• Poland unveiled a plan for new defenses along its borders with Russia and Belarus.
• Poland and other European NATO members are warning that Russia could launch an attack.
• An image showed a wall, barbed wire, anti-tank obstacles and vegetation.

A NATO country unveiled a new plan for its border intended to defend against attacks coming from Russia.

Poland's defense ministry on Monday touted its "east shield," an operation to strengthen its eastern border with Russia and Belarus.

It said the effort would be the largest defensive effort on NATO's eastern flank since World War II ended in 1945.

A diagram released as part of a policy document showed one segment of the planned "border zone."

It featured at least eight distinct types of defense:

• A permanent fence
• Barbed wire
• An anti-tank ditch
• A field of anti-tank obstacles (known as hedgehogs)
• Mines
• Another ditch
• A layer of vegetation

Officials also stated plans for increasing warning and tracking systems and anti-drone systems as well as preparing forward operating bases.

The Chief of the General Staff of the Polish Army, General Wiesław Kukuła, said the project would strengthen Poland's resistance, limit the mobility of enemy troops, and protect Polish soldiers and civilians.

The Russia-Poland border is with Kaliningrad, the Russian exclave to its north. It also shares a frontier with Belarus, a dictatorship considered a Russian puppet state that has aided Russia with the invasion.

Further south, it borders Ukraine, where Russia has been executing a full-scale invasion since 2022.

The plan said not all border areas would be fortified to maximum strength — but did not give a detailed breakdown. Poland has around 140 miles of border with Russia and around 250 miles with Belarus.

It said the "east shield" plan will cover 435 miles of border in total.

Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, Poland's defense minister, said work on the defenses would start this year and end by 2028.

Poland's deputy prime minister estimated the cost at $2.56 billion.

The project is being done in cooperation with the nearby Baltic states of Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia, which Poland is working with to increase security in the region.

All four countries used to be dominated by the Soviet Union and have been outspoken about the prospect of Russia attacking again.

Poland and the Baltics have been Ukraine's most forthright allies, advocating for more dramatic responses than most Western countries.

Poland spends a higher percentage of its GDP on defense than any other NATO member, including the US.

Warnings Russia could attack

Poland is one of many European NATO members that warning that Russia may attack elsewhere in Europe if it is not defeated in Ukraine. Because of NATO's collective defense clause, that would likely also bring the US into a wider war.

The head of Poland's national security agency said at the end of last year that Russia could attack NATO countries within three years — by 2026.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk also said in March that Europe was in a "pre-war era" and needed to prepare urgently.

Other Russian neighbors are boosting their borders

Other countries near Russia are also increasing their border defenses.

Baltic countries also plan big fortifications on their borders with Russia and Belarus, including bunkers.

Six NATO countries — Poland, Finland, Norway, and the three Baltic states — are also reportedly planning a "drone wall" to defend against Russia.

Poland already has a border wall between it and Belarus, built by its previous government last year to prevent migration.

Poland and its neighbors say Russia is targeting them by sending migrants across their borders and by launching cyberattacks, describing the actions as Russian efforts to destabilize Europe.

• Waze is Google's traffic and navigation app that uses driver-supplied data to map your routes.
• Waze provides realtime updates on traffic and route hazards like accidents, speed cameras, and more.
• Waze was acquired by Google in 2013, and in 2023 merged into a new Google Geo division.

Waze is a free, Google-owned GPS app that provides you with up-to-date navigation and traffic information for any trip. While it's most dynamic when connected to your cellular service, the app has offline capabilities, granting you access to directions without reception.

The company acquired Waze in 2013, when Larry Page was Google's CEO. Google paid about $1.3 billion for the navigation app, but Waze's former CEO has criticized Google's management of the product. 

Multiple rounds of Google layoffs have impacted Waze, partly due to the COVID-19 pandemic and, more recently, following its merger with Google Maps into a Google Geo division. Google Geo also includes Google Earth and Google Street View.

Is Waze better than Google Maps?

Like Google or Apple Maps, the most basic way to use Waze is by getting turn-by-turn directions. You can, for example, choose the quickest route, avoid tolls, or share your drive and ETA — something that can be especially helpful when meeting up with a group.

Waze stands apart from other GPS tools because of how unusually socially focused it is for a GPS tool. Not only does the app let you see the other Wazers on the road with you, but it provides two different chat options.

Waze and Google Maps share many similarities, but Waze is known for being car-focused with real-time updates on conditions and fastest routes. Google Maps, meanwhile, is a more traditional navigation app, but it offers options for walking, driving, biking, and public transportation. It also has features like Google Street View, which offers 360-degree visuals of locations.

New Waze features

Today, Waze has even more socially focused updates to help drivers keep safe on the road. Thanks to insights from local Waze drivers, these new updates will help drivers get information about navigating the roads, finding parking, and more.

These updates are set to roll out in 2024 globally on Android and iOS.

Navigating tricky roundabouts 

Knowing how to navigate a roundabout can be confusing, especially if you're a new driver in an unfamiliar area. 

With Waze's new update, thanks to their community members, drivers can clearly see when to enter, which lane to choose, and where to exit, so you never miss your turn.

Emergency vehicle alerts

Now, drivers can be alerted in advance when emergency vehicles like ambulances are approaching or stopped along your route.

Waze drivers will be notified and can adjust their driving accordingly — keeping you and first responders safe. 

Speed limit alerts

No one enjoys getting a costly speeding ticket. With Waze's speed limit alerts, drivers can slow down and safely adjust to the changing road conditions.

Waze will alert you when a speed limit is about to decrease along your route, giving you ample time to slow down and adjust to the new speed. 

Local hazard alerts

Driving in a new city or town can be daunting, especially if you're new to driving. 

Whilst the Waze app already features alerts to hazards such as potholes, railroad crossings, or bad weather, Wazers will also receive early warning signs for new hazards like sharp curves, speed bumps, and toll booths. 

Stress-free parking reservations

Waze is expanding its parking features to deliver stress-free parking for Wazers. 

The new app feature offers detailed information about parking, including cost, coverage, wheelchair accessibility, valet options, and the availability of EV charging stations. Wazers will even be able to reserve a parking space from the Waze app to save you time.

• Telecoms giant T-Mobile is buying US Cellular's wireless operations for $4.4 billion.
• The regional carrier has been up for sale since last year and mostly services rural customers.
• T-Mobile also recently finalized the acquisition of Ryan Reynolds-backed Mint Mobile.

T-Mobile has struck a deal to buy "substantially all" of US Cellular's wireless operations for around $4.4 billion.

The telecoms giant said on Tuesday it had agreed a deal that will see it take on the Chicago-based wireless provider's customers and stores.

T-Mobile will acquire US Cellular's wireless operations and around 30% of its spectrum assets. The company will also extend its leases on 600 US Cellular towers and sign long-term leases on around 2,100 more.

The Wall Street Journal previously reported that T-Mobile rival Verizon was also in talks to buy parts of US Cellular. The regional carrier has been up for sale since last year amid a declining customer base and underwhelming revenues.

The deal, which is expected to close in mid-2025 and includes up to $2 billion of assumed debt, brings yet more consolidation to the US wireless industry.

Earlier this month, T-Mobile finalized a $1.35 billion deal to acquire the parent company of Mint Mobile, a deal which saw actor and Mint Mobile part-owner Ryan Reynolds take home around $300 million.

T-Mobile and US Cellular said the deal, which will face an antitrust review, will help deliver lower prices and provide faster wireless speeds to US Cellular's customers, who live in primarily rural areas.

• Elon Musk is rehiring some of the Tesla Supercharger staff he fired in April, Bloomberg reported.
• He made similar moves in the early days of his Twitter takeover in 2022.
• The billionaire CEO's firing and hiring practices have drawn criticism and lawsuits.

Elon Musk appears to be trigger-happy when it comes to firing his employees.

Tesla is rehiring some of the nearly 500 Supercharger staff members Musk fired in April as a cost-saving measure amid challenging times at the EV company, Bloomberg reported earlier this month.

Sound familiar? That's because he's done this before.

Six months after he took over Twitter in 2022 and swiftly reduced head count by about 90%, Musk said he would try to rehire some of the people he laid off, expressing some regret over his decision.

"Desperate times call for desperate measures," Musk told CNBC's David Faber in May 2023. "So there's no question that some of the people who were let go probably shouldn't have been let go."

This fire-and-rehire tactic has been suggested to be a deliberate gambit by Musk.

In an interview with Lex Fridman, Walter Isaacson, Musk's biographer, said the mass layoffs at Twitter were part of Musk's "delete-delete-delete" approach to managing his companies. The author said the CEO believed "if you don't end up adding back 20% of what you deleted, then you didn't delete enough in the first round because you were too timid."

Since founding his first company in the late '90s, Musk has risen to become one of the most prominent entrepreneurs of the 21st century — and arguably one of the busiest. On top of Tesla and X, Musk also runs SpaceX, Neuralink, AI startup xAI, and an underground tunnel company. His business ventures have made him one of the richest men in the world.

Still, that doesn't mean Musk is particularly good at running those companies, critics say.

"Organizations can be poorly run and still be financially viable," Alec Levenson, a senior research scientist at the University of Southern California Marshall Center for Effective Organizations, told Business Insider.

"If you have good enough margins, if you have strong enough loyalty from your customers, then you can still have good financial results," Levenson added. "But I guarantee you the results would be that much better if the management practice is improved and you can do it without hurting the bottom line."

A culture of distrust

The billionaire's hiring and firing practices at his companies have been criticized before and, in some cases, accused of being illegal.

At Tesla, Musk told his employees that he would personally approve all new hires, according to an email obtained by Business Insider.

Human resources experts said the action is not only an inefficient use of the CEO's time but also signals distrust to employees responsible for hiring personnel.

"To have one of the most successful entrepreneurs and someone who's running two very important organizations get down into the weeds like that is the worst use of his time," Levenson said of Musk's role at X and Tesla. "What that says is that you don't trust anybody that's sitting in management — all the layers between you and them."

Musk is also known to have fired employees who disagreed with his decisions.

Weeks after his takeover of Twitter, now known as X, Musk had a team look through the company's internal messages to find employees who appeared to be insubordinate and later fired those workers, The New York Times reported.

Several ex-employees who previously spoke with Business Insider's Kali Hays also said they felt they were fired because of their thoughts on Musk.

A similar incident occurred at SpaceX when a group of employees were fired shortly after they sent an open letter in 2022 to the company's leadership, calling Musk's behavior "a frequent source of distraction and embarrassment for us."

The National Labor Relations Board filed a complaint against Musk, accusing the SpaceX CEO of unlawfully firing the employees.

Levenson told BI that one way to address employee concerns or disagreements, at least within the company, is to establish open lines of communication for employees to express any internal issues.

In March, the NLRB also accused Musk's SpaceX of forcing fired or laid-off employees to sign illegal severance agreements that barred them from speaking against the company or joining class-action lawsuits.

Musk's management practices have also been challenged in court.

Former janitors at Twitter's New York office sued Musk in June 2023, claiming they are owed "hundreds of thousands of dollars in back wages."

Other former Twitter employees and executives have sued Musk, accusing him of unpaid severance pay.

"This is the Musk playbook: to keep the money he owes other people and force them to sue him," according to a lawsuit filed by four former Twitter executives. "Even in defeat, Musk can impose delay, hassle, and expense on others less able to afford it."

Spokespeople for Musk, Tesla, X, and SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment.