and having a positive outlook.

When he was 21, Ian Barnes shared the world's astonishment when the legendary British athlete Roger Bannister broke the four-minute mile in 1954.

"I suppose he's my hero," Barnes told Business Insider.

Bannister's accomplishment inspired him to take up competitive running — a sport at which he still excels at 89.

The retired legal executive holds three British records in the over-85s category: a mile (8:10.40), 1,500 meters (7:38.41), and 3,000 meters (16:34.42).

Since the records are set in five-year age groups, he plans to achieve more after he turns 90 in December.

"These days, I compete against the clock," Barnes said, noting that few people in his age bracket run at a similar level.

He said race organizers frequently use time percentage computers to "age grade" his performance. The statistics show that he regularly beats athletes younger than half his age.

Age adjustment software recently showed that he was among the top 10 fastest runners in a race of 500 participants despite being the oldest competitor by far.

"At my age, you can't expect to win races, so the objective is to win records," Barnes added.

His wife is supportive

As a result, his home in the northeast of England is packed with medals and certificates. Many are stored in boxes in the attic after his wife, Margaret, 89, got tired of the clutter.

"She has been very supportive over the years," Barnes said. "She's spent much time standing in fields waiting for me to run past.

The grandfather of two told BI that he had a "flair" for running in grade school but entered the sport seriously after finishing his national service in the British army.

He'd been stationed in London, where he sat in the stands and watched Bannister and his rivals compete on the track. "It was an exciting time because history was being made," Barnes said.

The experience spurred him into joining local running clubs. He would train after work and run long-distance races at weekends.

"I had some success, but I knew I could only reach a certain level," he said, noting that his job and raising a family took up most of his time.

Then, in middle age, he started to compete in veteran categories — also known as Masters — and won a series of titles in the UK and Europe.

But his biggest achievement, he said, came in 2020 when he broke the British record for over 85s by running one mile in eight minutes and 10 seconds.

The following year, he earned the 1,500-meter and 3,000-meter records for his age group.

"It's been very rewarding," Barnes, who retired from law at 76, said. "It's a nice way to wind down one's career."

But the octogenarian has no plans to stop altogether. He has set his sights on becoming the fastest person in Britain over the age of 90. "Everything has to be certified and official, but it's worth the red tape," he told BI.

Barnes has escaped major injuries as an athlete

He said his aspirations have helped fuel his longevity. "I enjoy challenging myself and having a positive outlook on life," he said, adding that running keeps his mind and body fit.

His weight has remained steady, but, he said, his age has caused him to shrink in stature. "Other than that, I'm doing pretty well," Barnes, who has largely avoided major injuries, said.

He said he eats a healthy diet of mostly non-processed food and drinks liquid with electrolytes to avoid dehydration. He trains four or five times a week — covering a cumulative distance of up to 50 miles — and is the director of the 5K Saturday morning race he established in his hometown in 2012.

Still, he is characteristically humble about his endeavors.

"When I'm running in all weathers, I sometimes wonder if people look at me and think, 'What a silly old fool,'" Barnes joked.

Do you have a powerful story about an activity you pursued in later life that you'd like to share with Business Insider? Please send details to jridley@businessinsider.com