Category: Business Insider

• For months, Israel and Ukraine aid has been stalling in the House. That may be about to change.
• Speaker Johnson is planning separate votes on the aid in order to ease GOP opposition.
• It's a complicated process, but it could work. Here's what to know about the plan.

For months, the House has been sitting on a bill that would provide aid to Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan, and humanitarian funding for Gaza.

The Senate passed the $95.3 billion package in February after a plan to attach the bill to increased border security measures failed. But many, if not most, House Republicans are opposed to further Ukraine aid, and House Speaker Mike Johnson now has to deal with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's threat to call a vote on his ouster if he allows more Ukraine aid to pass.

So Johnson has a plan: hold separate votes on the key parts of that package — one for Israel, one for Ukraine, and two more on other major components — and then bundle it up and send it to the Senate.

Votes could come as soon as Friday, but may slip into the weekend. The devil's in the details here, and as of Wednesday morning, the text of the legislation has not been released publicly. It remains unclear whether humanitarian aid for Gaza — a key priority for most Democrats — will be included.

But while they're generally skeptical of the plan, and would prefer that the House simply pass the Senate's bill, Democrats in both chambers sound willing to hear out Johnson.

"I'm willing to keep an open mind, but man, why not just do the easy thing?" Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut told reporters on Tuesday, saying Johnson's plan doesn't "sound like a recipe for success."

Johnson also has to contend with anger from the hard right, and potentially growing support for Greene's ouster effort.

Here's what to know about Johnson's unconventional Ukraine plan.

Many Republicans oppose Ukraine aid, while Democrats are increasingly skeptical of Israel aid

Johnson's plan is aimed at addressing two separate pockets of opposition to the foreign aid package.

After October 7, the Biden administration and Senate leaders insisted on tying Israel and Ukraine aid together, with the idea being that including Israel aid would incentivize Republicans to swallow more Ukraine aid.

Republicans, hoping to avoid that, have made numerous attempts at passing Israel aid on its own, but they've either failed or been stalled in the Democratic-controlled Senate.

Democrats unanimously support Ukraine aid, and there are plenty of Republicans — including Johnson, a former Ukraine skeptic — who feel the same, meaning a majority of the House would vote to approve it.

But as the war in Gaza has unfolded, and the Democratic base has increasingly turned against the war as civilian casualties mount, Democrats have grown to be either outright opposed to the Israel aid or supportive of conditions.

Johnson's plan is designed to allow progressive Democrats to vote against Israel aid, while hard-right Republicans can vote against the Ukraine aid — all while allowing the whole package to move forward.

Nancy Pelosi pulled off a version of this back in 2007

There's some precedent for what Johnson's trying to do here.

After retaking the House in 2007, Democrats faced pressure to continue funding the War in Iraq — but most House Democrats were opposed to that.

To solve the issue, then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tied the funding to an increase to the federal minimum wage, while keeping the votes separate.

Thus, Democrats got a win — increasing the minimum wage by $2.10 — while Iraq war funding passed the House and made it to then-President George W. Bush's desk.

The hard-right is still furious, and Johnson could face a vote to oust him

Many hard-right Republicans remain opposed to this plan, and on Tuesday, Greene won a new ally: Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, who is co-sponsoring the Georgia congresswoman's "motion to vacate" and is now calling on Johnson to resign.

Of course, both Greene and Massie are outliers among House Republicans — they were the only two lawmakers to vote against every single Russia-related bill following the start of the Ukraine war in 2022 — but Johnson has little room for error given Republicans' dwindling vote margin.

Several Democrats have said they would oppose an effort to oust Johnson, a break from their unanimous support for Kevin McCarthy's ouster in October.

But some of those Democrats have conditioned that promise on the passage of more Ukraine aid, and it's unclear if Johnson's plan will satisfy them.

"In the absence of an organized, logical demonstration of leadership, I'm not making any promises," said Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger of Virginia, who previously indicated a willingness to save Johnson in exchange for more Ukraine aid.

This story will be updated when the text of Johnson's bill is released.

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• The situation for Ukraine is becoming increasingly desperate. 
• It's running out of vital military equipment amid a block of US aid. 
• The picture is not totally catastrophic — but Ukraine's leaders are warning that Russia could win. 

Ukraine's chances of victory in its two-year battle to repel Russia's brutal invasion appear to be fading.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine's president, is warning with increasing urgency that his country could lose the war if it doesn't get $60 billion in US aid that Republicans in Congress are refusing to release.

"Can we hold our ground? No," Zelenskyy recently told PBS of Ukraine's prospects should it not get the funding.

Ukraine's foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, was just as blunt in a recent interview.

"Give us the damn Patriots," he told Politico in March, referring to the US-made air defense systems used to defend Russian missiles, which are pummelling Ukrainian cities and infrastructure.

On the front line in east and south Ukraine, reports say the situation is increasingly desperate, with Russia outfiring Ukraine at a rate of three to one. Parts of the front line are also dangerously close to collapse.

Senior Ukrainian military officials, talking to Politico, said that Russia could break through wherever it focuses its anticipated summer offensive.

Russia will likely be able to "penetrate the front line and to crash it in some parts," they told the outlet.

"I would say the conditions now are probably more favorable for a Russian breakthrough than at any time since the opening stages of the war," Bryden Spurling, an analyst with the RAND Corporation, told Business Insider.

The aid block is also making it increasingly difficult for Ukraine to defend its cities and critical infrastructure, such as power stations, from waves of Russian missile and drone attacks.

Last year, Ukraine was able to shoot down 90% of Russian attacks using Patriot air defense systems, but that number has now dropped to around 30% for some attacks. Meanwhile, Russia is intensifying its air strikes to exploit the growing gaps.

Ukraine is also experiencing serious problems recruiting enough troops. It doesn't regularly release its military casualty figures, but in the fall of last year, US officials estimated that there had been up to 190,000 soldiers killed or wounded.

Russia, with its much bigger population, has boosted the size of its military, making up for steep early losses, a US State Department official said in early April.

After suffering huge equipment losses in the early days of the war, Russia has shifted its economy to a war footing, producing a steady supply of ammunition, while allies, such as Iran and North Korea, provide drones and rockets.

Putin's strategy of waiting for Western resolve to weaken, for Ukraine's crucial aid supplies to dwindle, and then grinding out some form of victory, appears to have been vindicated.

Without the US aid package, "the risk of a Russian breakthrough rises substantially," said Spurling. "Even at best, it limits Ukraine's options, and ultimately leads to more Ukrainian lives and materiel lost," he added.

The role of the West

Ukraine is on a "starvation diet" for aid, George Barros, an expert at the Institute for the Study of War, told BI.

In an interview with BI's Sinéad Baker, one US volunteer fighting for Ukraine wholly attributed the loss of the town of Avdiivka to a lack of ammunition.

Western equipment, like tanks, were sent in "symbolic" amounts, Barros said.

This doesn't just weaken Ukraine's volume of fire — it can torpedo the whole approach to battle planning.

Scarcity of equipment leads officers to treat it like "the golden goose," because they don't know when more is coming, Barros said, adding: "It forces them to operate differently, be extremely conservative, not have the comfort to be able to take acceptable losses."

The US' months-long hesitation to send ATACMS ballistic missiles to Ukraine ahead of its counteroffensive last year was a case in point.

"It was really painful to watch" Ukraine start attacking the southern region of Zaporizhzhia without them, Barros said. ATACMS would have been able to take out an air base in Berdyansk being used by Russian helicopters.

Instead, Western-supplied German Leopard tanks attempting to advance in the counteroffensive were "shredded" by the helicopters, he said.

"From a campaign design perspective, it's very frustrating because ideally, the Ukrainians should have had the capability to strike that Russian attack helicopter base on day zero," he said.

It was the first thing they took out when ATACMS finally arrived.

Those battlefield frustrations have worsened an already-difficult political situation back in the US.

Barros said there are "bad faith debaters and policymakers" who "point to a failed Ukrainian summer 2023 counteroffensive and then say, 'Look at all this money we've given Ukraine. Look at all the stuff we've given Ukraine.' But they don't bother to actually take in the facts of the matter."

Alternately hyping and catastrophizing around the impact of any given Western weapon system, and Ukraine's military prospects in general, is leading to "a very dysfunctional discussion," Justin Bronk, an air power expert at London's Royal United Services Institute, told BI.

It leads to "unrealistic expectations often being set and claimed by both Western partners and the Ukrainian side, in order to try and counterbalance extremely overly negative views," he said.

Speculative talks have emerged of a potential NATO-led, five-year $100 billion fund for Ukraine — conceived as part of moves designed to give the US less individual sway over the country's fate.

Such a fund and the promise of reliable aid in the long term would give commanders the ability to plan their battles far more effectively. But these proposals will only be finalized in July, diplomats told Politico — and there is no guarantee they will get off the ground.

Russian military weaknesses could hamper its advances

Ukraine is taking urgent action to shore up its defenses ahead of an anticipated massive Russian attack in the summer.

It's constructing thousands of miles of multi-layered defensive lines to protect its territory, mirroring Russia's construction of similarly formidable defensive lines last year.

But Mykola Bielieskov, an advisor to Ukraine's military leadership at the National Institute for Strategic Studies in Kyiv, told the iPaper that such defenses have to be defended by artillery fire to be effective — and that's what Ukraine's running short on.

"In-depth defense reinforced with obstacles only works if buttressed with proper firepower," he told the publication.

Ukraine continues to achieve striking successes despite being outgunned and outmanned by Russia, and its resolve remains steadfast.

Its long-range drone strikes are seriously impacting Russia's oil and gas sector, which it relies on to fund its campaign in Ukraine, while Ukraine's innovative, inexpensive sea drones have devastated Russia's Black Sea Fleet, helping keep a crucial maritime corridor open for Ukraine's grain exports.

Analysts also say that weaknesses in Russia's military are limiting the Kremlin's ability to take advantage of the situation. Despite Ukraine's weaknesses, Russia has so far only been able to make incremental gains this year, such as seizing control of the city of Avdiivkva in February.

Russia has long suffered serious problems with inept officers, an excessively rigid command structure, and low morale among troops who are often thrown into high-casualty, head-on assaults on Ukrainian positions.

Spurling said the high loss of armored vehicles to Ukrainian drones and Russia's failure to establish dominance of the air could also hamper a planned offensive.

"These things will make it harder for Russia to exploit any breach in the Ukrainian lines," he said.

What would Ukraine's defeat look like?

But if no more US aid is forthcoming and Ukraine's European allies fail to boost supplies to make up for the shortfall, Ukraine will likely be staring at the prospect of defeat. What form that defeat would likely take, though, is unclear.

George Beebe, a former Director of the CIA's Russia analysis unit, told BI that Russia appears to have neither the resources nor the desire to seize all of Ukraine.

"Russia could not conquer all of Ukraine without mustering an invasion force many times the size of its present army, and occupying and governing that territory would be enormously bloody and expensive for Russia. The odds that it would attempt to do so are therefore miniscule," said Beebe.

He said that Russia would likely seek to seize more territory east of the Dnipro River that it sees as rightfully Russian and create a "no man's land" and heavy fortifications separating the parts of Ukraine it's seized from the rest of the country.

Despite the setbacks, Ukraine is continuing to resist Russia's attacks ferociously. Spurling said that the course of the war has so far defied predictions.

"For Ukraine to suffer total defeat, we'd need to see a major collapse in Ukrainian lines and morale," he said. "Given Ukraine's ongoing resilience and the challenges Russia's own military is facing, I think it's a low risk. But it's not zero."

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• Tesla is done with Delaware.
• Elon Musk has disapproved of Delaware ever since a judge there ruled against his massive pay package.
• Now the company wants shareholders to move the company to Texas officially.

Tesla wants to abandon Delaware and make Texas its official home.

In a proxy statement filed with the SEC on Wednesday, Tesla asked shareholders to approve moving the electric car company's incorporation from its current location in Delaware to Texas, where its headquarters are.

"Texas Is Tesla's Home. 2024 is the year that Tesla should move home to Texas," the proxy statement reads. "We have received letters from thousands of Tesla stockholders — large and small — supporting a move home to Texas. We have heard you, and now we formally ask that you speak in a meaningful way: and vote in favor of taking Tesla to our business home of Texas."

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been feuding with Delaware since a judge there ruled in January against approving Musk's $55 billion pay package, which a shareholder had argued in a 2018 lawsuit was too excessive.

"Never incorporate your company in the state of Delaware," Musk wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on January 30 following the judge's decision.

Now, shareholders will have a chance to make good on Musk's threats to bail.

The proxy statement also asks shareholders to re-approve Musk's pay package, which is now valued at $47 billion. Shareholders are scheduled to vote on both proposals — the move and the pay package — in June.

Before then, Tesla will announce its quarterly earnings next Tuesday, on the heels of sweeping layoffs this week to more than 10% of the company's workforce.

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• Iran appeared to target Israel's Nevatim Airbase with over 350 drones and missiles on Sunday.
• Nevatim houses Israel's F-35I "Adir" stealth fighter jets produced by US company Lockheed-Martin.
• The planes downed a cruise missile in November and aided defenses against Iranian missiles, the IDF said.

Early Sunday morning, Iran fired hundreds of drones, missiles, and rockets at Israel in a retaliatory attack following Israel's strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria.

With military assistance from allies including the US, the UK, Jordan, and France, Israel successfully intercepted around 99% of the incoming projectiles, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

The missiles appeared to target Israel's Nevatim Airbase in the Negev desert, which houses its fleet of F-35I stealth fighter jets. The Israeli variant of the US-made Lockheed Martin Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter plane is known as "Adir," meaning "Mighty One" in Hebrew.

Here's a look at the powerful military aircraft.

F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter jets produced by Lockheed Martin are some of the most advanced military aircraft in the world.

The F-35 stores its weapons and fuel internally, and its aligned edges and radar-absorbent coating also help the aircraft evade detection. The planes cost $44,000 per hour to fly, The National Interest reported in January.

They feature advanced stealth and information-processing capabilities and can reach supersonic speeds of Mach 1.6, or 548.8 meters per second.

Lockheed Martin CEO Marillyn A. Hewson said in 2018 that the planes "can fly in what we call 'beast mode,' carrying up to 18,000 pounds of internal and external ordnance, in a mix that can include 5,000-pound-class weapons."

In 2016, Israel became the first country other than the US to acquire F-35 fighter jets.

Israel was the first country to select the model through the US Foreign Military Sales process and bought 50 planes, according to Lockheed Martin.

Israel has made significant modifications to the jets.

Israel manufactures its own wings and electronic warfare system for the F-35I. It also developed its own version of the high-tech helmet that displays the plane's airspeed, altitude, targeting information, and other crucial stats directly on the pilot's visor.

The Israeli Air Force named its F-35I variant "Adir," meaning "Mighty One" in Hebrew.

The Israeli Air Force also added a six-pointed Star of David to the design, a Jewish symbol that also appears on the Israeli flag.

In 2018, Israel became the first country to use the F-35I in combat, its air force chief said.

"We are flying the F-35 all over the Middle East and have already attacked twice on two different fronts," then-Israeli Air Force chief Major-General Amikam Norkin said in a speech at a gathering of foreign air force leaders, Reuters reported.

In July 2023, Israel acquired an additional 25 Adir planes in a $3 billion deal.

The deal was financed through the military aid Israel receives from the US, Reuters reported.

In November 2023, Israel's F-35I Adir fighter jets took down a missile fired by an Iran-backed group in Yemen, according to the IDF.

It was the first known intercept of a cruise missile by an F-35 plane.

The Israeli Air Force released footage of the encounter on X, writing in Hebrew that its personnel are "preoccupied at every moment with planning and managing the defense response and are prepared for any threat in any area."

Iran appeared to target the Nevatim air base, which houses Israel's fleet of F-35I jets, during an unprecedented attack on Sunday morning.

Out of the over 350 ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and UAVs, or unmanned aerial vehicles, launched at Israel by Iran and its proxies in Iraq, Yemen, and Lebanon, around 99% were intercepted by Israel and its allies. The IDF released photos showing minor damage near a runway at the Nevatim Airbase and to a road in Hermon caused by the few projectiles that landed.

The Nevatim base remained operational throughout the attack, according to the IDF, with the Adir fighter jets aiding the defensive mission.

"Iran thought it would be able to paralyze the base and thus damage our air capabilities, but it failed," IDF spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said in a statement.

The ongoing war in Gaza has prompted new scrutiny of US military aid to Israel.

The October 7 terrorist attacks carried out by Hamas killed around 1,200 Israelis and captured over 240. Around 129 hostages remain in Gaza, though it is unknown how many are still alive.

Israel's counteroffensive airstrikes and military actions in Gaza have resulted in over 33,000 Palestinian fatalities, including around 14,500 children, according to figures provided to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs by the Hamas-run Ministry of Health in Gaza. The IDF reports that 13,000 of these fatalities were Hamas militants.

According to the UNRWA, over 1.7 million Gazans have been displaced and 1.1 million are at risk of "catastrophic levels of food insecurity."

The devastating human toll of the war in Gaza with US-funded planes like the F-35I has prompted new scrutiny of US aid to Israel, with some lawmakers in Congress raising the possibility of conditioning military and economic aid.

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• Tesla has begun sending severance information to laid-off staff.
• The severance offered includes two months' pay and health insurance, five former workers told BI.
• On Sunday, Elon Musk told Tesla staff he was cutting more than 10% of the company's workforce.

Tesla has started sending out severance information to laid-off employees.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk told staff the electric-car maker was slashing more than 10% of its workforce on Sunday night, according to an internal memo viewed by Business Insider. In the individual layoff notices to impacted workers that were sent in the hours after Musk's companywide email, Tesla told workers they'd receive their severance information "within 48 hours," according to emails viewed by BI.

The emails, which were sent to the workers' personal email accounts, notified staff they had been terminated effective immediately. The workers were also cut out of Tesla's internal systems around the same time, several former workers said.

The carmaker appears to be offering workers two months of severance — meaning the workers will be paid through June 14, five former workers told Business Insider. The severance packages did not appear to be weighted based on the length of time workers had been with Tesla, as workers with anywhere from a few months to several years of experience at Tesla received the same number of weeks paid out, the five sources told BI.

Under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN), companies that have more than 100 workers are required to provide 60 days of notice before a large-scale layoff. However, Tesla's severance offer could address any potential penalties if it were found to have violated the WARN Act, which says laid-off employees can be entitled to up to 60 days of pay and benefits if not given proper advanced notice.

Tesla is also offering to pay the cost of COBRA health insurance for two months for workers who had coverage through the company, according to a severance package offer viewed by BI.

In order to receive the severance pay, laid-off workers must sign the contract being offered, which prohibits them from participating in any lawsuit or mass arbitration against the company, sharing any of the company's trade secrets or publicly defaming Tesla. These types of clauses are relatively standard for severance agreements.

Tesla said the severance agreement must be signed within five business days of its receipt and workers will receive their severance pay 45 days after their termination date, according to a severance agreement viewed by BI.

While the severance information appears to have started going out overnight, several Tesla workers who were impacted by the layoff told BI they had yet to receive a severance information as of Wednesday morning.

The severance agreement did not include any information regarding equity awards or unused PTO. An exit email that was sent to laid-off employees on Tuesday said Tesla workers had "either 30 days or 3 months (or both)" from their termination date to exercise their vested stock options and staff would have their PTO that they'd accrued leading up to their termination date paid out in their final paycheck.

A spokesperson for Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Do you work for Tesla or have a tip? Reach out to the reporter via a non-work email and device at gkay@businessinsider.com

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• My family moved from Maryland to Florida over 7 years ago, when my teens were in elementary school.
• From hurricane parties to political protests, I've experienced a lot and I love living here.
• Florida is more than just Walt Disney World and gators, but both of those exist here.

It's been over seven years since my husband and I chose to relocate our family from Maryland to Florida. It's a decision I've never regretted once, but living in the Sunshine State is very different from life in the Northeast.

Aside from the obvious things like no snow and exponentially more humidity, there's a different political vibe down South and a lot more Southern hospitality. Plus, Disney World is here, which makes me — a journalist who covers theme parks — very happy.

Since arriving here, we've lived in the same place — a concrete, hurricane-proof bunker of a beach house that's steps from the ocean. My kids, who were 6 and 8 when we arrived in Florida, are now 13 and 15. They've grown up eating mangoes fresh from the neighbor's tree, hanging out at the beach, and spending summers at surf camp. 

The life we've built here in our tiny beach town is what I love most about Florida, but such a drastic move is not without its surprises. Here are some things that have given me pause since we arrived as a caravan of cars, kids, dogs, and moving vans in 2016.

We don't actually see many alligators.

I definitely thought there'd be more gator action in the state of Florida — after all, the American alligator is the state reptile.

Although I've seen an occasional gator floating in a pond or sunning itself on the roadside, they aren't running rampant in the streets of Florida as I'd imagined. Instead, when we want to see gators, we go to Gatorland, one of my favorite Florida theme parks.

Driving here isn't always the best, and it can take us a long time to get to most places around Florida.

Whether we're trying to get across the state to visit family or head south to cities like Miami, we're constantly amazed at how long it takes us to get anywhere using Florida's road system. 

There can be a lot of traffic and, in my opinion, there just aren't fast ways to connect from one major highway to another in Florida.

The Florida heat doesn't actually bother us much.

Well-meaning friends and family warned us about moving to a state that has consistently hot weather. But for us, summer in Florida with temperatures regularly hitting over 80 degrees Fahrenheit in August feels no different from a hot, humid August in Maryland.

Fortunately, the super-hot weather typically lasts just a few months out of the year. The rest of the year is blissfully breezy, warm, and sunny, without the extreme heat.

There's really good food in Florida, but I feel like we have to look harder for it.

When we lived close to Baltimore and Washington, DC, we had access to any type of cuisine we desired, as varied as Ethiopian and Thai.

In Florida, I've found that delicious food from different cultures exists but it can be harder for us to find. Do I drive 45 minutes to the best Indian restaurant in the area? Yes, but I have no regrets.

Orlando is also way more than just theme parks.

We live about a 90-minute drive away from Orlando, which has been nicknamed the "theme park capital of the world."

When we first moved to the area, we only visited the city to experience its theme parks. Now we know there's so much more to Orlando, such as museums, parks, and fun downtown areas to explore.

Still, having easy access to theme parks has not gotten old.

My family still spends a lot of time at theme parks such as Disney World and Universal Orlando — we haven't gotten sick of living close to them even after seven years. 

When you live within driving distance of theme parks, it's easier to enjoy them for just a bit and then head home. I don't miss the days when my kids were small and we'd plan theme-park trips from Maryland, exhausting ourselves by squeezing everything into a weeklong vacation.

Hurricane season is a blend of concern and celebration.

The first year we lived in Florida, a major hurricane hit our town. The next year, we were faced with another that seemed equally menacing.

By our third hurricane season, we'd purchased a generator and started thinking harder about whether or not to evacuate our home. Hurricanes can cause devastating damage but we've found some Floridians try to make the most of a looming storm when possible.

After a few years, we've hosted (and attended) a few hurricane parties where people wait out the storm together with food and drinks. If you host or attend one, though, just be sure to exercise caution and stay alert. 

Yes, things can get pretty political… even when you're not expecting it.

Anyone who pays remote attention to the national news cycle knows we've got a lot going on politically in the Sunshine State. It was different to experience it firsthand once we moved here.

I'll never forget when I received the Trump pin pictured above. My family was stopped at a traffic light and a group of protesters, upset about the outcome of the 2022 election, came up to our car window, handed us a Donald Trump button, and tried talking to us about the election.

When the light turned green, we kept on moving.

Golf carts are a huge part of daily life in some parts of Florida.

I never knew street-legal golf carts were a thing until arriving in my tiny beach neighborhood. Here, many people, including police officers and delivery drivers, use golf carts instead of cars. 

There are golf carts in the school pickup line and special golf-carts-only parking spaces at restaurants. I also sometimes see teens I know aren't old enough to have a driver's license flying through my neighborhood behind the wheel.

I've been laying down hints to my husband that I want my own golf cart for my birthday, but until then, I'll catch a ride with cart-owning friends.

This story was originally published on August 4, 2023 and most recently updated on April 17, 2024.

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• Bridgemans ServicesGroup operates a fleet of former cruise ships turned into hotels. 
• Its "floatels" are designed to house workers during long-term projects.
• See its largest 652-cabin floatel with a game room and buffet.

Some old and unwanted cruise ships meet their demise at ship-breaking yards, where they are disassembled and sold for scrap.

Other vessels find a more fortunate fate, receiving a second chance to do what they already do best: serve as floating hotels.

Canada-based Bridgemans Services Group buys and charters former cruise ships to turn into "floatels," outfitted with standard cruise amenities like daily housekeeping, buffets, and relaxing lounges.

But the ships aren't designed to transport tourists from one destination to another anymore. Instead, companies turn to Bridgeman when they need to house workers for a long-term project, whether it be the construction of an offshore wind farm in Europe or the shooting of a major film in a remote destination.

Floatels can accommodate workers in remote destinations where hotels might not be an option.

In more metropolitan areas, Bridgemans says its ships could lessen the stress an inundation of workers might have on the local housing market.

And once they are no longer needed, the vessels depart and "leave no trace behind," the company said.

Over the last decade, Bridgemans has deployed its ships for 15 projects on every continent, Brian Grange, the company's president, told Business Insider.

Grange said that its deployments — most often for liquified natural gas companies — last for an average of two years.

In the past, it has also provided accommodations for MSC Cruises at its Ocean Cay private island and housing for more than 1,000 workers in the Philippines' on a project for the Manila International Airport during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The company's three ships range from 150 to 652 cabins.

The floatel operator acquired its largest ship, the 561-foot-long MV Isabelle X, in 2023.

In its past life, the 35-year-old vessel sailed around the Baltic Sea as one of Estonia-based Tallink Gruipp's cruise ships.

But gone are its days of leisurely cruising. The 35,000 gross-ton ship is now on its first deployment in Howe Sound, just north of Vancouver, where it's housing more than 600 workers who are building Woodfibre LNG's "net zero" LNG export facility.

Isabelle X underwent a six-month retrofit before it was sent to Howe Sound.

The process included updating the ship's cabins and adding amenities like a game room and an 8,000-square-foot gym.

The latter two are especially important: "We need to make sure we delineate between work and home," Grange told BI. "We have to create a social environment on board these vessels that makes it attractive for workforces around the world."

During their free time, workers can play billiards, relax in the outdoor lounge, or use the ship’s WiFi to catch up on social media.

The sports lounge has large television screens, while the games lounge has darts, ping pong tables, and air hockey.

The 'quiet lounges' are the go-to space for people who need to unwind after a long work day.

Or, they could recharge and catch up on the latest shows in their cabins, which all come with desks, storage, and 32-inch televisions.

Like a typical cruise ship, Bridgemans' vessels have buffets with live cooking stations, a dessert bar, and the occasional themed night.

The ships' chefs tailor their menus to the demographic and dietary restrictions of the workers on board, the company's president told BI.

Residents can expect at least four protein options, plenty of veggies, and handmade bread and desserts.

Unlike most cruise lines, Bridgemans can pre-purchase all the food it needs before deployment.

Grange says this allows the ships to maintain food quality and consistency in remote locations.

Remember that deployment in the Philippines during COVID-19? He said the ship had packed almost 800 tons of food ahead of the project.

He wouldn’t disclose the cost to rent one of Bridgemans’ floatels.

But he did note that the cost of a cabin on the Woodfibre LNG project in Howe Sound is comparable to a hotel room in nearby Vancouver, as is the case with most of its projects near major cities.

The company’s most recent acquisition, the 150-cabin Diamond XI, is currently being retrofitted and would be ready for deployment this year.

According to the company's president, the vessel is small and high-end, likely to be used for sporting events and movie shoots.

It could also be the start of a greater expansion: He hopes to add two or three more vessels to its fleet in the next five years.

"The world has opened up to this as a valued alternative to housing," Grange told BI.

Who knows, the next time you see a cruise ship off the coast, there's a slim but possible chance it could be housing workers — not vacationers.

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• In a survey, 49% of business leaders said knowing how to use ChatGPT could top having a degree.
• About three-quarters of leaders say mandating the use of the AI tool can boost worker productivity.
• Despite this, 36% of respondents didn't see ChatGPT experience as more valuable than a degree.

If you ask ChatGPT whether it makes more sense to learn how to use the artificial intelligence tool or go to college, you get a version of "It depends."

If you ask corporate types, you get a more surprising ambivalence: In a recent survey, 49% of business leaders said that knowing how to chat up the chatbot could, in some cases, amount to more than four years of lectures and term papers.

The early April survey of 800 senior managers, directors, and execs by Intelligent.com also found that eight in 10 regard ChatGPT experience as valuable for entry-level gigs.

The results illustrate how quickly some bosses expect the technology will redraw the way work gets done, and also how readily some of them are rethinking degree requirements in favor of a show-me-what you-can-do approach.

Huy Nguyen, chief education and career development advisor at Intelligent.com, told Business Insider that many execs see AI as a speedy way to boost productivity.

"They're thinking that if people have experience with chatGPT — generative AI — they can come in there and have an immediate impact on the business," he said.

About three-quarters of respondents said they required ChatGPT experience for some entry-level jobs to increase how much workers could accomplish and to help employees learn. Sixty-eight percent said it was to promote creativity.

AI could close a skills gap.

In polls, some workers have said they're worried AI will push them out of a job. Yet many bosses appear focused on how the technology could amp up the abilities of their employees, especially those just starting out, Nguyen said.

"They may not have the same experience or skillset as others," he said, adding AI might make it "easier to close the skills gap" between new workers and veterans.

With more seasoned workers, Nguyen said there's often less need to worry about how technology could supercharge people's abilities because those who have been at it for a while have had time to build up expertise. "You're hiring for experience," he said.

It's also possible that some business leaders expect that newer — and presumably younger — workers might have more exposure to AI, Nguyen said.

Regardless, a greater focus on what someone can do and less on formal training reflects a certain pragmatism among employers, he said. For many young people in the US, scaling a mountain of debt in pursuit of a degree might not be worth it. And workers can be hard to come by in many fields, so doing away with degree rules can widen the pool of candidates.

"What's more important is actually demonstrating the skill," he said. "If you're a programmer, you either can program or you can't."

Don't drop out just yet.

Not all leaders are ready to skip over the education sections of résumés, however. In the survey, 36% of respondents didn't see experience with ChatGPT as more valuable than a college degree, and 12% were unsure.

While some employers set aside degree requirements, not all have made good on promises to hire more people who didn't attend college, one study found.

Nguyen said that regardless of how it's done, what's important is that workers keep learning. Nearly all of those polled endorsed that idea.

Just under nine in 10 leaders said that having taken courses on ChatGPT could make job candidates for certain roles more attractive. Nguyen said he suspects what many leaders are really after — more than those who took AI 101 — is workers who are conversant in using the technology.

"ChatGPT is still quite new," he said. "The course that you took 12 months ago may actually be irrelevant. And you may not be using ChatGPT in the future — and may be using something else."

For now, though, workers with an eye on an entry-level role might need to get used to working with AI. About six in 10 companies require experience with ChatGPT for at least some entry-level jobs, particularly in tech, according to the survey. That includes 7% of companies that require it for all jobs.

Some eight in 10 execs said knowing how to use AI would be even more important for entry-level workers in 2025.

"I don't think that people fully understand the business impact of it yet, but it's moving quick," Nguyen said.

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• The Allied Pilots Association says safety problems are increasing at American Airlines.
• It said incidents include tools left in wheel wells and increased collisions between towed planes.
• United Airlines has faced increased oversight from regulators, which American will want to avoid.

The union for American Airlines pilots has warned that safety problems are increasing at the carrier.

In a Saturday statement, the Allied Pilots Association said it "has been tracking a significant spike in safety- and maintenance-related problems in our operation."

It listed incidents like tools being left in wheel wells, and more collisions between towed or tugged aircraft.

The APA also said some maintenance actions hadn't been closed out properly, and there were increased intervals between inspections.

"Remember: Don't rush, don't be intimidated, and don't be pressured into doing something that doesn't pass the 'smell test,'" the union told pilots. "Just because it's legal doesn't make it safe."

The union encouraged its members to speak up and report any issues: "As the last link in the safety chain, our passengers and crew depend on us to be the strongest link in that chain."

It also referenced recent problems at United Airlines. A series of safety events — like a tire falling off a Boeing 777 — have seen regulators ramp up their oversight of the carrier.

"While United Airlines is currently under public and government scrutiny, it could just as easily be American Airlines," the APA said.

United's share price fell 3.4% after the Federal Aviation Administration announced the move last month, Reuters reported. So, avoiding similar actions from the FAA will be important for American.

Two days after the memo, the APA's president, Ed Sicher, said the union's safety committee had met with senior management to discuss the issues earlier this month.

"APA is squarely focused on finding solutions — which will require collaboration between the union and management — and management's initial response to our concerns was encouraging," he added.

An American Airlines spokesperson told Business Insider: "Safety at any airline is a shared mission and it's especially true at American. Our robust safety program is guided by our industry-leading safety management system."

They added: "It includes a multitude of collaborative programs — and regular touchpoints — with the FAA and all our unions, including APA, to further bolster our strong safety record and enhance our ever-evolving safety culture."

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• Russia's economy is predicted to grow by 3.2% in 2024, outpacing all advanced economies, including the US, the IMF said. 
• Despite the war, high investment and robust private consumption have driven Russia's economy forward. 
• The IMF expects the momentum to fade in 2025, with Russia growing at a rate of 1.8%.  

Russia's economy is expected to grow significantly faster than major developed economies this year, including the US, according to the International Monetary Fund.

The country's war-time economy is forecast to grow by 3.2% in 2024, largely outpacing expected growth for other advanced economies including the US (2.7%), Germany (0.2%), the UK (0.5%), and Japan (0.9%), IMF said in a report published on Tuesday. 

The surging growth rate has been linked to the effects of "high investment" and "robust private consumption" buoyed by wage growth in a tight labor market, though the IMF said it expects these effects to taper off in 2025, with a growth rate of 1.8%.  

The forecast is a wake-up call for Western countries that have hoped to throttle Russia's economy with sanctions to make its war in Ukraine unsustainable. Growth at that level would back up Vladimir Putin's claims that Russia's economy has withstood the most dire effects of Western sanctions and trade restrictions. 

Meanwhile, as foreign companies leave Russia amid the war, Moscow has been accruing funds from fleeing firms, seizing $387 million as of mid-March.

In its energy trade, sustained oil and commodity exports to major markets like India and China, alongside Russia's sidestepping of G-7 countries' oil price cap, have enabled it to maintain strong energy exports. 

Russia's resilience against Western sanctions stems largely from its boundless alliance with China. Trade volume between the two countries surged to a record $240 billion last year, fueled in part by Beijing's appetite for essential Russian commodities that have been discounted amid the West's reluctance to trade with Moscow. 

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