Author: openjargon

• Hush-money prosecutors say their "entire case" rests on an obscure NY election conspiracy law.
• Attorneys specializing in state election law believe the statute has never been prosecuted.
• But two election law scholars said DA Alvin Bragg's novel strategy may well get Trump convicted.

At Donald Trump's hush money trial on Tuesday, a Manhattan prosecutor surprised law nerds in the audience by revealing that "the entire case" rests on a single section of New York's election law.

The statute is simple. It outlaws conspiring to promote or prevent someone's election through "unlawful means."

Trump is on trial for falsifying business records throughout his first year in office to hide an election-influencing hush-money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels.

Falsifying business records is a misdemeanor, but the charge becomes a felony — punishable by up to four years in prison — if the records were falsified with the intent to commit or hide some other underlying crime.

Now, Manhattan prosecutors now say an old, rarely used section of the state election law is their favorite on the menu of potential underlying crimes.

"As the court is aware, falsifying business records in the first degree requires an intent to commit or conceal another crime," prosecutor Joshua Steinglass told New York State Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan on Tuesday.

"The primary crime that we have alleged is New York state election law section 17-152," Steinglass told the judge, lifting into prominence an arcane measure that had previously played only a supporting role in the case.

"There is conspiracy language in the statute," the prosecutor said, "The entire case is predicated on the idea that there was a conspiracy to influence the election in 2016."

Business Insider asked two veteran New York election-law attorneys — one a Republican, the other a Democrat — about the law, also known as "Conspiracy to promote or prevent election."

Neither one could recall a single time when it had been prosecuted.

"I've never heard of it actually being used, and I've practiced election law for 53 years," Brooklyn attorney and former Democratic NY state Sen. Martin Connor said of section 17-152.

"I would be shocked — really shocked — if you could find anybody who can give you an example where this section was prosecuted," agreed Joseph T. Burns, attorney for the Erie County Republican Committee in Buffalo, New York.

"I would be absolutely floored," Burns continued, "if you could find anyone prosecuting this in the last 40 years."

Two highly respected law professors specializing in New York election law said the same.

Neither could cite a time when 17-152 — a misdemeanor that's been on the state's election law books since at least the mid-1970s — had been used.

However, while the two attorneys were highly skeptical of the DA's newly focused strategy, the two election law professors told BI they were confident it would lead to a conviction.

Sure, 17-152 has never been used before, they said. But that doesn't mean it won't work now that the dust has been blown off.

"I think it's very smart of prosecutors to use this state law, whether it's been used before or not," said Jeffrey M. Wice, who teaches state election law at New York Law School.

Wice noted that two judges — Merchan and Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein, a Manhattan federal judge who rejected Trump's attempt to move the hush-money case to federal court — upheld the use of 17-152 in this case. 

"It's a solid statute and very straightforward," Wice said. "Just as we have to expect the unexpected from Donald Trump, we have to also expect the unexpected from prosecutors and the jury."

An underlying crime

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg first mentioned New York's election conspiracy law nearly a year ago in a May 2023 filing called a bill of particulars.

It was mentioned only in passing.

The underlying crimes — either committed or merely intended to be committed — that hoist Trump's falsifying business records up from misdemeanor to felony "may include violations of New York Election Law section 17-152," prosecutors wrote.

In the same bill of particulars, prosecutors said the underlying crime could also be an intent to violate state tax law because Trump's then-"fixer," Michael Cohen, paid Daniels $130,000 out of his own pocket. Trump hid the true nature of that outlay when he reimbursed Cohen through a series of monthly checks for "legal fees," money Cohen then claimed as income, prosecutors say.

As an alternative, the underlying crime could be an intent to violate federal election law, prosecutors said, under the theory that the hush-money payment was an illegally high campaign contribution.

These same three "underlying crimes" — using state election law, federal election law, and state tax law — were again given equal prominence here in a February 15 decision by Merchan.

Only on Tuesday, when Steinglass spoke to the judge, did section 17-152 take its starring role.

Crimes, within crimes, within crimes

Connor, the former state senator and longtime election law practitioner, said there's a problem with letting 17-152 do the heavy lifting in the Trump indictment.

Falsifying business records requires proof of at least an attempt to commit an underlying crime to be a felony.

But what if that underlying crime is section 17-152 — conspiring to mess with an election through "unlawful means?"

Things will get "twisty," Connor said, when prosecutors try to show that Trump's falsified business records are felonies because of an underlying crime — 17-152 — that itself needs proof of a conspiracy to do something "unlawful."

"You're having an underlying crime within an underlying crime to get to that felony," Connor told BI.

"It's novel," he said with a laugh. "It's novel," he repeated.

Section 17-152 needs its own underlying criminal conspiracy, he said.

"Two or more conspiring to elect or defeat a candidate — that's the definition of every political campaign," he joked. "It's only when you conspire to do it by unlawful means that you violate this law."

Having an election-conspiracy statute like 17-152 on the state election-law books makes little sense, he said.

"It would appear to cover something like three people getting together and saying, 'Let's break into our opponent's headquarters and destroy all his equipment,'" Connor said.

"Or, 'Let's firebomb the place.' There probably have been cases like that, but for that kind of illegal conduct, you would use the state penal code and charge arson or burglary, which are felonies," he added

"Because if you're only using this election law, you only have a misdemeanor."

Winning isn't as tricky as it sounds

What will prosecutors argue made Trump's 17-152 election conspiracy "unlawful?"

They've already cited three ways.

First, there's federal election law. Prosecutors have alleged that the conspiracy intended to violate the Federal Election Campaign Act, or FECA, which sets strict limits on contributions.

Trump conspired with Cohen and editors at the National Enquirer to bury Daniels' story of a 2006 one-night-stand — long denied by Trump — by paying her $130,000, prosecutors say. That money was an illegally high campaign expenditure, they say.

Second, Trump intended to violate state tax law when he disguised his repayment of Cohen as a series of monthly checks for "legal fees," prosecutors say.

And third, Trump conspired to falsify the records of the National Enquirer through a plan to "catch and kill" stories that could hurt his 2016 campaign, prosecutors allege.

Proof of an intent to violate any of these three laws would be sufficient to satisfy Section 17-152. And once you prove 17-152, you have the underlying crime you need to raise misdemeanor falsifying business records to a felony.

It's important to remember that Trump is only charged with 34 counts of this one crime: felony falsification of business records, said election-law scholar Jerry H. Goldfeder.

Trump is not charged with actually committing any of the underlying state and federal laws required to prove felony falsification.

So prosecutors have no legal obligation to prove he's guilty of any of these underlying laws, 17-152 included, said Goldfeder, senior counsel at Cozen O'Connor and author of Goldfeder's Modern Election Law.

"They only have to prove he intended to commit these underlying crimes," which is a far lower bar, said Goldfeder, who also directs the Fordham Law School Voting Rights and Democracy Project.

"I think it's a very viable case," he told BI.

"And the testimony so far demonstrates that Trump intended to pursue this catch-and-kill scheme and to falsify business records to cover it up — and did so to influence the election," he said.

"It's up to the jury of course," he added. "But the testimony so far is pretty clear." 

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• A mistake by Ukrainian troops appears to have let Russian forces advance and capture large parts of a village.
• The incident occurred during a rotation between Ukraine's 47th and 115th Mechanized Brigades.
• It marks the second time a Ukrainian unit has failed on the eastern front in recent weeks.

A blunder by Ukrainian troops appears to have allowed Russian forces to advance and capture large parts of a village unopposed.

Russian troops were able to take most of Ocheretyne, northwest of Avdiivka in eastern Ukraine, after an apparent rotational error involving Ukraine's elite 47th Mechanized Brigade and its 115th Mechanized Brigade.

The 47th Mechanized Brigade was due to be relieved by the 115th along the front line just east of Ocheretyne.

But as the 47th pulled back, Russia's 30th Motor Rifle Brigade attacked, taking advantage of a gap left by the pending arrival of the 115th.

The commander of the 47th, Mykola Melnyk, famed for losing a leg during the summer offensive, wrote on Facebook: "The drastic advancement of the Russians became possible because certain units just fucked off.

"Hope they get retrained as assault troops," he added.

Vadym Chornyy, a spokesperson for the 115th Brigade, told the Financial Times that the allegations were "not true."

"The unit did not abandon its position," he said.

Melnyk said the only reason Russia was unable to continue its advance was because the 47th Brigade rejoined the fight.

"The holes were clogged by those who were planning on taking a break," he said. "The 47th brigade is back in business. Another month and that will make it a year without rotation."

An update on the Ukrainian Deep State website, which tracks changes on the battlefield, showed that Russian forces had captured large parts of the village.

Images shared on Telegram also claimed to show a Russian flag flying over a building in the war-torn village.

Earlier this week, the think tank the Institute for the Study of War said that Russian forces appeared "to be aiming to make a wide penetration of Ukrainian lines northwest of Avdiivka," but it added that its efforts would likely be hindered by upcoming deliveries of US and Western aid.

The ISW said that attacking Ocheretyne was part of Russia's "operational-level goal of reaching the Donetsk Oblast administrative boundary via Pokrovsk."

It comes after part of Ukraine's 67th Mechanized Brigade was broken up while defending Chasiv Yar, a city north of Avdiivka and close to Bakhmut.

David Axe, a military correspondent and blogger, wrote in an article for Forbes that the 67th was broken up due to disputes between its commanding officers, many of whom he said were members of far-right political groups.

Chasiv Yar is a crucial city in the battle for Ukraine's Donetsk region, and capturing it would put Russian forces within striking distance of Ukrainian operational and supply centers in the area.

The commander in chief of Ukraine's armed forces said earlier this month that Russian troops had been tasked with capturing Chasiv Yar by May 9.

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• Sephora employees have spoken out about a change they said has led to a lack of hours and perks.
• A new "flex" position means no more guaranteed shifts or free products for them to try at home.
• It's part of an initiative known as "Project Shift," employees told Business Insider.

For years, makeup enthusiasts considered Sephora a "fun" job. But a recent policy change has axed the benefits that many counted on to make it all worth it.

Business Insider spoke to six recent and current Sephora employees who said an initiative called "Project Shift" saw them or their coworkers unexpectedly reclassified as "flex" employees instead of part-time in February.

BI verified their identities and employment at the cosmetics retailer. They asked to be kept anonymous to protect their careers in the beauty industry and within Sephora.

The difference, they said, is that as flex employees, their hours aren't guaranteed. A document viewed by BI showed that they should expect to work between zero and 19 hours a week.

Before, employees said they were divided into full time, part time, and partial part time categories. Under the new rules, those who can't promise three days of availability a week must be classified as flex, according to a document viewed by BI. Those who are available for at least three days are considered part time.

For some now-flex workers, that means they've had to go months between working shifts. For all of them, it means they'll no longer receive the same free makeup products as their part-time and full-time colleagues.

No more freebies

It's known as "training product," or "gratis," and it's a monthly bag of free beauty products that can range from $250 to $1,000 in value.

One former employee — who asked only to be referred to by her first name, Grace — said she received roughly $700 worth of products in her monthly gratis bag during her time as a licensed beauty advisor. Grace left Sephora in the summer of 2023.

For employees earning between $16 and $20 an hour, going home with luxurious serums and concealers made up for the lack of pay, they said.

"Any benefit I have outside of an employee discount has been taken away," a current employee who asked to remain anonymous said.

Multiple employees told BI that May will be the last month that flex workers receive gratis. Typically, gratis is ordered months in advance, but workers who are now classified as flex said that they haven't been asked to request any products for June or later.

When frustrated workers flooded the r/SephoraWorkers forum, a photo of a poster was uploaded that depicted the benefits flex employees earned compared to their coworkers.

In a statement to BI, Sephora said its changes "offered the opportunity to more than 4,160 employees, including part-time employees who previously were not eligible" to have access to health benefits and sick time based on their working hours.

The company confirmed that flex and temporary employees don't receive gratis but said they can get free products from brands who visit their stores.

For one employee, the loss of her monthly gratis prompted her to walk away from Sephora months shy of her 16-year anniversary.

She asked not to be named, but the worker told BI that Sephora "crossed the line" by taking away gratis. After over a decade of working there, she said she witnessed the changes to the company happening over time.

"Over the years, it was all about helping a customer — talking with them about makeup that I love," she said. "Then, it just became so numbers-driven."

'Sell, sell, sell'

And her sentiments were echoed by other employees who viewed Sephora as a fun reprieve from their full time jobs or useful added money and perks.

Many said their hours are nearly nonexistent now.

In one instance, an Ohio-based employee said she works "maybe once every six to eight weeks." Another said she hasn't had a shift at her store since January.

With only their 30% off employee discount left, they said, it's not worth it.

"We're all being pushed to sell, sell, sell," a current employee told BI.

Sephora, which is owned by LVMH, celebrated hitting $10 billion in sales in 2023 by sending out cookies to its store employees in January. The move left some saying they felt unheard by the company.

Weeks later, Project Shift had some getting called into their manager's office to learn they'd also be losing gratis soon.

The Ohio employee continued: "All y'all could do was give us those cookies, and then take our gratis and tell us we're forced to be flex employees?"

One former Sephora employee previously told BI that Sephora had changed from being a dream job for makeup lovers to "just a transaction" after several years. When Project Shift happened, they said it was time to go.

"They should take the f out of Project Shift," the employee who left after 15 years told BI.

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• Jefferies CEO Rich Handler sold $65 million of stock — some of which he used to buy a superyacht.
• He purchased Boardwalk from billionaire friend and client Tilman Fertitta.
• Here's a look at the multimillion-dollar superyacht.

Earlier this week, Jefferies CEO Rich Handler sold $65 million worth of stock in the investment bank — enough to warrant a press release — partly to buy a yacht from his friend and client, hospitality billionaire and Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta.

"My sale of shares today was a gift to myself and my family," Handler said in the release.

It's a pretty good gift. The boat in question is a 50-meter superyacht named Boardwalk.

According to the yacht's shipyard, Westport Yachts, the off-market deal was pending as of last month. The sale price isn't public.

Boardwalk, which is currently moored in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, was originally delivered in 2010. She features a spa pool and helipad on her sun deck, as well as multiple bars and 15 bathrooms, of which at least one has a television. The master cabin has a dressing room and a private study, and there are scooters on board to make getting around easier — and more fun.

She can fit 12 guests and 12 crew members, according to industry source SuperYacht Times.

"It isn't cheap, I can tell you that. I just love it," Fertitta told a local ABC affiliate in 2017, referring to Boardwalk's $40 million price tag.

While Boardwalk is technically part of "a series" — one of a fleet of boats built by the shipyard of this size and general design — Fertitta made many custom adjustments, adding lights throughout and opening up spaces to create a less formal feel, he told Yachts International in 2011.

Handler has been a guest on the yacht before, landing on its deck via helicopter when it was moored in St. Barts, according to a video posted on Fertitta's Instagram account in 2018.

"It's a shame when you have to pick your friends up to come see you. This is @handlerrich roughin' it to the @boardwalk164," he wrote in the caption.

"It's one of those things that I've always wanted and I'll always have," Fertitta said during the 2017 interview.

While he won't always have this exact boat, Fertitta, who is worth $9.3 billion, per Forbes, will likely always have a yacht and appears to have traded up.

He teased his new, fully custom vessel — a 77-meter giant built by Dutch shipyard Feadship — in 2019. It was delivered in 2021 and is also named Boardwalk.

The new Boardwalk has a more modern design. The gym has a Peloton and a Mirror; there's a sauna and beauty salon; and there are six sit-down bars — appropriate for a hospitality billionaire.

"This takes it to a whole new level," his son, Michael, told Boat International.

Looks like Handler still has something to aspire to.

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• A rising number of young Americans are disconnected from work, school, and a sense of purpose.
• Disconnection rates have been increasing since the 1990s, affecting young people's futures.
• Poor mental health and a lack of a financial safety net contribute to rising disconnection.

Destiny's main goal right now is survival.

The 21-year-old grew up in foster care in Florida and left the foster-care system at 16. Retail jobs helped her save enough money for an apartment, and she eventually became a manager at Family Dollar. She enrolled in college and maintained straight A's — for a while.

But Destiny, who asked to go by only her first name for fear of personal and professional repercussions, began to suffer from overwork while having multiple jobs during the pandemic, and her mental health faltered.

"I feel for those who are in my shoes and don't have a connection or a home base," said Destiny, who now lives in a small apartment in Alabama with her boyfriend. "You think you're alone, but there are so many of us who are in this situation. We're hopeless, feel like a failure, and we want to get it together. We just need better resources and time."

Eventually, Destiny dropped out of college and quit her job. She's struggled to get medication for her OCD and find stable employment beyond part-time gig work. She knows she's not alone in feeling stuck when it comes to investing in education or finding the right job.

"When I was a general manager, when I would hire people, I was hiring people who had master's" degrees, Destiny said. "They just couldn't find a job that used that degree or jobs they just weren't qualified enough for with their experience. I think a degree now is just pretty much a baseline education for most people with jobs."

A growing group of America's young people are not in school, not working, or not looking for work. They're called "disconnected youth" or "opportunity youth," and their ranks have been growing for nearly three decades. Experts say it's not just work and school; this group is often also disconnected from a sense of purpose.

It's creating a tale of two Gen Zs: those who have followed traditional milestones and others who are increasingly getting left behind. These aren't all young people taking gap years — the disconnected youth Business Insider spoke with want education and good jobs but are partly victims of economic circumstances outside their control. And that might cost them.

'A long shadow across the whole life course'

Data from the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas indicates the share of disconnected 18- to 24-year-olds has been on the rise since the 1990s. While it fell a bit in the 2010s, it spiked in the 2020s. In 2022, 13.2% of people in that age group were considered disconnected.

Measure of America, which looks at 16- to 24-year-olds who aren't in school and aren't working, found that nearly 4.7 million young people were disconnected in 2021.

Kristen Lewis, the director and cofounder of Measure of America, part of the Social Science Research Council, described ages 16 to 24 as consequential.

"Being disconnected from 16 to 24 can really cast a long shadow across the whole life course," Lewis said. It can even hurt someone's future earnings and likelihood of owning a house.

Just look at the wage progression as young people pick up degrees.

Using 2022 American Community Survey microdata from the University of Minnesota's IPUMS program, Business Insider found that 18- to 24-year-old Americans who were working earned a median income of $19,200.

The National Center for Education Statistics found that among 25- to 34-year-olds working full time in 2021, those who hadn't completed high school earned a median of $32,500, while those who had completed high school had a median income of $39,700. For those with a bachelor's degree, that jumped to $61,600.

"When kids become disconnected from school and work, there's just a downward spiral that is too often going to result," Sen. Tim Kaine, who's introduced legislation to help at-risk youths find jobs and receive job training, told BI. "Some people can figure their way out of that spiral, but many cannot."

Joseph, 21, is in that life stage. He said that while he doesn't want to be disconnected, mental-health challenges and a lack of a financial safety net or health insurance had left him in a lurch.

He said he grew up "very poor" in a trailer park in Indiana with his parents and three siblings. He excelled in high school and got a full scholarship to a four-year college. But after a year of remote learning, he struggled to keep up with schoolwork and often missed classes; he dropped out as he worked on improving his mental health. He said he regretted not being able to find a way to stay enrolled.

"I lost my scholarship, and I want to go back to college now and have a much better relationship with the concept and know myself and my needs better," he said. "But I can no longer afford it without the scholarship."

Joseph has been unemployed since October after struggling to hold down jobs at a warehouse, a summer camp, and a Walmart.

Despite having trouble finding a doctor to help him receive work accommodations for his disability, he's applied to various jobs, including substitute teaching and working in a kitchen, but he hasn't heard back from any. He's starting an online needlepoint-patch business to bring in extra income as he looks for his next job. He said he felt alone.

"I'd like to live in my own place, learn to drive so that I'm not dependent on my parents for transportation, and have a job that doesn't cause me more pain than I'm already in," he said.

This has contributed to feelings of severe anxiety and distress; he said he'd contemplated suicide. He's hoping to finally get evaluated for ADHD and autism spectrum disorder after months of having no health insurance.

Ashley Palmer, an assistant professor of social work at Texas Christian University who has written papers on this cohort, said disconnected youth fall along a spectrum of connectedness to work and school.

"I don't think that simply being in school or working means that you're doing OK or that you're going to have improved well-being," Palmer said.

She said that while there's a lack of research in predicting the long-term social and psychological effects of disconnectedness, she suspects a lack of purpose can erode mental and physical health and relationships with friends and community.

"When you lack that purpose, it is difficult for you to think about how or in what ways you want to contribute or can contribute to society," Palmer said. "Our society is a relational one where we depend on people to be able to contribute in various ways."

Lewis, the researcher, said that "youth disconnection is not a spontaneously occurring phenomenon." Areas with high poverty rates and fewer community resources tend to have higher disconnection rates. Palmer added that those with limited access to transportation, people with disabilities, and young parents were also more susceptible.

In more affluent areas, Lewis said, "people are experiencing good health, access to knowledge, a decent standard of living — disconnection is rare in those communities."

"If you think about middle-class kids, they don't get just a chance or one second chance, they get a million chances," Lewis said. "They're in institutions where they can try and they can fail and they're protected to some degree from the consequences, and they can mess up and people can help them. Disconnected young people don't have that luxury."

Parents of disconnected youth are at a 'total loss'

Sarah Nunley, a Gen X parent of two disconnected youths in Silicon Valley, said kids in her area are often pressured to focus on academics and attend college.

But Nunley said she noticed a "dramatic shift" after the remote-school era of the pandemic, as her own kids dropped out of college.

"The top priority became this YOLO environment, or mentality that you only live once, where it was more important to spend time with friends and go on adventures, and education became secondary to that," Nunley said.

Veronica, a 43-year-old parent in Texas, recently watched one of her kids become disconnected. She thinks he became burned out after working relentlessly in retail during the pandemic and still not getting promoted.

"He was going full throttle," Veronica said. "I mean, my husband and I would make comments when we saw him coming downstairs in his work uniform, be like, 'You're going to work again?'"

Nunley said she was at a "total loss" about what she and her fellow parents could do to improve things. But she has hope that disconnected youths will come around.

"Everybody cares. There's not a single person that doesn't care about what's going on or doesn't have an opinion about what's going on," Nunley said. "So from that perspective, I think that there is a lot of hope that they will eventually figure it out. But I don't have any ideas of how they will figure it out."

DC Lucchesi, a Gen X dad of three, said that while parents want to give their kids the tools to do better, so much has changed about the path to success since parents were that age.

"Generationally speaking, the parents of this 'disaffected youth,' they're all my age," he said. "What we grew up learning or hearing or being told was you get a damn college degree and that's going to be your springboard to success. And somewhere along that space, the success of that safety net disappeared."

Instead, Lucchesi said, parents need to learn to be OK with telling their kids that they don't have to pursue an Ivy League degree or attend an elite school.

"It's OK to be doing something else that brings you joy and puts a check in the bank for you," he said.

But the pressure to help isn't only on parents. Palmer, the social-work professor, argued that policymakers interested in fixing the problem could implement programs like guaranteed income for disconnected youth, expanded social safety net initiatives like Medicaid, and universal preschool and childcare.

"The things that worry me are that we are not adequately addressing a growing mental-health crisis, and we are missing people with our social safety net — the lack of holistic supports for young people, things like not just making sure that they're enrolled or trying to get them placed in a job, but are there livable wages even with a college degree?" Palmer said.

Destiny aspires to attend law school, though her immediate goal is to find a stable job that comfortably pays her bills. She hasn't even begun to think about retirement or a mortgage. She's considering buying an RV and traveling around to save money on an apartment.

"I think the mental-health crisis has always been a big deal but just swept under rugs," Destiny said. "The only reason there's a true surge in mental-health crises now is because the newer generations are more outspoken about it. Trauma cycles get bigger with every new generation you introduce. I think it has finally hit its breaking point."

Are you or were you a "disconnected youth," or are you supporting one? Contact these reporters at nsheidlower@businessinsider.com or jkaplan@businessinsider.com.

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• Russia's oil and gas revenue is set to surge despite Ukraine's attacks on energy infrastructure.
• Revenue from oil and gas is a key way Russia funds its war in Ukraine.
• Russia says it has successfully rerouted oil supplies and limited the effects of Western sanctions.

Russia's oil and gas revenue for April is expected to soar by roughly double year on year despite increased Ukrainian attacks on energy infrastructure, a Reuters report said.

The news agency projected Russian oil and gas revenue for the month to come in at 1.292 trillion roubles, which is around $14 billion, up from 648 billion roubles, or roughly $7 billion.

Reuters said it made the calculations using "data from industry sources and official statistics on oil and gas production, refining and supplies on domestic and international markets."

The April data is expected to be published by the Russian Finance Ministry in early May, per the report.

Revenue from oil and gas is a key way in which Russia funds its war in Ukraine, and the significant year-on-year rise highlights the difficulty Western countries have had in attempting to impose effective sanctions on its economy.

The West has taken a number of steps to try and limit Russia's income from energy.

Measures have included the US and the UK banning Russian oil and gas, the EU prohibiting the maritime import of Russian crude, and G7 leaders agreeing to set a price cap on Russian crude oil at $60 per barrel.

But Russia says it has largely managed to circumnavigate these moves.

In December last year, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said almost all of Russia's oil exports in 2023 had been shipped to China and India, adding that the European share of crude exports had fallen from around 40-45% to just 4-5%.

"The main partners in the current situation are China, whose share has grown to approximately 45-50%, and, of course, India…Earlier, there basically were no supplies to India; in two years, the total share of supplies to India has come to 40%," Novak said.

"As for those restrictions and embargoes on supplies to Europe and the U.S. that were introduced… this only accelerated the process of reorienting our energy flows," he added.

The news comes despite increasing Ukrainian strikes on Russian energy infrastructure.

Earlier this week, a Ukrainian intelligence source told Reuters that Ukraine's security service (SBU) had carried out drone strikes on two Rosneft-owned oil depots in Russia's Smolensk region.

The source noted that the SBU was continuing to target "logistics that provide fuel to the Russian army in Ukraine."

"These facilities are and will remain our absolutely legitimate targets," they said.

Despite Russia's strong April revenue projections, it seems Ukraine's strikes are having some success.

Bloomberg reported this week said that Russia's oil refining was at an 11-month low because of flooding and Ukraine's drone campaign.

Between April 11-17, Russia processed 5.22 million barrels of crude oil a day, Bloomberg reported, citing a person with knowledge of the industry data.

The report said that that was 10,000 barrels a day below the average of the seven days prior.

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• Ukraine is slated to receive its much-anticipated fleet of F-16 fighter jets this summer.
• The American-made aircraft have flown combat missions around the world over the past few decades.
• But former US military pilots say Ukraine will be the jet's foremost combat test.

The long-awaited delivery of F-16s to Ukraine is on the horizon, and these advanced American-made fighter jets can't come soon enough for its forces.

Western-provided F-16s will give Kyiv's current fleet of aging Soviet-era warplanes a major upgrade in capabilities, for critical offensive and defensive roles, and boost their firepower with the right munitions.

The combat-proven Fighting Falcon has decades of experience flying in tough, war-time environments in places like the Middle East and the Balkans. The fourth-generation fighter has racked up an impressive collection of high-profile missions over the years.

But the skies above Ukraine will be the most dangerous battlefield that the fighter jets have faced so far, former US military pilots told Business Insider, as the aircraft goes up against Russia's advanced air-defense systems and long-range air-to-air missiles.

A combat-proven fighter jet

Ukraine first requested F-16s from its Western partners in the early weeks of Russia's full-scale invasion, but the US didn't sign off on a third-party transfer from its allies to Kyiv until last summer.

Four NATO members — Belgium, Denmark, Norway, and the Netherlands — have collectively promised to send dozens of F-16s to Ukraine, whose pilots are training in the US and in Europe. The fighter jets are expected to arrive at some point this summer, reportedly as early as June.

The F-16s are a notable upgrade over Ukraine's fleet of Soviet-era aircraft; at the start of the war, Kyiv was flying Su-24s, Su-25s, Su-27s, and MiG-29s.

The Fighting Falcon has a more efficient internal layout and better electronic warfare capabilities than many of Ukraine's current jets. It is also a very nimble and maneuverable aircraft, and can be equipped with advanced targeting pods and air-to-surface ordnance to strike ground vehicles and positions.

Since the first F-16 prototype flew 50 years ago, the multi-role fighter has flown sorties in difficult combat environments around the world. It first achieved notable success, though, at the hands of Israeli pilots in the early 1980s.

Israeli Air Force combat aircraft, including F-16s, in June 1982 flew a suppression of enemy air defense (SEAD) campaign in Lebanon's heavily fortified Bekaa Valley. Within hours, Israel had destroyed a large number of Soviet-built, Syrian-owned surface-to-air missile (SAM) systems and enemy aircraft, without taking any losses. It was a stunning tactical victory after the IDF's heavy losses to SAMs in the Yom Kippur war nine years before.

The US Air Force first flew the F-16 in combat during Operation Desert Storm in Iraq during the early 1990s. The fighter flew more sorties than any other aircraft, and was used to attack enemy airfields, missile sites, and military production facilities.

Later that decade, F-16s were deployed to the Balkans for NATO's Operation Allied Force air campaign against Yugoslavia. There, they flew SEAD, close-air support, and counter-air missions, while destroying enemy radars, fighter jets, and armored vehicles.

During these operations in the 1990s, the Air Force only lost 17 aircraft in combat — a tiny number compared to the tens of thousands of sorties that were flown, according data from the Defense Technical Information Center. Five of those aircraft were F-16s.

Other militaries — like Pakistan, Turkey, and Egypt — have also operated the F-16 in conflicts of varying intensities over the years. More recently, the F-16 has operated above Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, and has also been used to thwart the Islamic State.

'The toughest scenario that the F-16 will have'

Despite flying in many challenging operating environments over the last 50 years, F-16s are still likely staring down their most dangerous battlefield yet, former US military pilots say.

"Going into Desert Storm, arguably against the third largest army in the world and a very robust air force — that was a very, very tough situation," John Baum, a retired US Air Force lieutenant colonel who has logged over 2,300 hours as an F-16 pilot, told BI.

"F-16s from Ukraine going against Russia — absolutely, without a doubt, the toughest scenario that the F-16 will have off of its nose," said Baum, now a senior resident fellow at the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies.

Ukraine has already lost at least 86 aircraft since the war began, according to the open-source intelligence site Oryx, which tracks war losses, underscoring the danger that pilots face in the skies.

Among the threats that Ukraine's F-16s will be facing are advanced Russian air-defense systems like the S-300 and the highly advanced S-400, a formidable fleet of Su-35s and MiG-31s armed with long-range R-37 air-to-air missiles and powerful radars, and early warning aircraft that can detect them hundreds of miles away.

"There is a gazillion ways to detect these F-16s," Brynn Tannehill, a defense analyst and former US Navy aviator, told BI.

Russia's arsenal of surface-to-air systems, specifically, are more modern and advanced than the ones that the F-16 went up against in past conflicts, like the SA-2s, SA-3s, and SA-6s of Bekaa Valley.

"The Russians are bringing high-end equipment" to the Ukraine war, Tannehill said, adding that past F-16 foes in the Middle East like Iraq and Syria were "typically operating legacy Soviet equipment and probably weren't quite as well-trained or equipped" as Moscow is now.

Experts say the F-16 would be a valuable asset to go after Russia's formidable arsenal of air-defense systems and carry out SEAD and destruction of enemy air defenses (DEAD) missions.

Ukraine already possesses US-provided, air-to-surface AGM-88 HARM, or high-speed anti-radiation, missiles, which can hunt down enemy radars. But Kyiv's Soviet-era aircraft were not designed to interface with these missiles, while the F-16 was actually made to carry them — allowing for more effective and dynamic targeting.

Russia has "probably one of the most robust and advanced integrated air-defense systems in the world, but the F-16 will have a capability to build situational awareness and feed that picture" to the rest of the Ukrainian forces, Baum said.

The fighter jets can then leverage its HARM targeting systems and missiles to strike the Russian radars.

Perhaps one of the biggest issues the fighters will face is the physical layout of the operating environment, Baum said. When Ukrainian F-16s take off, they could be immediately within range of Russian surface-to-air systems, rather than enjoying neutral territory that they can use to their advantage to safely approach the battle space.

Ukrainian pilots may be "looked at and targeted before they even get to begin to do their own tactics," Baum said.

Softening the battlefield

In a defensive role, F-16s can add an extra layer to Ukraine's air-defense network, which has been stretched thin in recent months as Kyiv waited for US lawmakers to approve additional funding that could replenish its dwindling stockpile of critical interceptor munitions.

Ukraine already has AIM-9 Sidewinder and AIM-120 air-to-air missiles in its arsenal, and can outfit its F-16s with these munitions to intercept Russian one-way attack drones, cruise missiles and the fighter-bombers pounding Ukraine's troops with glide bombs. This would help complement Kyiv's existing air defenses, made up of Soviet-era systems and Western ones like US-provided Patriot batteries and NASAMS.

Meanwhile, Ukraine has increasingly gone after Russian air-defense and detection capabilities over the past few months — possibly softening the battlefield for the arrival of F-16s.

In March, for instance, Western intelligence said Moscow had likely grounded its fleet of A-50 early warning and control aircraft after Ukraine shot down two of these planes within a matter of weeks. More recently, in mid-April Kyiv used long-range missiles to take out multiple S-400 launchers and radar stations at a Russian base in the occupied Crimean peninsula.

"Ukraine has been doing a lot to degrade Russia's capabilities to counter-detect their own aircraft," Tannehill said. "And this may be a sign that some of this may have been done in anticipation of getting F-16s, and being able to push them a little further forward."

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• The Biden administration issued new rules designed to boost workers' wages and business competition.
• They aim to raise an overtime threshold, ban noncompetes, and offer refunds for flight delays.
• The rules, already facing legal challenges, could reshape labor-market dynamics and consumer rights.

The Biden administration this week pushed out a slate of rules it says are meant to boost competitiveness and put more money into workers' pockets.

There are already challenges to at least one of the rules — but together they could land overtime pay for millions more workers, ban noncompetes that prevent workers from moving into jobs in similar industries, and help people get automatic refunds for delayed or canceled flights.

"By increasing competition, these rules give workers their fairly earned wages and gives consumers more power to purchase the best option," Lael Brainard, the director of the National Economic Council, told Business Insider.

More workers eligible for overtime pay

Under the Department of Labor's new rule, many workers who make under $43,888 will be eligible for overtime pay effective July 1. That's nearly $10,000 higher than the existing threshold of $35,568; next January it's set to rise to $58,656.

The department estimates the change will affect 4 million workers.

Judy Conti, the government affairs director at the National Employment Law Project, previously told BI that "the current salary threshold beneath which all workers are entitled to overtime is pitifully low."

In 2016, a federal judge blocked a similar attempt to raise the cutoff.

Automatic refunds for canceled or delayed flights

The Department of Transportation announced a new rule that would mean travelers get refunds automatically when their flights are canceled or delayed for over three hours domestically and six hours internationally.

The department also said it was looking to ensure that parents are able to sit with their children without having to pay extra.

"Passengers deserve to get their money back when an airline owes them — without headaches or haggling," Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement.

A ban on noncompetes that keep workers from taking new jobs

Perhaps the most sweeping action for workers came from the Federal Trade Commission, which finalized a rule to ban noncompetes in most cases. That means workers would no longer be restricted from taking roles in similar industries or starting up new businesses in the same field.

"For workers and employers, it tilts that playing field back more in favor of workers," Brainard said.

The agency estimates the new rule will lead to 8,500 more new businesses every year — a 2.7% increase in business formation — and an average of $524 extra annually for workers. That's not chump change for many Americans, especially those with lower wages who have ended up stifled in finding new work.

"These new regulations will promote healthier labor-market competition," Aaron Sojourner, a senior researcher at the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, told BI. "One in five American employees will benefit from the new freedom to accept job offers from any competing employer rather than live bound to their current employer, unable to work for many employers who value their skills and time more."

That rule is already getting pushback from businesses and business interests. Ryan, a company that provides tax services and software, said it filed a lawsuit against the FTC, accusing it of taking "lawless action."

"With history, logic, law, and the Constitution on our side, we look forward to righting this wrong by the FTC against employees and employers alike," John Smith, Ryan's chief legal officer and general counsel, said in a press release.

The US Chamber of Commerce, the Business Roundtable, and the Texas Association of Business have also sued to block the rule.

"The Federal Trade Commission's decision to ban employer noncompete agreements across the economy is not only unlawful but also a blatant power grab that will undermine American businesses' ability to remain competitive," Suzanne Clark, the president and CEO of the Chamber of Commerce, said in a statement.

Jeremy Merkelson, a partner at the law firm Davis Wright Tremaine, speculated that the groups challenging the rule were likely to succeed. Merkelson said that while a Supreme Court majority would "likely reject that such a broad concept gives the FTC specific authority to upend millions of worker contracts," a court might let the ban on noncompetes survive for lower-level workers while invalidating the rule for senior executives.

Brainard argued that "a lot of Republicans and some of the businesses and special interests that they're supporting will try to challenge these actions because it means that they have to pass on savings to consumers," adding, "They have to lower prices; they have to give working families a break."

Elizabeth Wilkins, the former chief of staff to the chair and director of the Office of Policy and Planning at the FTC, described noncompetes as "fundamentally at odds" with the American promise of being able to find opportunities that fit workers' skills and talents. Zooming out, she said, the ban might make a labor market with less friction, where workers can match with employers that make sense for them, boosting productivity.

"To me," Wilkins said, "this rule represents the absolute best of government working for people."

Will a ban on noncompetes, new overtime thresholds, or airline refunds affect your life? Contact this reporter at jkaplan@businessinsider.com.

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• Apple is in talks with OpenAI and Google to bring AI to the next iPhone, Bloomberg reported.
• The iPhone 16 is expected to be released sometime this fall.
• Tim Cook in recent months has teased that Apple has big plans for AI coming this year.

Apple is weighing its options for bringing AI to the next-generation iPhone.

The tech giant is in talks with both OpenAI and Google to bring generative AI to iOS 18, the next iPhone operating system, but has not reached a final decision between ChatGPT and Gemini or another third-party provider, Bloomberg reported Friday.

Business Insider previously reported that the iPhone 16 is expected to be released this fall. It is set to be the first of Apple's smartphones to incorporate generative AI, which experts predict will send Apple's stock surging.

While the next iPhone could include AI-driven features based on Apple's in-house large language model, Bloomberg reports that the company plans to partner with a more established AI creator to incorporate a chatbot similar to OpenAI's GPT model.

The outlet reported that Apple had initially discussed a deal with OpenAI earlier this year, though collaboration between the two companies has slowed since then.

In recent months, CEO Tim Cook has been more outspoken about Apple's plans to dive into AI. In February, he said that big announcements would be made later this year about his company incorporating the tech into its existing product lines.

"As we look ahead, we will continue to invest in these and other technologies that will shape the future," BI previously reported he said during the company's fourth-quarter earnings call, "That includes artificial intelligence, where we continue to spend a tremendous amount of time and effort."

Apple previously announced plans to launch a Mac lineup with new M4 processors focused on AI, which led the company's stock to jump 4% despite heavy scrutiny from regulators and an antitrust lawsuit filed against the company by the DOJ in March.

The suit, combined with headwinds from China in the form of diminished sales in that key market, has created "a perfect storm for Cupertino," analyst Dan Ives wrote in an April 9 report on the company's stock. However, he noted he still believes Apple will outperform the current market return.

"Our forest through the trees view on Apple is all about navigating this next 1-2 quarters and getting on to the other side of easier comps, AI announcement at WWDC, stronger upgrade cycle for iPhone 16, and the monetization opportunity of the golden installed base in Cupertino," Ives wrote in his analysis.

Apple, Google, and OpenAI did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.

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• Putin critic Alexey Navalny's death may not have been planned to happen when it did, WSJ reported.
• The Journal reported that this opinion is shared by several US intelligence agencies.
• Navalny's supporters insist his death in an arctic gulag was arranged by the Kremlin.

Alexey Navalny's February death in a remote Arctic prison camp likely wasn't directly ordered by Vladimir Putin, despite Navalny's outspoken criticism of the Russian president, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday.

Despite the suspicious circumstances of the opposition leader's death, the outlet reported Putin may not have intended Navalny to be killed when he was.

The Journal, citing "people familiar with the matter," reported that several US intelligence agencies, including the CIA, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and the State Department's intelligence unit, share this opinion.

None of the intelligence agencies cited by the Journal or the Pentagon have responded to requests for comment from Business Insider.

While the Journal reported US intelligence sources believe the timing of Navalny's death — which occurred as his staffers claimed he was on the brink of being freed — wasn't specifically intended by Putin, the outlet noted the Russian president is not entirely absolved of responsibility for Navalny's death on the world stage, with analysts in Poland and some European intelligence agencies remaining skeptical of suggestions that Putin wasn't involved, while Navalny's allies remain insistent that the Kremlin orchestrated it.

Leonid Volkov, a Navalny ally, told the Journal, "The idea of Putin being not informed and not approving killing Navalny is ridiculous."

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