Category: Business

• Two shark bite incidents in Florida on Friday occurred within 90 minutes of each other.
• The attacks left two people in a severe condition and a third in a stable condition.
• Florida has consistently topped global rankings for the number of shark bites.  

Two shark bite incidents just 90 minutes apart at two separate beaches on Florida's Gulf coast, left three people injured on Friday.

Two people are in a critical condition, and a third is in a stable condition, South Walton Fire District Fire Chief Ryan Crawford said at a news conference.

The first incident left a 45-year-old female with "significant trauma to the midsection and pelvic area as well as amputation of the left lower arm," said Crawford. The woman, who had been swimming just past the first sandbar with her husband, was airlifted to a local hospital for treatment, he said.

The second attack involved two girls, 15-17 years old, who had been swimming with friends just inside the first sandbar in waist-deep water. One victim received "significant injuries to one upper and one lower extremity," and the other had "flesh wounds on her foot," said Crawford.

While the risk of being attacked by a shark is extremely low, Florida, famous for its beaches and all-year-round sunshine, has consistently topped global charts for the number of shark bites.

According to a comprehensive database of all known shark attacks compiled by staff at Florida's Museum of Natural History, in 2023, there were 69 unprovoked shark bites on humans and 22 provoked bites worldwide.

Florida's 16 cases in 2023 represent 44% of the US total and 23% of unprovoked bites worldwide.

Volusia County on Florida's east coast — which includes the renowned Daytona Beach and New Smyrna Beach — has been dubbed the "shark bite capital of the world," with 343 recorded shark bites from 1882-2023.

In an interview with Business Insider last year, Gavin Naylor, the director of The Florida Program of Shark Research, said in an email that a combination of factors off the coast of Volusia increased the likelihood of a shark attack.

They included a high density of mullet and menhaden baitfish and a lot of good waves for surfing. The churning water resulted in poor visibility for sharks, which, on rare occasions, bite at arms and legs "dangling off" surfboards by mistake as they chase their natural prey in the murky water, said Naylor.

Blacktip and bull sharks are responsible for most of the attacks in Florida.

September is the most common time of year for shark attacks in the Sunshine State, and the place with the highest chance of being bitten is in Volusia County, between 2 p.m. and 3 p.m., ISAF statistics suggest.

• Declining workforce participation among younger men could weigh on the US economy for years.
• The trend could be a drag on economic growth, housing, and Social Security funds, experts say.
• The effects could last decades as there are no clear ways to spark a turnaround. 

America's job market is mysteriously short of young men.

It's a trend experts say will drag on the economy and could take years to fix, mainly because men have already been dropping out of the workforce for decades.

According to Carol Graham, a senior fellow of economic studies at the Brookings Institute, the labor force participation rate of prime working-age men has been declining over the last twenty years. Today, 11% of men aged 25-54 don't have a job and aren't looking for one, more than triple the percentage recorded in 1955, when just 3% were out of the workforce, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

That amounts to around 7.2 million prime working-age men who aren't working. That's introduced a host of problems for the economy, leaving key industries understaffed, and adding to the strain on government services and social safety nets, Graham and other experts told Business Insider.

"Some of them drop out [of college] and are just sort of forlorn and have no purpose or meaning in life. They're not very likely to be married. They're very likely to be living in their parent's basement," Graham said. "They're lonely, they're isolated."

The economic burden can also compound through generations, she added, given that men who have exited the workforce tend to be lower-income and are more likely to report mental and physical health problems, which impact their children's ability to build wealth.

Zack Mabel, a research professor at Georgetown University, theorizes that falling labor force participation among young men could impact the economy for at least several decades.

"At this point, it's a long trend over the course of multiple decades that does not appear to be improving, and could have real long-term consequences," he said.

Straining the economy

The economy appears to already be feeling the decline in male workforce participation. Despite a small post-pandemic rebound, US GDP per employee fell 1% in 2022, the first decline seen since the World Bank began recording productivity data over 30 years ago.

The overall labor force participation rate, meanwhile, has slumped to 62%. Besides the years following the pandemic, US workforce participation rate hasn't been that low since the 70s, World Bank data shows.

The trend could weigh on key industries, like infrastructure and manufacturing, where women are often less likely to seek work due to social stigma, Mabel said. That means it could be hard for those industries to find workers, which is a big problem considering the need for labor in growing areas like semiconductors, he added.

"In a situation where you have millions of men … foregoing college, and as a result are less productive and less able to hold onto a stable job, yes, that certainly would raise concerns our national productivity would suffer as a result," Mabel said.

And while the housing market may be booming now, it is also possible that men leaving the labor force will weigh on that market as well. Meredith Whitney, a longtime Wall Street forecaster, predicts home prices could drop as much as 30% over a period of years thanks to men working less, being less interested in starting families, and being more likely to live with their parents.

Those trends all weigh on household formation, which is the most important factor in determining home prices over the long term, Whitney said.

42% of men who have exited the workforce live with at least one parent, a 2017 Brookings study found.

"This is such a seismic shift in the social structure," she told BI. "It's hard to say how long it lasts."

Government benefits are also hugely taxed by men who are not in the workforce.

Men who have dropped out of the workforce, for one, are significantly more likely to suffer from opioid addiction, Graham said. 44% of men who were out of the workforce said they needed to take pain medication — more than double the portion recorded in employed men, where just 20% took pain meds, a separate Brookings study found.

57% of men not looking for work said they had a physical, mental, or behavioral reason, according to a survey conducted by BPC-Artemis.

11% of men who have exited the labor force rely entirely on government welfare programs for income, according to Brookings data.

"They cost the health system. They go to the emergency room and they're sick, they're not going to be able to pay the bills," Graham said. "That's coming out of somewhere."

The welfare burden is exacerbated by the fact that unemployed men aren't contributing to benefit programs such as through Social Security taxes.

"Potentially, more and more people would benefit and depend on resources that we don't actually have the means to provide … And that then would really present itself as a huge societal conundrum," Mabel warned.

There's no clear answer for how to get young men back into the workforce. The causes appear to be multifold — disabilities, incarceration, and wages not being enticing enough, to name a few —but possible solutions could lie in helping train men for the jobs that are available, according to Graham, or finding ways to give young men role models, such as by hiring more male teachers, Mabel said.

"There's clearly an economic cost for more than one generation if the trends continue," Graham told BI. "There are lots of ways it costs society in addition to their individual human lives."

• Ukraine claims to have struck an advanced Russian Su-57 stealth fighter jet.
• Ukraine says the aircraft was targeted at an airfield 360 miles from the front line.
• Ukraine has intensified attacks deep inside Russia in recent weeks.

Ukraine hit a prized Russian Su-57 fighter jet stationed deep inside Russian territory for the first time, Ukraine's main intelligence directorate (GUR) reported Sunday morning.

Ukraine says the aircraft was damaged following a strike on the Akhtubinsk airfield in the Astrakhan region in southern Russia, 360 miles from the front line.

Satellite imagery provided by Ukraine's military intelligence appears to show the aircraft standing intact on June 7 and damaged on June 8.

Ukraine's military intelligence said the Su-57 is Moscow's "most modern fighter, which can attack with Kh-59 and Kh-69 missiles."

A pro-Kremlin Telegram channel, Fighterbomber, often used as a source to confirm Russian military losses in lieu of official confirmation from Moscow, reported that there was shrapnel damage to a Su-57. "Whether [the bomber] can be restored or not is currently being determined," the channel wrote.

Unlike Russia's Su-25 and Su-35 aircraft, Moscow's fifth-generation Su-57 fighters have not been widely used since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

"The defeat of the Su-57 is the first such case in history," Ukraine's military intelligence said.

David Axe, a military correspondent, and blogger, wrote in an article for Forbes that if confirmed, the loss of the Su-57 "would represent only the second stealth warplane any country has lost in combat in the four decades since the US Air Force deployed the very first stealth plane—the Lockheed Martin F-117."

In 1999, a Serbian air defense battery shot down an F-117 as it was flying a NATO mission in the Kosovo war, Axe wrote.

Russia is stepping up its attacks deep inside Russian territory

In recent weeks, Ukraine appears to be increasing the range of its strikes into Russia's hinterland.

On Saturday, just a day before news of the Su-57 was made public, a video surfaced across open source intelligence channels appearing to show a Ukrainian long-range attack drone diving toward Mozdok air base in Russia's southern region of North Ossetia, 450 miles from the front line in eastern Ukraine.

It is not known if the drone caused any military damage, but in April, satellite imagery revealed that the base was home to 6 Tu-22M bombers, 4 Su-24M/MR strike aircraft, and 20 military helicopters.

Mick Ryan, a retired Australian army general, wrote on Substack earlier this year that such attacks deep inside Russian territory will "force a Russian reassessment of their air defense resources as well as having to redeploy these assets further from where they are most needed."

Axe said on Sunday: "Russia's air defenses are spread so thin by Ukraine's escalating drone campaign that they can't protect all of the Kremlin's most valuable assets."

The last major attack on Russian warplanes came on May 17 when Ukraine hit the Balbek Airfield in occupied Crimea. The attack damaged three planes stationed there: one Su-27 and two MiG-31s.

• Trump and Biden are set for a rematch this fall, and the stakes couldn't be higher.
• Yet some voters are likely to sit out the election for a variety of reasons.
• They include anger over the war in Gaza and an unhappiness with both choices.

President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump are set for a rematch this November — and most Americans aren't happy about it.

An April survey from the Pew Research Center found that 49% of voters would replace both candidates if they could. Poll after poll has shown that the race is essentially tied at the national level.

The stakes of the election couldn't be higher. Voters face a choice between a continuation of the status quo — and perhaps a more aggressive slate of progressive reforms, if Democrats regain control of both chambers of Congress — and a radically different vision for America that could bring mass deportations and fewer restraints on executive power. Some believe that American democracy itself is at stake.

Yet plenty of voters are likely to choose neither candidate in November, either casting protest votes for third-party candidates or staying out home altogether.

Voter apathy and non-voting are very common

We've never had an election where voter turnout is 100%.

In the last six elections since 2000, between one-third to one-half of eligible voters have failed to cast ballots, either because they chose not to do so, forgot to do so, or were prevented from doing so for some other reason.

It's difficult to make generalizations around why some Americans don't vote, but there are some broad theories that could apply. One theory posited by the 2017 book "The American Nonvoter" is that a sense of uncertainty, especially driven by a national crisis such as a pandemic, plays a key role in motivating less engaged people to vote.

This year's election presents a scenario that's relatively rare: Both Biden and Trump have been president, they have both been fairly unpopular, and everyone knows who they are.

More importantly, almost every voter — aside from the most recent immigrants — has a sense of what life in America is like when one or the other is in office.

While a Trump versus Biden presidency has massive implications writ large, some Americans may not feel especially impacted in their day-to-day lives by who sits in the Oval Office.

Some are intentionally sitting out over the war in Gaza

Aside from pre-existing reasons of voter apathy, some voters are intentionally planning to stay home out of protest.

The single biggest driver of such protests this year are left-wing voters who would otherwise support President Joe Biden but wish to protest his support for Israel's war in Gaza, which has killed over 35,0000 people and led to dire humanitarian conditions.

In the Democratic presidential primaries this year, hundreds of thousands of voters have cast "uncommitted" ballots to signal their displeasure.

Depending on whether a cease-fire agreement is reached before the election, those voters could sit out November, at least at the presidential level. And more radical groups like "Abandon Biden" are already pushing for voters to do that, regardless of what happens between now and then.

These voters, many of whom are Arab or Muslim Americans, say that they know what a Trump victory would mean for them. The former president has long made Muslims a scapegoat for his brand of politics, and he has vaguely pledged to expand upon the so-called "Muslim ban" that he enacted when he was president.

Yet they're preparing to stay home anyway, arguing — in the words of Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud — that "a genocide outweighs all of this."

• Israel's June 8 hostage rescue was aided by US intelligence, The New York Times reported.
• US specialists provided key intelligence and logistic support to Israel's military.
• The operation that freed four hostages caused over 200 Palestinian casualties, Gaza officials said.

Israel's rescue operation that freed four hostages on June 8 was supported by intelligence from US sources, The New York Times reports.

A team of US hostage recovery specialists stationed in Israel provided key intelligence and logistical support to the Israeli military, assisting a daytime operation that brought the hostages back to Israel after being held captive for eight months in Gaza, said several unnamed US and Israeli officials, the report said.

Noa Argamani, Almog Meir Jan, Andrey Kozlov, and Shlomi Ziv were rescued in the special forces operation, which IDF spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari called "daring."

Palestinian gunmen kidnapped around 240 hostages following the terrorist attacks on Israel on October 7, which killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians.

Argamani's ordeal went viral on social media when she was kidnapped on October 7. She was abducted from the Nova festival via motorbike, and footage of her pleading "Don't kill me!"

The Pentagon and CIA has been providing real-time intelligence from drone surveillance over Gaza, communications intercepts, and other sources, supplementing Israel's capabilities, said the NYT report.

"The United States is supporting all efforts to secure the release of hostages still held by terrorists," National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said in a statement.

"We won't stop working until all the hostages come home and a cease-fire is reached," said President Joe Biden.

The hostage rescue operation took place in central Gaza's Nuseirat refugee camp.

Gaza's Government Media Office said at least 210 people were killed in the raid, per Al Jazeera.

Hamas' armed al-Qassam Brigades said that Israel's operation also killed some hostages.

Israel, "by committing horrific massacres, was able to free some its hostages, yet it killed some others during the operation," Briades' spokesperson, Abu Ubaida, said on Telegram, per Reuters.

Israeli military spokesperson Peter Lerner called the allegation a "blatant lie," per CNN.

It is not the first time Israel has been accused of killing hostages accidentally.

Efrat Katz, an Israeli grandmother who died on October 7, was likely killed by her own military in a friendly-fire incident.

She was in the process of being abducted from her kibbutz by Hamas militants when her own military opened fire on the vehicle she was traveling in.

In December, the IDF killed three Israeli hostages they mistakenly perceived to be threats.

More than 37,000 people have been killed in Gaza since October 7, according to Gaza's health ministry that Hamas runs.

• This post originally appeared in the Insider Today newsletter.
• You can sign up for Business Insider's daily newsletter here.

Welcome back to our Sunday edition. It seems everyone has their own brand of tequila or mezcal. The latest to get in on the act: Tesla, which is selling a $450 bottle of mezcal on its website.

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On the agenda:

• Inside the spectacular rise, and fall, of a Texas bankruptcy court.
• Welcome to the golden age for rich renters.
• Goldman's star bankers reveal their plan to keep winning in M&A.
• Brave startups are trying to usurp Nvidia's AI throne.

But first: Shock election results in India will shake up the world's fifth-largest economy.

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If this was forwarded to you, sign up here. Download Insider's app here.

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This week's dispatch

Modi misses

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi claimed a third term this week, but his Bharatiya Janata Party failed to secure an overall majority. He'll now have to rely on allies to form a government.

The election result was a blow to Modi, who has governed India for a decade with an increasingly firm grip. The rebuke arrived despite Modi's record of lifting hundreds of millions of Indians out of poverty, which won praise from business titans like Jamie Dimon. Indian stock indexes fell sharply on the election results before recovering.

India watchers expect the country's new government to move slower on some issues following the surprise election result. But experts believe Modi will be largely undeterred in his economic and foreign policy efforts.

One pain point is India's rising unemployment rate. That could see Modi supercharge his efforts to turn India into the new factory of the world. Apple is among those investing in manufacturing in the country.

He has also positioned India as a leader of the Global South, strengthening diplomatic ties with the US and pushing for a permanent position on the UN Security Council.

That puts India in direct competition with China, with Modi wasting no time in needling his rival shortly after claiming victory.

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The fall of a bankruptcy juggernaut

New details have emerged about the tight-knit circle of attorneys and judges within one of the country's most powerful courts: the Southern District of Texas bankruptcy court.

Rampant conflicts of interest fueled the court's meteoric rise — and its spectacular fall.

Inside the court where conflicts of interest ran deep.

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Rich and still renting

A wave of apartment construction has flooded metros like Salt Lake City, Nashville, and Atlanta with new studios and two-bedroom apartments. To lure tenants, landlords are hawking deals left and right, from comped parking to discounted rent.

The apartments are still expensive. But compared to the price of a down payment, they can feel like a bargain. And with amenities like pools and gyms, they are keeping wealthy Americans renting.

Why some Americans are sticking to renting.

Also read:

• I'm a multimillionaire who chooses to rent rather than buy a house. I'm glad I'm not wasting money on a mortgage.

---

Inside the Goldman deal machine

Goldman Sachs recently celebrated 25 years since it went public, and the bank's future has been a hot topic on Wall Street. Goldman's latest moves show its core business of advising companies and the ultrawealthy has retaken center stage.

A dozen Goldman insiders and bank watchers spoke to BI about how the bank is positioning itself to succeed in the long run and how it'll ultimately withstand recent top-partner departures.

How Goldman plans to keep winning.

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Climbing Mt. Nvidia

Going up against Nvidia is generally considered a pretty bad idea for startups in Silicon Valley. "Betting against Nvidia is viewed as a very stupid investment," one VC said.

But Silicon Valley often thrives when true technologists keep hacking away at something they believe in, even if everyone else thinks it's dumb.

See the startups coming for Nvidia.

Also read:

• AI just catapulted Nvidia into the $3 trillion club at lightning pace

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This week's quote:

"You just leave it alone, and you look up 40 years later, and it's a really nice number."

A 65-year-old retiree who saved $2 million for retirement.

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More of this week's top reads:

• Jack Dorsey gave $10 million to an anonymous founder with a deep devotion to a fascist "guru."
• Six tips from Satya Nadella on how to run a company and manage your team.
• Why big musical acts can't sell out concerts anymore.
• An unchecked AI could usher in a new dark age.
• HR exec: If you get put on a PIP, find a new job as fast as possible.
• Microsoft is laying off hundreds in its Azure cloud business.

• Apple alerted Amazon about a potential cloud security risk, prompting a change in AWS's data-deletion process.

  ---

  The Insider Today team: Matt Turner, deputy editor-in-chief, in New York. Jordan Parker Erb, editor, in New York. Dan DeFrancesco, deputy editor and anchor, in New York. Lisa Ryan, executive editor, in New York.

• The Hyundai Palisade is a mid-size, three-row family SUV that's available with all-wheel-drive.
• I recently reviewed a fully-loaded Palisade SUV in Calligraphy trim.
• I was blown away by the Palisade's premium cabin, smooth engine, and advanced tech. 

The Hyundai Palisade is one of the most popular and critically acclaimed three-row family SUVs on sale today.

The Palisade launched back in 2019 alongside its corporate sister, the Kia Telluride, and received an update in 2023 with fresh tech and styling to help it remain competitive.

I recently reviewed a $52,000 2024 Hyundai Palisade Calligraphy AWD. It proved to be one of the most impressive SUVs of its type I'd ever driven. I was blown away by the Palisade Calligraphy's premium cabin, smooth engine, and advanced tech.

Here's a closer look at some of my favorite features.

• Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz sat down for a three-hour interview on the Acquired podcast.
• He revealed new facts about Starbucks' early days, and warned the business is on a bad path.
• Schultz spoke about meeting Bill Gates Sr., Steve Jobs, Costco's bosses, and Bernard Arnault.

Starbucks legend Howard Schultz spilled the beans on the company's early days, shared some of his biggest regrets, and warned the coffee chain is on the wrong track in an epic three-hour interview on the Acquired podcast, released this week.

Schultz helped pioneer the coffeehouse concept in the US. He served as Starbucks' chairman and CEO from 1986 to 2000 and from 2008 to 2017, and as interim CEO between 2022 and 2023.

The business guru also told the stories of how he crossed paths with Bill Gates Sr., Steve Jobs, Costco's cofounders, Coke and Pepsi, and luxury tycoon Bernard Arnault.

Here are the 12 best nuggets from the episode, lightly edited for length and clarity. Starbucks declined a request for comment from Business Insider.

1. Starbucks didn't sell its own coffee early on

"When Starbucks opened in Pike Place Market in 1971, they were using Peet's Coffee. No one knows that, that's new."

Schultz said that before it began roasting its own coffee, the company brought Peet's Coffee from San Francisco to Seattle, repackaged it, and sold it under the Starbucks brand.

2. Italian coffee giant Lavazza turned down the chance to invest early

When Schultz was launching his Il Giornale coffee bar concept, he approached two Italian companies for financial backing but they turned him down.

"I've never told this. One is the espresso company Faema, and one is the large Italian coffee company Lavazza, and I asked them both to invest in my idea and both of them turned me down.

"Lavazza and Faema, just get that on the record, turned me down. They'll deny it. That's a fact."

3. Bill Gates' dad helped Schultz buy Starbucks

When Schultz was raising money to buy Starbucks from its founders in the late 1980s, one of his investors made a cash offer for the company in a bid to cut him out of the deal.

Schultz secured a meeting with Bill Gates Sr. through a friend. After the top lawyer and father of the Microsoft cofounder heard his story, he walked him over to the offices of the investor in question, Samuel Stroum, and in Schultz's telling, said:

"I don't know what you are planning, but whatever it is, it's not going to happen. Howard Shultz is going to acquire Starbucks Coffee Company, and he's never going to hear from you again."

Not only did Gates see off that threat, he also helped finance Schultz's takeover of Starbucks.

4. Schultz regrets not snagging the rights to two innovations

When Schultz was sourcing a better coffee cup and lid for Starbucks than the traditional Styrofoam, the Chicago paper company he enlisted struck gold.

"They found a lid, that beautiful sip lid, which is now ubiquitous in the world. Howard Schultz should have said to them, 'I want an exclusive on that lid,' because that lid became the standard for the world. If I would have just understood that.

"The other thing I didn't do is we introduced caffè latte to America but we didn't trademark it. We trademarked Frappuccino later on, but we didn't trademark cafe latte. I wasn't thinking; I missed it."

5. Partnering with Costco and United Airlines ruffled some feathers

Costco cofounder Jeff Brotman helped finance Schultz's takeover of Starbucks in 1987 and was an early board member, and Brotman and ex-Costco CEO Jim Sinegal were mentors to Schultz, he said.

Together the trio made the "huge decision" to sell Starbucks coffee in Costco, which sparked a "revolt inside the halls of Starbucks," Schultz said.

The company saw a measurable increase in sales at stores near the Costco in Seattle, as selling beans there boosted brand awareness and store traffic nearby, Schultz said.

The former Starbucks CEO faced similar blowback when he agreed to let United Airlines serve his company's coffee.

"If you thought the Costco revolt was high, you can imagine when I say we have an opportunity with United Airlines. People thought it was absolute blasphemy, don't do that. And again, the exposure and the opportunity to surprise and delight customers in places that they've never had anything close to good coffee."

6. Not a Frappuccino fan

"I'm so smart that I looked at that Frappuccino with disdain. I didn't like the name, I didn't like the beverage, I didn't think it was appropriate for Starbucks. I just saw Starbucks as such a purity with regard to coffee and I was wrong, dead wrong, obviously."

7. Coke said no, Pepsi said yes

Schultz approached both Coca-Cola and Pepsi with his idea for a bottled Frappuccino to be sold in grocery stores. The meeting with Coke in Atlanta lasted less than 30 minutes: "They dismissed me, didn't understand what I was trying to do, and didn't give me much time to even explain it."

In contrast, Schultz met with Pepsi's CEO and other top executives in New York and "on a napkin, I swear, shook hands and created a multibillion-dollar business for Pepsi and Starbucks."

8. Steve Jobs' frank advice

Schultz recalled that Starbucks was having challenges at one point, so he took a walk with Steve Jobs at Apple's campus in California.

"I just told him all my problems, everything that was going on, and he stopped me and he said, 'This is what you need to do.' He just looked at me and he said, 'You go back to Seattle and you fire everyone on your leadership team.'

"I thought he was joking. I said, 'What do you mean fire, what are you talking about fire everybody?' He said, 'I just told you, f'ing fire all those people.' He was like screaming at me in my face: 'Fire all those people, that's what I would do.' I said, 'Steve, I can't fire all those people, who's going to do the work?'

"He said, 'I promise you, in six months, maybe nine, they'll all be gone.' He was right; except for one, the general counsel, they were all gone."

9. Mobile app dangers

"It is the biggest Achilles' heel for Starbucks and there's not even a close second," Schultz said about the Starbucks app that allows customers to order on their smartphones.

Schultz explained the app can erode the sense of community and a shared "third place" that he sees as fundamental to a Starbucks store. It can also overwhelm workers with orders which can lead to delays, confusion, and customer anxiety, he noted.

"My view is we should not succumb to the mobile app," Schultz said, saying that he would have restricted its availability early on to test its impact instead of making it available 24/7.

"We're not a beverage company serving coffee, we are a coffee company serving people. We need to be much more coffee forward and we cannot continue to allow the mobile app to be a runaway train that is going to consistently dilute the integrity of the experience of Starbucks."

10. Coffee in Italy

"I know I'm gonna be chastised for what I'm about to say, but it's true. By and large, coffee in Italy is not as good as it once was," Schultz said. "I'm going to be killed for that, but that's my truth."

Schultz also discussed how Starbucks only entered the home of espresso when it was truly ready to shine.

"I knew the knives would be out in ways that we couldn't even possibly imagine given the history and the cultural relevance of espresso and the coffee bar, and so we waited and waited and waited."

His strategy was to first open one of Starbucks' marquee locations, The Roastery, in Milan. He decided the empty post office building was the perfect venue, and upon discovering Blackstone owned it, he was able to strike a deal with the private equity titan.

Schultz also revealed the No. 1 beverage for Starbucks across its 30 stores in Italy is espresso, suggesting locals have embraced the brand.

11. Showing the Arnaults around

Schultz recalled giving a tour of the Roastery in Seattle to one of the world's top business figures, LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault, and his son Alexandre, a top executive at Tiffany's.

"His level of curiosity was very high," Schultz said about the man behind Louis Vuitton and a luxury empire. "I remember, he kept looking at the leather railing and stitching and I just said, 'You're spending a lot of time on the leather.'"

12. Starbucks is on a bad path

Schultz warned the company he built is at risk of becoming arrogant, complacent, and conservative.

"The worst thing that could happen to a company is believing that you are incapable of doing anything but succeeding, and you deserve the success. But if you start playing defense and don't have the offensive mind, it won't go well. And I think over time, that has happened at Starbucks."

Schultz criticized the company for not investing enough when he wasn't in charge, and for using stock buybacks to raise earnings per share.

"The company has not executed the way that I think it should have. I go into the stores, I know the company, and I think we're not at our best right now.

"If the company is doing a drift toward mediocrity," he said, "I hold leadership and the board responsible for that."

• Two cargo ships sailing near Yemen caught fire after being hit by projectiles. 
• The missiles are suspected to have been fired by Houthi rebels.
• Houthis have been targeting ships to pressure Israel and the West over the war in Gaza.

Two cargo ships traveling off Yemen's southern port city of Aden caught fire after being hit by projectiles suspected to have been fired by Houthi rebels, UK maritime agencies reported.

United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said on Sundayit had been informed of an incident 80 nautical miles southeast of Aden.

UKMTO is linked to the UK's Royal Navy.

Suspicion for the attack fell on Yemen's Houthi rebels, who have not claimed responsibility for the latest attack but have been targeting shipping in the area for several months with missiles and drones.

The British security firm Ambrey later said a cargo vessel from Antigua and Barbuda had been hit by a missile 83 nautical miles southeast of Aden. The ship caught fire but it was contained.

"The ship was heading southwest along the Gulf of Aden at a speed of 8.2 knots when a missile struck the forward station. A fire started but was neutralized," Ambrey said in an advisory note seen by Reuters.

"A second missile was sighted but did not hit the ship. Persons on board small boats in the vicinity opened fire on the ship during the incident," Ambrey said.

No injuries were reported after the ship diverted and sped up.

The UKMTO said they had received a second report about another incident 70 nautical miles southwest of Aden.

"The master reports that the vessel was hit by an unknown projectile on the aft section, which resulted in a fire. Damage control is underway," UKMTO said.

No casualties were reported and the UKMTO said the vessel was "proceeding to its next port of call. Authorities continue to monitor the situation."

Reuters reported on Friday that the Houthi rebels had claimed responsibility for attacks on two merchant ships in the Red Sea with "a number of drones and ballistic and naval missiles," but there was no independent confirmation of the incidents.

Houthis have been targeting ships in the Red Sea corridor and the Gulf of Aden with missiles and drones as part of a campaign that aims to put pressure on Israel and the West over the war in Gaza. Shipping vessels have been forced to take longer and more costly routes around the south of Africa.

A US Navy carrier strike group and warships from European nations have defended the key shipping lanes.

On Monday, the Houthi rebels said they had fired a new solid-fuel missile called the "Palestine" at the southern Israeli city of Eilat on Monday.

The rebels have also detained 11 Yemeni employees of UN agencies under uncertain circumstances, it was reported on Friday.

"We are very concerned about these developments, and we're actively seeking clarification from the Houthi de facto authorities regarding the circumstances of these detentions," UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said in New York.

Of the 11, the UN said six had been working for the UN's human rights agency, and the rest all worked separately for its special envoy's office, its development arm, Unicef, the World Food Program, and Unesco.

On Thursday, Bloomberg reported that the US was planned to further increase economic pressure on the Houthis by blocking their revenue sources. This includes preventing a $1.5 billion Saudi payment to cover salaries for government employees in militia-held territory.

• A universal basic income has wide support in South Africa.
• And South Africa's government just pledged to make universal basic income a reality.
• South Africa is ranked one of the worst countries for income inequality.

South Africa suffers from severe income inequality — one of the worst anywhere in the world. Its unemployment rate, meanwhile, is over 30%.

But its government thinks it has a solution: a universal basic income.

The idea has broad political support and the country's largest political party, the African National Congress, said recently it is committed to implementing a universal basic income within two years.

Once the figment of ideological dreamers, a universal basic income — regular direct cash payments to a population with no strings attached — has grown in legitimacy, especially after the success of COVID-era stimulus checks. Tech visionaries racing to develop ever-more advanced artificial intelligence have also suggested implementing a universal basic income. They say it would help mitigate the job losses from AI.

Several other countries have experimented with versions of a universal basic income. Kenya, for instance, offers unconditional payments to about 20,000 people in 200 different towns.

In the United States, numerous cities and some states are experimenting on a small scale with guaranteed basic incomes, which offer no-strings-attached payments but only to select groups of people in need. While studies have shown these American programs to be successful, they have also run up against significant political opposition.

But in South Africa, most political parties are all for it. They just need to work out the details.

"The ANC is committed to finalizing a comprehensive policy on the basic income support grant within two years of the new ANC administration, ensuring broad consultation and expedited action," South Africa's ruling party said in a statement.

That statement came a week before hotly contested general elections on May 29, which saw the ANC lose its majority in parliament. The ANC is now working to form a unity government and a commitment to implementing a universal basic income will almost certainly come up in negotiations.

According to the party, a study at the University of Johannesburg showed that a majority of South African citizens "fully support the introduction of a basic income support grant."

While South Africa provides payments to certain groups living below the poverty line through its Social Relief Distress grant program, the ANC plan would open eligibility to all South African adults, the Guardian reported.

The ANC said it is "exploring" options, like new tax measures and a new social-security tax, to fund the program. The party also says its goal for the program is not to replace existing social-security programs, but to complement them.

If it follows through, the ANC plan would make South Africa the first country to provide a universal basic income.