Insider Finance - Business - How to fall off a cruise ship and live

Nicholas Carlson, December 8, 2022

Hello, Insiders. Our investigations team spent months and months digging into the rise of homicides targeting transgender people, creating the most definitive record to date of how and why members of this community fall victim to fatal violence at alarming rates. Their work is moving, humanizing, and revelatory, and more reports from the project are continuing to be published by the team.

The latest looks at how often police fail to adequately investigate these murders, centering on a trans teen who was killed in small-town Alabama at a crowded party. Senior reporter Nicole Einbinder examines why, two years later, police still haven’t solved the case. It’s a gripping and powerful must-read.

With that, let’s get started.

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The latest

• Breaking: US basketball star Brittney Griner has been freed from Russian detention in a prisoner exchange. Read more. 

• Ticketmaster’s Taylor Swift debacle turned “Gen Z'ers into anti-monopolists,” FTC’s chair said. More here. 

• Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is under investigation by the House Ethics Committee. Here’s what we know.

The big story

Bryan Young/Facebook/Maria Lipka; Getty; Marianne Ayala/Insider

The death of an American soldier fighting in Ukraine exposes chaos in the foreign legion.

Almost 20,000 people from 52 nations flocked to help Ukraine fight against Russia’s invasion, but many volunteers have ended up leaving because of disorganization and mismanagement.

After Bryan Young, who lived in Georgia, arrived in Ukraine to help defend the country, his partner said she received concerning messages complaining about a lack of organization and equipment.

In the early hours of July 18, Young and his unit were tasked with clearing out a ravine to slow the Russian advance. Another US veteran who was with the unit said the mission was a disaster from the start. “I knew someone was going to die,” he told Insider.

Young was killed during the mission — but his widow said his death was preventable. Messages sent to her from soldiers in Young's unit reveal that many thought their commander was reckless and often drunk.

Read the full story.

Top reads

ATGImages/Shutterstock

• Survival of the man who spent 20 hours in the ocean after going overboard on a cruise is  “astounding.” That’s according to a US Coast Guard rescue coordinator, who said that every factor went “perfectly” in order for the man to survive. “This is definitely the top end of the survival limit,” he said. Read the story here.

• Want to work in Bali — or Portugal, or Costa Rica? Get a digital nomad visa. After the pandemic brought international travel to a halt, dozens of countries have launched digital nomad visas designed specifically for remote workers. These 28 countries will let you live and work there.

• People are getting sick with mystery illnesses — and testing negative for COVID, RSV, and flu. Doctors say that many different viruses are having a real "party" this year, with tons of people getting sick with fevers, coughs, and sore throats. Here's what going on. 

• Olive Garden fired a manager who instituted a hardcore sick-leave policy. The manager said workers had to prove they were sick and that no excuses would be tolerated. “If your dog died, you need to bring him in and prove it,” the manager told employees. Read the full story.

• A doctor who lost 100 pounds shared her top weight loss tips. After a lifetime of struggling with her weight, Dr. Emi Hosoda used her medical training to design a health plan that helped her trim down — and no, she doesn’t set calorie goals. Here’s what she learned on her weight loss journey.

Watch this

We asked 5,000 rabbis about Kanye West. Watch what they told us.

Today's team

This edition was curated by Nicholas Carlson, and edited by Hallam Bullock, Lisa Ryan, Jordan Parker Erb, and Nathan Rennolds. Get in touch: insidertoday@insider.com.

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