Author: openjargon

• Six NATO countries are planning a "drone wall" to defend against Russia.
• Finland, Norway, Poland, and the Baltic states want to prevent smuggling and Russian provocations.
• Further details on when such a system could be in place and how it would work are unclear.

Six NATO countries are joining forces to create a "drone wall" to defend themselves against Russia, AFP news agency reported.

Over the weekend, ministers from Finland, Norway, Poland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania convened to discuss a coordinated system to help defend against Russian provocations and smuggling attempts, per the Financial Times.

"This is a completely new thing — a drone wall stretching from Norway to Poland, and the goal is to use drones and other technologies to protect our borders," Lithuania's interior minister Agnė Bilotaitė reportedly told the Baltic News Service.

Further details on when the wall could be in place and how it would function remain unclear, but Bilotaitė said that EU funding could be used to support the project.

Estonia's Interior Minister Lauri Läänemets said of the proposed wall: "Drone surveillance and anti-drone capability is crucial both for deterrence and for countering the influence activities of our eastern neighbor."

"The one who is even a step ahead of the adversary will succeed, but this advantage can be measured in days, as a countermeasure will be found to each measure very quickly, and the cycle will repeat itself," he added.

Business Insider has contacted Agnė Bilotaitė's office for comment.

It comes after a series of provocations involving Russia and the Baltic region.

Last week, a draft Russian decree proposing revised maritime borders with Lithuania and Finland in the Baltic Sea sparked concern in the region.

The Lithuanian foreign ministry said it was a calculated provocation designed to intimidate neighboring countries.

"This is further proof that Russia's aggressive and revisionist policy is a threat to the security of neighbouring countries and Europe as a whole," the department's statement said, per Lithuanian National Radio and Television.

Russian border guards last week also removed around 24 of 50 buoys that mark shipping routes on the Narva River — which marks the border with Russia, an incident that EU High Representative Josep Borrell labeled "unacceptable."

The Institute for the Study of War think tank said the move "set conditions to further question maritime borders and test NATO resolve."

Some officials have also warned that Russia may launch an attack on NATO within the next few years.

Troels Lund Poulsen, the Danish defense minister, told the Jyllands-Posten newspaper in February: "It cannot be ruled out that within a three- to five-year period, Russia will test Article 5 and NATO's solidarity. That was not NATO's assessment in 2023. This is new knowledge that is coming to the fore now," per Reuters.

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius told Der Tagesspiegel in January that while he didn't expect a Russian attack on Nato "for now," it could be possible within "a period of five to eight years."

However, some experts have said that Russia is in no position to make such a move, particularly after being weakened by the Ukraine conflict.

Putin himself said in March that he doesn't intend to attack any NATO members, saying such claims were "complete nonsense."

"The threat posed by Russia to NATO is unlikely to be an invasion; it's more likely to come from a range of other military and nonmilitary threats — what are often called hybrid threats," Ruth Deyermond, an expert on the Russian military at King's College London, previously told BI.

• Charles Leclerc won the Monaco Grand Prix after leading the entire race.
• The Monaco Grand Prix is the most glamorous event in Formula 1.
• The race attracts top celebrities, enhancing its prestigious appeal.

Formula 1 is one of the ritziest sports in the world, and the Monaco Grand Prix is its swankiest event.

Monégasque driver Charles Leclerc won his home race for the first time this year, leading the entire race.

While the race has struggled to keep up with the larger modern F1 cars, the Monaco Grand Prix is still the grand jewel of the racing series.

Off the track, the lure of the host city's glitz and glamour annually attracts some of the biggest celebrities in the world. Take a look at some of the A-list stars seen before and during the 2024 Monaco Grand Prix.

Joe Jonas

Joe Jonas is one-third of the Jonas Brothers.

John Legend

Singer John Legend was in Monaco and visited with Lewis Hamilton before the race.

Heidi Klum and Leni Klum

Heidi Klum is a supermodel, previously working as a Victoria's Secret Angel and gracing the cover of Sports Illustrated's swimsuit issue. Her daughter, Leni Klum, is also a model.

Travis Scott

Rapper and record producer Travis Scott was spotted on one of the boats in the harbor.

Princess Charlene and Prince Albert II of Monaco

It wouldn't be the Monaco Grand Prix without royalty. Albert is the second child of Prince Rainier III and Grace Kelly.

Michael Douglas

Actor Michael Douglas is a big racing fan and a regular at the Monaco Grand Prix.

Emily Ratajkowski

Model Emily Ratajkowski posed for the cameras at the Monaco Grand Prix.

Jared Leto

Actor and musician Jared Leto was on the grid before the race.

Winnie Harlow and Kyle Kuzma

Model Winnie Harlow and NBA star Kyle Kuzma posed together before the race.

Pia Wurtzbach

Filipina model and actor Pia Wurtzbach was Miss Universe 2015.

Tommy Hilfiger

Fashion designers Tommy Hilfiger and Dee Ocleppo Hilfiger were on hand to support Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton, who has his own line with Tommy Hilfiger.

Peggy Gou

Peggy Gou, a South Korean musician, performed for the crowd before the race.

Kylian Mbappé

Kylian Mbappé is a French footballer and one of the top players in the world. He flew the checkered flag at the end of the race.

Diplo

American DJ and music producer Diplo spent time at the race.

Alexandra Daddario

Alexandra Daddario, the "White Lotus" actor, posed in front of one of the Red Bull cars.

Khadja Nin

Khadja Nin is a singer from Burundi.

Anya Taylor-Joy

Anya Taylor-Joy took some time off from her "Furiosa" press tour to attend the Grand Prix.

Siya Kolisi

Siya Kolisi is one of the top rugby players in the world and captain of the South African national team.

Kevin Trapp and Izabel Goulart

Kevin Trapp is a Brazilian footballer, and Izabel Goulart is a Brazilian model.

Tony Parker and Agathe Teyssier

Former NBA star Tony Parker and model Agathe Teyssier posed in front of the boats in the bay.

Mikaela Shiffrin

American alpine skier Mikaela Shiffrin is a two-time Olympic gold medalist and five-time World Champion.

Virgil van Dijk

Dutch star footballer Virgil van Dijk watched the action from the Red Bull garage.

• Russia started its latest offensive prematurely and that "undermined" its success, experts said.
• The Institute for the Study of War said it started its Kharkiv attack with an "understrength force."
• Russia was trying to "establish a foothold before the arrival of resumed US military aid," it said.

Russia began its latest offensive in northern Ukraine too early and without enough soldiers because it wanted to get ahead of Western aid heading to Ukraine, experts said.

The Washington DC-based think tank the Institute for the Study of War said over the weekend that "Russian forces likely launched the offensive operation in northern Kharkiv Oblast earlier than intended with an understrength force hoping to establish a foothold before the arrival of resumed US military aid to the front made that task more difficult."

Congress voted to resume aid for Ukraine last month, after Republicans stalled for six months.

The $61 billion package could have a major impact on the battlefield.

Russia started its new offensive in Kharkiv, in northeast Ukraine, earlier this month.

The ISW said Russia was seemingly able to surprise Ukraine when it started the offensive, and made some gains in areas that Ukrainian officials said were not as well defended.

But, it added, "the likely premature start of Russian offensive operations appears to have undermined Russian success in northern Kharkiv Oblast."

The ISW said that Ukraine has subsequently boosted its defenses, so Russia's forces "have likely expended their tactical opportunity to make relatively rapid gains against lightly-held positions in this area."

Ukraine said earlier this month that it had slowed Russia's attack and that Russia had advanced no more than six miles into Ukrainian territory.

The ISW said that Russia seems to be trying to bring its Northern Grouping of Forces up to its planned strength before increasing operations in the region.

Ukrainian sources said this could mean up to 70,000 men, compared to about 35,000 at the start of the offensive.

But the ISW warned the force, even at 70,000, "will lack the necessary manpower needed to conduct a successful operation to envelop, encircle, or seize Kharkiv City."

Some US artillery and other military assets have already started to arrive in Ukraine, but other equipment will take longer to reach the front lines.

In April, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia was firing 10 times more artillery than Ukraine, and had 30 times more aircraft.

Soldiers in Ukraine told BI that the shortages meant they had to ration ammunition and not go after some of the same types of targets they would have earlier in the war.

Russia has tried to take advantage of Ukraine's shortages, such as trying to get it to use up its air defense missiles.

Despite the ISW's assessment, the situation is fast-moving and fast-changing, and does not look entirely positive for Ukraine.

Ukraine still has a major manpower and resource disadvantage compared to the much larger Russia.

On Sunday, Russia said it had taken the village of Berestove in the northeast of Kharkiv, though the claim has not been confirmed.

Zelenskyy, meanwhile, said on Saturday that Russian forces have had an eight-to-one casualty ratio compared to Ukraine, and the ISW said Ukraine took back some territory near the city of Vovchansk in the region last week.

• David Beckham is partnering with AliExpress this summer.
• Beckham will be the face of the "Score More" campaign running alongside the UEFA Euro 2024.
• Alibaba's competitors have also made big investments in their global audiences this year.

AliExpress, the international e-commerce site owned by Alibaba, is bringing on soccer star David Beckham as a brand ambassador.

The Chinese giant is upping its efforts to appeal to a global audience as rivals like Temu and Shein continue to gain popularity abroad. In February, Temu garnered attention for multiple ads during Super Bowl LVIII that the company reportedly paid millions for.

Enter Beckham, who will be a global ambassador for AliExpress as the face of its "Score More with AliExpress" campaign, the company announced Monday. The campaign will run through July 14 in line with the final game of the tournament set for the same day in Berlin.

In conjunction with the partnership with Beckham, AliExpress said it's investing millions of euros to sponsor the UEFA Euro 2024 tournament — beginning June 1 — and drive user engagement to its app. From June 14 to July 14, users can log in to the AliExpress app to access time-limited prizes offered every time a goal is scored.

"AliExpress is helping fans get even closer to UEFA Euro 2024 this summer, by offering them great prizes as the action takes place on the pitch," the former English national team captain said in a statement.

Over the past three years, Alibaba has faced pressure from the Chinese government, its successful rivals in the e-commerce space, and a $2.8 billion antitrust fine.

Employees received a page-long motivational memo from cofounder Jack Ma in April.

"This year, amid the many doubts and pressures on the company internally and externally, I saw the birth of a strong and brave Alibaba team," Ma said in the memo viewed by Reuters.

And, it would seem brand partnerships are a part of the strategy for Alibaba to secure its future.

"Whether you're a football fan or not, I can think of no-one better to show how easy it is to win with AliExpress during UEFA Euro 2024," Gary Topp, European Commercial Director, AliExpress, said about partnering with Beckham.

• Hollywood saw weak box office sales over Memorial Day weekend, despite new releases.
• Memorial Day weekend box office revenue is down 40% year-over-year.
• Studios hope upcoming releases like "Deadpool & Wolverine" will boost summer sales.

Hollywood is betting on movies like "Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga" and "Garfield" to bring people to movie theaters this summer, but box office sales were weak during the critical Memorial Day weekend.

Warner Bros. claimed "Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga" brought in $25.6 million in ticket sales through Sunday. Meanwhile, Sony expects "Garfield" to make $31.9 million from total Memorial Day weekend sales through Monday. The film studios self-reported ticket sales, and each reported their movies as the No. 1 film of the weekend.

It's the worst Memorial Day opening weekend for Hollywood since 1995 when "Casper" earned $22.5 million, The Associated Press reported. The numbers do not include ticket sales for 2020, when movie theaters were closed during COVID.

Memorial Day weekend sales for theaters in the United States and Canada are expected to be down 40% year-over-year, equivalent to $125 million, according to Comscore. 

To compare, "Top Gun: Maverick" raked in $160 million during its opening weekend in the summer of 2022, while 2023's "The Little Mermaid" made $119 million.

Film studios hope that films premiering later this summer, like Disney's "Deadpool & Wolverine" and "Inside Out 2," will boost the box office numbers to offset the initial sluggish sales. The release date for "Deadpool & Wolverine" was pushed from May 4 to July 26 after the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes delayed production.

Besides "Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga" and "Garfield," other top movies during Memorial Day weekend include Paramount's "If," which is expected to make $21 million through Monday, and 20th Century's "Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes," which is expected to make $17.1 million through Monday. Universal's "The Fall Guy" is expected to make $7.6 million through Monday.

• A review of remote jobs worldwide found data scientists earned $132,000 on average.
• Greenback Expat Tax Services reviewed 6,800 job listings and polled 1,000 Americans on remote work.
• Many Gen Z workers are interested in becoming digital nomads, seeking flexibility and travel.

If you're a data scientist working remotely, one thing you might enjoy analyzing is your paycheck.

A snapshot of remote gigs found that these workers, who know their way around a spreadsheet, earned about $132,000 on average. Next were business analysts, who brought in $100,000, and project managers, who earned $88,000.

The findings by Greenback Expat Tax Services, which provides tax services for expats, were based on a review of nearly 6,800 job listings posted on Indeed from around the world.

Greenback also surveyed about 1,000 Americans interested in becoming digital nomads. Among those polled, more than one-third said they weren't happy with cubicle life — or their commutes. Two in five were preparing to hit the road within the next year.

The curiosity about working remotely comes as some of these jobs are getting harder to land following return-to-office mandates. Indeed, some people are having a harder time finding lucrative desk jobs generally in the US, even as overall unemployment remains low.

Just over half of those surveyed were weighing leaving the US. Gen Z workers were most interested in heading abroad, with six in 10 saying they were considering becoming expats.

How much do you need to earn to make the switch to a remote job comfortable? About $72,000, according to the survey.

That's one reason staying stateside might make sense for some workers. In the US, the average pay for a remote data scientist role was $143,000. In fact, the US had the most remote work opportunities and the highest average pay for such roles at $100,000. France was next at $90,000, and Australia was at $79,000.

The review converted currencies to dollars.

Those Americans who want to get their passports stamped might consider Italy, Canada, and the UK. These were among the countries showing the most number of remote jobs, according to the study.

The primary jobs that Americans looking to ditch the office wanted to have were content creator and freelance writer. Close behind were virtual assistant and teacher.

The reasons survey respondents wanted to log on from somewhere else weren't surprising. Seven in 10 said their chief aim was the ability to work from anywhere. Nearly six in 10 pointed to greater flexibility.

Just over half said it was to travel or have adventures. And half said it was to achieve a better work-life balance. Yet, only about one in four said they intended to work remotely forever.

For some people, the flexibility of remote work is essential. Erik Braund, founder and CEO of Katmai, which uses video feeds to create virtual offices, told Business Insider in late 2023 that he'd worked side-by-side with a colleague since 2020. Yet Braund is based in the US, and his coworker is based in the Netherlands.

The ability to work virtually — while still being together — was the next best option to being alongside each other IRL, Braund said. The approach lets him better balance work with the rest of his life.

"I missed the first two years of my first kid's life. I didn't miss the first two years of my second kid's life," Braund said.

• Meta's AI chief Yann LeCun mocked Elon Musk on X over his xAI recruitment drive.
• The spat follows xAI announcing it had raised $6 billion in Series B funding.
• LeCun criticized Musk's AI predictions and claims of free speech absolutism.

Elon Musk is getting dragged by Meta's AI chief on his own platform.

Yann LeCun, Meta's leading AI scientist, poked fun at Musk on X on Monday over his attempt to recruit AI workers for his $24 billion firm xAI.

The pair have been embroiled in a fresh spat since Musk's xAI announced Sunday that it had raised $6 billion in a Series B funding round.

On Monday, Musk posted a call to tech workers to join his company: "Join xAI if you believe in our mission of understanding the universe, which requires maximally rigorous pursuit of the truth, without regard to popularity or political correctness."

LeCun, who has publicly feuded with Musk in the past, was quick to respond to Musk's post.

He wrote: "Join xAI if you can stand a boss who: – claims that what you are working on will be solved next year (no pressure). – claims that what you are working on will kill everyone and must be stopped or paused (yay, vacation for 6 months!). – claims to want a 'maximally rigorous pursuit of the truth' but spews crazy-ass conspiracy theories on his own social platform."

LeCun was referring to Musk's claim in April that artificial general intelligence will arrive by next year, a prediction that he doubled down on last week, as well as his estimate of there being a 10-20% chance that AI could destroy humanity.

The "godfather of AI" also took a jab at Musk's claims of being a free-speech absolutist and for sharing unverified claims on X.

The platform took down a post that Musk re-shared in March because it violated X's own rules.

The tech rivals have quarreled online since at least 2017 and often don't see eye-to-eye. LeCun snapped at Musk in March, and disputed his claim that AI "will probably be smarter than any single human next year."

xAI's sole product so far is a chatbot called Grok, which was trained using data from Twitter, now called X, including Musk's posts.

Elon Musk didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

• Silverleaf Village in Scottsdale, Arizona, is the city's most exclusive and expensive community.
• The residential area boasts Scottsdale's most expensive home, a $54 million mega-mansion.
• I got a private tour of the village with 24-hour guards and a championship golf course.

In the canyons beneath a mountain range dotted with cacti is Silverleaf Village, the most exclusive and expensive residential community in Scottsdale, Arizona.

In a city with a rapidly growing millionaire population, Silverleaf had an average selling price of $5.5 million in 2023, according to a representative of the neighborhood. And it's home to the most expensive residence on the market in Scottsdale — a mega-mansion listed for $54 million.

The village is in the 4,400-acre residential community of DC Ranch. Last month, I got an exclusive tour of the entire neighborhood's four villages, and Silverleaf stood out as the most elite, with custom estates and an exclusive clubhouse.

Take a look around the luxury desert oasis that Scottsdale's richest locals call home.

Silverleaf Village is in North Scottdale.

Silverleaf is on the east side of DC Ranch in North Scottsdale. The village is nestled in the canyons of the McDowell Mountains.

The village has 16 gated neighborhoods.

According to the DC Ranch website, the neighborhoods are guarded 24 hours a day.

The homes are a mix of luxury villas and custom estates.

Silverleaf's street signs have a fancy look, with curled details on the posts and serif fonts. According to the neighborhood's website, the homes were built in Spanish and Mediterranean Revival-style architecture.

The elevated signage, paired with mansions reminiscent of Italian castles and Greek villas, made me feel like I was somewhere in Europe.

Within the village is a private club with a golf course, a spa, pools, and restaurants.

Since the clubhouse is so exclusive, I wasn't able to access it with my media tour guide. But according to the club's website, it's a 50,000-square-foot space with casual and fine dining, a world-class spa, and both resort-style and lap pools.

I did get a peek at the championship golf course. It sprawls 18 holes over 7,322 yards and is surrounded by hills and succulents.

The homes with the highest elevation appeared to be the most luxurious.

Driving up the mountain, I noticed the houses looked more like mega-mansions. They had long, walled driveways leading up to estates with multiple buildings.

The village is still developing.

Toward the top of Silverleaf Village, I spotted several empty sites ready for more custom estates to be built. According to the neighborhood's website, luxury condos are also in the works.

From the top of Silverleaf, residents have a view of Scottsdale.

The top of Silverleaf had the best views in DC Ranch. Past the mansions and cacti dotting the canyon, I spotted golfing greens and a runway at Scottsdale Airport, where the wealthy park private jets.

With massive estates, luxury amenities, and jaw-dropping views, it was easy to see why Silverleaf Village is the most expensive place to live in Scottsdale.

• Amazon Fresh is cutting prices on about 4,000 products through weekly sales.
• Shoppers will be able to get discounts online and at the retailer's stores.
• Walmart and Target have also cut prices as customers deal with the long-term effects of inflation.

Amazon is the latest major retailer to cut grocery prices.

The retail giant will drop prices on about 4,000 items — some by up to 30% — at its Amazon Fresh chain, the company told CNN. The discounts will vary by week and apply both at Fresh stores and on the grocer's website. The lower prices will also affect products from national brands as well as those under Amazon's store brands.

"Increasing our weekly deals across thousands of items and expanding the reach of Prime Savings at Amazon Fresh is just one way that we're continuing to invest in competitive pricing and savings for all of our customers – both in-store and online," Claire Peters, worldwide vice president with Amazon Fresh, told CNN.

Prime members continue to get a 10% discount on hundreds of items, Amazon said.

Amazon has built a network of 44 Fresh stores, according to its website. But along the way, Amazon has closed some Fresh stores and canceled some store openings.

Inflation has been pushing food prices higher over the past few years. And while the rate of price increases has stalled, there have been few signs of groceries actually getting cheaper until recently.

Some consumers have even turned to gardening or extreme couponing to save money on food.

Amazon is the latest retailer to cut prices in an effort to encourage shoppers to buy more.

Last week, Target announced it would cut prices on about 5,000 items after it reported its fourth consecutive quarter of same-store sales declines. The price cuts will apply to a range of groceries and personal care items, from frozen pizza to sunscreen.

Walmart also announced similar reductions earlier this month.

• US law firms are increasingly poaching top UK lawyers.
• Latham & Watkins has been particularly aggressive in its targeting of London-based talent.
• Latham's tactics point to a wider trend in the industry.

US law firms are pushing ahead with their bid to dominate the City of London's legal scene.

Latham & Watkins, the world's second-largest law firm by revenue, is just one such firm targeting the UK market.

Last year, Latham poached top capital markets lawyer Mark Austin from Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, a member of the "magic circle" — a term used to describe five elite UK law firms.

While he wasn't the first lawyer in the City to depart for a US company, the move for Austin, who had worked on the listings of companies like Deliveroo, was big.

"To get the guy who has the longest IPO list in the country and is now synonymous with the capital markets through his work with the government . . . was a big hire," one partner at a magic circle firm told the Financial Times.

Latham & Watkins now counts almost 500 lawyers in its London office, according to its website. It has lured at least 15 partners from rivals in the City over the last three years, the FT reported.

The firm has also been involved in a number of high-profile deals in the capital this year, including advising UK cybersecurity company Darktrace plc on its $5.3 billion acquisition by Thoma Bravo.

Latham's aggressive plays point to a wider trend in the industry that is seeing elite UK firms forced into submission by more profitable US counterparts.

"The problem for UK firms is that there is only so much truly premium local legal work around," Scott Gibson, a director at London legal recruiting firm Edwards Gibson, told Bloomberg Law.

"As long as US private equity continues to drive the market, the rest of the UK global elite will keep trying to break the US. They have no choice if they want to stay elite," he added.

And thanks to a weakened pound post-Brexit, it has been easier than ever for US firms to attract British legal talent.

Earlier this month, US firm Quinn Emanuel raised its starting salaries for junior lawyers in the UK to £180,000, or nearly $230,000, putting pressure on others to follow suit.

The move followed news that UK firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer had increased base pay for new lawyers to £150,000, which is around $192,000.

Another blow to the magic circle came in May 2023, when another elite UK firm, Allen & Overy, merged with New York-based Shearman & Sterling, creating a huge new firm with around 3,900 lawyers and 800 Partners across 49 offices.

It remains to be seen how the rest of the magic circle will try to keep pace with the US.