• The college admission process concerns me as top colleges reinstate the SAT requirement.
• As a low-income minority student, I can't afford expensive resources like test prep and tutoring.
• I am striving to make my college application impressive without having the best test scores.

College applications are something that stays on my mind all the time. As a high school sophomore, I have taken every AP class that is offered by my school, gotten straight A's, and maintained a high GPA to ensure my work pays off come college decision day.

But even doing everything I can, I feel my fate is still uncertain and anxiety-inducing. Do I have enough clubs? Am I as impressive as some of my other high-achieving peers? Recently, a new concern has taken over my college apprehension: SATs.

In 2020, many top colleges made standardized testing optional for the college admission process due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, in January, Yale and Dartmouth reinstated standardized testing — like the SAT and ACTs — as a requirement for college applications.

This change makes me increasingly worried about my chances at some of my dream schools — especially as a low-income, minority student.

I can't afford SAT prep

Being a low-income student, doing well on the SAT is not easily achievable because of how the exam is structured. To me, it seems like the exam measures your ability to beat the test instead of your knowledge of the material.

In order to do well on the exam, you have to prepare the test structure rather than the content. This means studying SAT strategies and having a plan of action ready for test day. From thousands of prep books to specialized tutors, many resources exist to help students do just that. The only problem is that these resources are completely out of my price range.

My low-income family cannot afford pricey preparation materials and private tutors, especially not for long periods like SAT prep requires. I am unable to seek help from my immigrant family because of their unfamiliarity with the wording and structure of the exam. Plus, my high school does not have the money to pay for test prep or afford high-caliber resources.

It is a culmination of these factors that makes me truly realize how much students in minority communities are held back from their academic goals.

It feels as if achieving an impressive score on the exam is still out of reach, no matter how hard I study. It's hard to cope with the fact that my application will be deeply affected by something I cannot control.

The SAT doesn't offer an equal playing field

It doesn't feel like an equal playing field. Unlike me, students from higher socio-economic backgrounds can afford the SATs because they have the resources to do well on the exam. I fear that my inability to afford prep will make my college applications look sub-par compared to my higher-income counterparts. My goal is to have an application that matches other high-caliber students, but I am not sure how I can do that with lower test scores.

However, I am not someone who easily gives up, especially on lifelong dreams. In recent months, I have begun working harder in my classes, extracurriculars, and SAT studies — through every resource I can find and afford.

At the end of the day, it seems that college admissions will always come back to money. For immigrant, low-income students like myself, it seems as if we always end up with the short end of the stick when it comes to our education and, more importantly, our futures.

But when my background becomes discouraging or admissions feel like they are taking over my life, I remind myself that it's not important that I attend a top college. It only matters why, and that is to fight for better opportunities for people like me.

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• A woman who suffered a brain injury after falling from a pier lost out on $750,000 in compensation.
• The judge said she had been "thoroughly dishonest" and dismissed her claim.
• Insurance fraud costs businesses insurers and consumers billions each year

A woman who suffered a brain injury after falling from a seaside pier lost out on $750,000 in compensation after she was found to be "thoroughly dishonest" in her claim, said a judge.

Kirsty Williams-Henry, 33, sustained multiple injuries after falling from Aberavon Pier in the UK in 2018 when she went to observe bioluminescent plankton that had been spotted in the sea.

While returning to the shore, she fell between 12 and 15 feet onto the rocks and sand below — there had not been any safety barriers along the pier.

She sued the pier's owner, Associated British Ports Holdings Ltd, for damages. She had sought more than £2.5 million ($3.11 million), the judge said.

The company responded, saying that it believed Williams-Henry was entitled to around £370,000 ($460,000), but that the claim should be dismissed as the claimant had been dishonest about the extent of her injuries and how they affected her daily life.

The Queen's Bench division's Justice Ritchie, in a ruling issued Wednesday, agreed: "I have come to the conclusion that both the claimant and her mother have been thoroughly dishonest in their presentation of the claimant's symptoms and disabilities and have sought to mislead clinicians, medicolegal experts and this court about the claimant's health, functioning, activities of daily living and her work abilities."

In the US, an estimated $308.6 billion annually is lost to insurance fraudulent insurance claims, according to Forbes. Healthcare insurance fraud (including Medicaid and Medicare insurance fraud) is the most common type, estimated at $105 billion annually.

In the UK trial held over 11 days in Cardiff last month, Williams-Henry said that she had not received proper rehabilitation since the incident and that she had "good days and bad days" because of her injuries, which caused her difficulties at home and work.

She denied ever lying about her injuries, with her mother, Christel Williams, claiming that her daughter had "no life" due to her conditions.

Justice Ritchie said that he would have awarded Ms Williams-Henry £596,704 ($743,000) in damages for her "genuine'"injuries but dismissed her claim as she was a "regular liar." 

Justice Ritchie concluded that Williams-Henry had suffered a "moderately severe" brain injury from the fall as well as skull and other bone fractures and went on to suffer from depression, anxiety, and mild post-traumatic stress disorder after spending eight days in intensive care.

But Ritchie said that "overall" he found Williams-Henry to have been "dishonest and manipulative," so he could dismiss the case.

'I know it looks like a large sum of money to deprive a genuinely injured person of, but Parliament sought to stamp out dishonesty, which is fundamental in personal injury claims, and the claimant has breached this law," he said.

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• The US Navy has been criticized for posting a picture of a sailor firing a rifle with a rifle scope on backwards.
• The sailor, commander Cameron Yaste, had been firing at a naval target balloon.
• The Navy acknowledged the error and removed the picture.

The US Navy has been slammed on social media for posting a photo online of a sailor holding an assault weapon with its scope on backwards.

In an image posted to Instagram, which has since been deleted, commander Cameron Yaste, the captain of the USS John S McCain, could be seen holding the gun, which also had its scope's lens cap still attached.

The caption accompanying the photo read: "From engaging in practice gun shoots, conducting maintenance, testing fuel purity and participating in sea and anchor details, the #USNavy is always ready to serve and protect."

According to a press release from the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service, the captain had been firing at a "killer tomato," a Navy term for a target balloon.

Viewers were quick to point out his mistake.

One X user wrote: "US Navy just killing it on Instagram" alongside laughing and crying emojis.

Another said: "U.S. Navy's Cameron Yaste (left pic) thinks he's gonna dazzle 18-year-olds into joining navy with cool photoshoot on board ship but forgot that his scope's mounted backward."

Mike Collins, a Republican congressman from Georgia, also weighed in on the photo, posting a photo on X, formerly Twitter, of a pistol with its barrel back-to-front.

"Navy's newly issued sidearm," he joked in the caption.

In a statement, the US Navy said, "Thank you for pointing out our rifle scope error in the previous post. Picture has been removed until EMI is completed!"

EMI, meaning "extra military instruction" is defined by the US Navy as "instruction in a phase of military duty in which an individual is deficient, and is intended for and directed towards the correction of that deficiency."

"It is a bona fide training technique to be used for improving the efficiency of an individual within a command or unit through the correction of some deficiency in that individual's performance of duty," the Navy says.

According to Yaste's official biography, he graduated from the Naval Post Graduate School with a Master of Science in Astronautics before going on to serve aboard ships such as the USS Bataan and the USS Hopper.

It says he has also won multiple awards, including the Defense Meritorious Service Medal.

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• As the Titanic was the height of luxury in 1912, some celebrities had tickets for its maiden voyage.
• But not all of them ended up boarding the ship.
• J. Pierpont Morgan and Milton Hershey were among those who missed the disaster.

The sinking of the Titanic in April 1912 still captivates us today, with numerous books, a multibillion-dollar movie, museums, and, controversially, expensive tours of the wreckage available.

Interest in the ship led to another maritime tragedy last year when an OceanGate submersible went missing on the way to the wreckage and was eventually confirmed to have imploded, killing all five people on board.

In the aftermath, stories emerged about people invited to participate in one of OceanGate's trips but decided against it — much like, more than 100 years ago, how people were fascinated with those who had almost been on the Titanic.

Here are seven notable figures, some of whom were among the richest people in the world, who were supposed to sail on the Titanic's maiden voyage but didn't — and four well-known people who were booked to go on a future journey with the ship.

Milton Hershey, the founder of Hershey's, sent the White Star Line a $300 check to reserve a spot on the Titanic, but he ended up sailing home on the SS Amerika instead.

As they aged, Hershey and his wife, Catherine, spent their winters on the French Riviera. In December 1911, the couple left for another extended European vacation. For their return journey, Hershey wrote a $300 check from the Hershey Trust Company to the White Star Line to reserve places on the maiden voyage of the company's brand-new ship, the Titanic.

According to Lancaster History, pressing business matters forced Hershey to cut his vacation short, and he left Europe just days before the Titanic would set sail, instead heading home on a German liner called the Amerika, which would later warn the Titanic about the dangerous amount of ice.

Hershey's canceled check is still in the possession of the Hershey Community Archives, and you can view it online.

J. Pierpont Morgan — yes, J. P. Morgan himself — had a personal suite on the Titanic and had attended its launch party in 1911. But he extended his French vacation and missed the sinking.

"I've never been able to find an authoritative 1912 source explaining the exact reason why J. P. Morgan canceled his passage on the Titanic," the Titanic expert George Behe told Reuters in 2021. Some speculated that the reasons were that he was in bad health or having issues with customs because of his art collection.

However, we know that Morgan, the cofounder of General Electric, International Harvester, and US Steel, was also the founder of the International Mercantile Marine, which in turn owned White Star Line. According to The Washington Post, he was even on hand to witness its 1911 launch.

"Monetary losses amount to nothing in life," Morgan told a New York Times reporter after the sinking. "It is the loss of life that counts. It is that frightful death."

Guglielmo Marconi, the Nobel Prize winner who invented the radio, opted to head to the US three days earlier on the Lusitania, forgoing a free ticket on the Titanic.

You might know that Marconi was considered a hero after the sinking of the Titanic because his invention, the wireless radio, helped ships in the surrounding area find where to look for the lifeboats.

But did you know he was almost on board the ship himself?

His daughter Degna wrote in her 1926 book, "My Father, Marconi," that he was offered a free ticket aboard the Titanic. But because his stenographer got seasick, Marconi opted to sail to the US on the Lusitania because he trusted that ship's stenographer more than Titanic's, Degna wrote.

Henry Clay Frick, the chairman of the Carnegie Steel Company, missed the sailing of the Titanic because his wife sprained her ankle in Italy and needed to be hospitalized.

Visitors to New York City might recognize Frick's name from the Frick Collection or the Henry Clay Frick House. He was an important industrialist and a patron of the arts — and he was close to sailing on the doomed voyage.

"The Fricks booked the suite first, and then Mrs. Frick sprained her ankle while they were in Europe buying art and touring and things; so, they stayed behind to get medical attention," the historian Melanie Linn Gutowski told CBS News Pittsburgh in 2012.

"The suite that they booked, that some historians think that they booked, was some kind of savior suite in a way," she continued. "Everybody who booked it managed to survive either by not being on the ship, or jumping into a lifeboat at the last minute."

Eventually, the tickets made their way to J. Bruce Ismay, the chairman and managing director of the White Star Line. Controversially, he was one of the few men who made their way onto a lifeboat and survived. He was criticized for this for the rest of his life.

Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt canceled his ticket on the Titanic at the last minute. He was on board the Lusitania when a German U-boat sank it in May 1915.

As a member of the prominent Vanderbilt family, Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt was a well-known member of New York society, so there was media coverage when it was revealed he'd narrowly escaped the Titanic.

Unfortunately, just a few years later, he was aboard the Lusitania, a British ocean liner that was sunk by German U-boats in 1915. He was one of the 1,200 passengers who did not survive the attack.

The American journalist Theodore Dreiser was persuaded by his publisher to take a cheaper ship home across the Atlantic.

Dreiser wrote about his brush with disaster in a chapter of his 1913 memoir, "A Traveler at Forty." Slate said the section about the Titanic, "The Voyage Home," was "one of the most gripping chapters in the memoir."

Dreiser wrote that he wanted to sail home with the rich and powerful people aboard the Titanic to get a peek at how the other half lived, but added that his publisher convinced him to sail home on the Kroonland, a cheaper ship, two days before Titanic sank.

"The terror of the sea had come swiftly and directly home to all," Dreiser wrote, according to Slate. "To think of a ship as immense as the Titanic, new and bright, sinking in endless fathoms of water. And the two thousand passengers routed like rats from their berths only to float helplessly in miles of water, praying and crying!"

John Mott, another Nobel Prize winner, was also offered a free ticket on the ship, but he chose a smaller ship, the Lapland, instead.

Mott, a Nobel Peace Prize winner who was the longtime leader of the YMCA, was another near-miss. Gorden R. Doss, a professor at Andrews University, said that Mott came close to death a few times.

First, he skipped the Titanic and opted for the Lapland. Three decades later, in 1943, he narrowly avoided a train crash.

Mott said, "The Good Lord must have more work for us to do" upon hearing about the sinking, according to Sotheby's.

There were other celebrities who had tickets to sail the Titanic in the future, had it not sank. J.C. Penney was set to sail on the ship's next trip from England to New York.

According to the Smithsonian Magazine, the founder of JCPenney was set to sail on the Titanic's second voyage from England to the US.

Frank Seiberling, the cofounder of Goodyear Tires, was booked to return to Southampton on the Titanic's next voyage.

The Akron Beacon Journal reported that Seiberling, the cofounder of Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, and his wife frequently traveled to England and were huge admirers of English architecture. But one of their trips was postponed when their ship out of the States, the Titanic, sank.

So was John Alden Dix, the governor of New York.

Smithsonian Magazine also reported that Dix, the governor of New York from 1911 to 1913, was on the passenger list of the Titanic's return trip to England.

Henry Adams, a historian who was a descendant of President John Adams and President John Quincy Adams, was also booked on this trip.

"My ship, the Titanic, is on her way," Adams wrote in a letter on April 12, 1912, "and unless she drops me somewhere else, I should get to Cherbourg in a fortnight." As history tells, Adams was never able to board the ship and was forced to book passage elsewhere, The New Republic's Timothy Noah wrote.

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• Business Insider asked style experts about the most popular watch brands worn by technology titans.
• They say a watch has become more than a status symbol — it's a tool for personal branding.
• Old-school brands like Casio are hot, and luxury brands like Omega and Cartier are on the rise.

Unlike professionals in finance who have long seen the value of "a statement," those in the tech industry have been characterized — and even mocked — for their fixation on utility and simplicity. (Think: the old tech bro uniform of jeans and a hoodie.)

But some tech titans are moving toward fancier fashion choices of their own, and since the pandemic, that increasingly involves a watch, according to experts.

Paul Altieri, CEO and founder of online watch resale marketplace Bob's Watches, told Business Insider that there are two kinds of Silicon Valley elite. "Some, like Bill Gates, go for the $50 model, and some are wearing Omega, Richard Mille, or Rolex," he said.

Plus, there are those like Apple CEO Tim Cook and 23andMe cofounder Anne Wojcicki who prefer the convenience of a smartwatch.

Most executives are looking for "the genius factor" or something unique about their timepiece, Victoria Hitchcock, a fashion lifestylist and personal brander in the San Francisco Bay area, told BI. 

And as they have more public-facing roles, they're looking to up their style and status as potential fashion icons, Hitchcock said.

What you have on your wrist, it seems, has become yet another tool of personal branding. With that in mind, here's a closer look at the watches trending in Silicon Valley.

Casio is considered an old favorite among Silicon Valley's heavy hitters.

Casio is a Japanese electronic manufacturing company that was founded in 1946. Microsoft founder Bill Gates is often seen sporting a Casio Duro, a model that retails for around $70.

 

Omega has an extensive history of being worn by those in engineering and science.

Omega has been making Swiss luxury watches since 1848. The 1970 Apollo 13 mission relied on the capabilities of the Omega Speedmaster watch to help the crew return safely to and from Earth.

In 2021, Jeff Bezos wore an Omega Speedmaster on his own expedition into space.

Elon Musk has also been seen wearing an Omega watch. His model of choice appears to be the Seamaster Aqua Terra, according to GQ.

And more recently, Hitchcock said she has clients asking after an Omega made in collaboration with fellow watchmaker Swatch. The Mission to the Moonphase collection features two space-themed watches with Snoopy from "Charlie Brown" on the dials for $310.

"That one actually is a very low ticket one, but it's sought after by a handful of people already," she said.

Oracle chief technology officer Larry Ellison has been photographed wearing a Richard Mille RM 0029.

The Swiss luxury brand Richard Mille is known for creating watches that cost up to $2 million, and it's a favorite of athletes and musicians. Yet it also remains popular with the tech crowd for its understated approach to luxury.

"Across sectors, professionals select watches that broadcast their identity and aspirations. Watches remain profound personal statements regardless of whether one is developing software or sealing a game-changing deal," Altieri said.

Altieri said watches, in general, are being used more and more for personal branding. There's a level of showmanship to wearing a watch now, even if Silicon Valley leaders are sticking to their tried and true favorite brands.

For example, Oracle CTO Larry Ellison has an extensive Richard Mille collection, according to Altieri.

The Apple Watch performs as an extension of the iPhone.

Apple debuted its Apple Watch in 2015, and it quickly gained popularity among those looking for wearable technology. Apple Watch models range from a few hundred dollars to over $1,000 on the company's official site.

While most of Silicon Valley sports understated gray or black smartwatch faces — including 23andMe's Anne Wojcicki — some women gravitate toward yellow or rose gold accents for the face, Hitchcock said.

Appropriately, Apple's chief executive Tim Cook is often photographed sporting his Apple Watch with a variety of band colors.

In more recent shots, it looks like Cook is sporting the latest Apple Watch Ultra 2.

The tech giant has had trouble rolling out its Ultra 2 and Series 9 watches in the US over patent disputes, but the pieces are still available for purchase on Apple's website. The Ultra 2 retails for around $800.

Mark Zuckerberg has said he's not a watch guy, but he was wowed by another billionaire's Richard Mille.

Zuckerberg was among many billionaires invited to a wedding hosted by India's richest family. A clip of him being stunned by Anant Ambani's 18-karat rose gold Richard Mille RMS10 Asia Tourbillon Koi fish Edition went viral online.

The watch, which has a dial decorated with koi fish — as the name suggests, falls under the "distinctive" category that Hitchcock said more tech execs are looking for.

"You know, I never really wanted a watch, but after seeing that, I was like, 'Watches are cool,'" Zuckerberg can be heard saying in the video.

The blinged-out timepiece would reportedly cost him about $1.25 million, but he can certainly afford it.

Cartier makes watches for both new collectors and seasoned enthusiasts with pieces ranging from under $3,000 to more than $1 million on the secondary market.

Jack Dorsey has been seen wearing a rare rose-gold skeleton Cartier Crash — a rare watch that fetches at least six figures on the resale market.

Yet many people in Silicon Valley who wear the French brand opt for simpler watch models. Hitchcock said the Ballon Bleu de Cartier is becoming a favorite with women in tech and can cost up to $30,000 for larger models.

 

Dorsey was spotted among Jay-Z and Beyoncé at Super Bowl LVII wearing a flashy watch.

This isn't the ultra-rare, uber-expensive Cartier Crash he's been seen in, but the watch still makes a statement with its yellow dial.

Still, exactly which brand he decided to wear to the Super Bowl in February is unclear.

Demand for Rolex watches surged throughout the pandemic as people began seeing their investment potential.

While prices for Rolex watches have recently dropped to record lows on the secondary markets over the past two years, they remain popular for their design.

Caitlin Hausser, a store director for a New York-based official Rolex retailer, told BI that she often sees female clients looking to celebrate milestones like a promotion or a new baby.

While Casio watches may be the cheapest brand on the list, Hitchcock believes the piece still makes a statement about its wearer.

"They are the same people who are buying the old-school kind of daddy sneakers or grandpa sneaker buyers," she said, adding that there's a nostalgia factor to the brand.

Patek Philippe watches remain popular with tech professionals for their understated take on luxury, Altieri told BI.

In general, Altieri describes a "Patek Philippe enthusiast" as the kind of person who digs into the finer details of watchmaking.

"They're all about craftsmanship, complex features, and exclusivity," he added, not to mention having a pretty high budget for a timepiece. 

The Patek Philippe Nautilus Chronograph, a go-to for the tech crowd, can be upward of $100,000.

Hitchcock said the luxury Italian brand Panerai is one of her "all-time" favorites.

Because Panerai produces just a fraction of the timepieces that a brand like Rolex does yearly, they're not likely to be spotted on everyone, Hitchcock explained.  

"Part of the allure is recognizing its small group of in-the-know fans," she said. "Those that know it definitely discuss it amongst each other in social settings and business."

But Altieri said that Panerai has experienced a "lull in marketability" compared to other luxury watches in 2024. Still, he said the company has the potential to bounce back.

Timex watches are known for their affordability and dependability, and most models are priced under $500.

In its nearly 170-year history, Timex watches have been worn by celebrities and US presidents alike. Hitchcock said the no-frills functional brand is also a staple in the tech industry.

"I believe that a good timepiece, even if it's a Timex or Casio, does say something about someone," Hitchcock told BI. "It should have function; it should be streamlined and customized to that person's personal brand and personality."

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• As an interior decorator, there are several items I wouldn't add to my home in 2024.
• This year, I'm avoiding heavy drapes and tabletops with reflective surfaces.
• I'm also not buying any new furniture or items with disco-ball motifs.

Since people aren't moving as often as they used to, sales on goods in adjacent categories — like home decor, appliances, and furniture — have taken a dive as well. As an interior decorator, I know furnishing a home can be expensive, so it's important to invest in pieces that will stand the test of time.

I've spent years playing with trends and figuring out what isn't worth investing in when decorating my home. Recently, I've realized there are a few items I'd avoid adding to my space in 2024.

Here are nine things I wouldn't add to my home this year.

I'm not buying any new furniture in 2024.

Lately, I've seen more one-of-a-kind, unique, lived-in furniture. Old-fashioned shapes like bobbin legs are returning, so many designers are passing up new, modern furniture for secondhand treasures.

Rather than seeking a new, mass-produced couch or table, I plan on upcycling classic pieces with new finishes or upholstery.

I won't use heavy drapes in my decor.

Statement curtains add a cozy softness and texture to a room, but heavy drapes can weigh a space down. This dramatic look also doesn't pair well with on-trend designs.

Instead, I recommend balancing style and practicality with layered window treatments. I plan to incorporate blinds or shades alongside sheer curtains for a bright, romantic look.

I'm ditching boring, flat walls for pattern and texture.

More designers are replacing smooth, minimalistic, polished surfaces with lived-in, textured finishes.

Textured layers are perfect for those who prefer a minimalist design because they achieve visual interest without adding much color. I like to add soft luxury to a space through limewash walls, which have a chalky look, or tiles with a natural patina, which have an oxidized, aged appearance.

I won't invest in any products with checkered patterns.

Like chevron once had its heyday, checkered patterns were everywhere in 2023. This year, I'm ready to branch out to other, less geometric patterns.

Large-scale organic shapes and hand-drawn styles are a refreshing contrast to the checkered pattern's rigidity. I might also incorporate toile, a canvas-like fabric with a repeated pattern, when I want to stay away from geometric shapes.

Faux furs and animal prints don't feel sophisticated in 2024.

Animal-print patterns can create a wild-jungle look, but they don't usually pair well with the bold patterns or decor currently in style.

I recommend swapping a faux-hide rug for one with an irregular shape to keep the visual interest of an uncommon floor covering. I'd also replace animal-print blankets with ones with striped patterns or bubbled textures to blend a classic fabric with a modern style.

Washable rugs are not for me.

I don't like synthetic-fiber rugs, but I especially avoid washable ones. The easy-to-clean rugs are great for busy families with young kids or pets, but often have a thin construction.

These rugs are designed to be thrown into a washing machine, so their backing is made of flexible materials that can cause the edges to curl up over time. Many synthetic fibers cannot withstand a lot of heat, so using hot water or a dryer can cause these threads to fray.

Though the wide range of cool styles can be attractive, washable rugs feel like a fast-fashion trend to me. I recommend investing in rugs made with natural materials instead.

I avoid tabletops with reflective surfaces.

Shiny chrome, acrylic, and glass furniture can balance organic looks with sophisticated glam, but I'd avoid certain pieces.

Reflective or glass-top tables smudge easily, so they often require constant cleaning. Take it from me — wiping away the fingerprints will become a never-ending chore.

Cool tones aren't my favorite style trend.

Cool tones, including blue, gray, and icy white, seem to have fallen out of favor. Recently, I've seen more designers using orange, peach, and caramel-y browns to embrace warmth and vibrancy instead.

For a neutral take on the warm-color trend, I recommend painting walls a creamy off-white color and adding furniture or accessories made from materials like terracotta and natural oak-stained wood.

Disco-ball motifs are fun, but I find them to be overdone.

The 1970s era has inspired many decor trends, but I can't get on board with the disco-ball craze.

The mirrored look is a fun way to brighten a room, but I think artwork depicting disco balls is overdone. It's a reproduction of the style choice, so in my opinion, it lacks the original item's impact.

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• Restaurants are scaling back 'ghost kitchen' operations due to added stress and customer complaints.
• Brands like Wendy's and Kroger are shutting down their ghost kitchens, the Times reported.
• Ghost kitchens were an exciting pandemic-era innovation. But the anonymity bred lower standards.

Ghost kitchens — once celebrated as an efficient innovation for the food industry — have instead been haunted by their own anonymity.

Ghost kitchens are restaurants with no storefront and no seating that customers never see and which only do delivery. It seemed like a good idea during the COVID-19 pandemic. Restaurants and so-called virtual brands invested heavily in them.

But demand decreased as the pandemic subsided and reliance on multiple layers of faceless technology gave rise to complaints about quality. Ultimately, customers never connected to many of the brands. And, now, many restaurants and virtual brands say the stress is not worth the payoff, according to The New York Times.

Several influencers and celebrities have used ghost kitchens to produce their own lines of food, like YouTuber Jimmy Donaldson, known online as Mr. Beast, who created MrBeast Burger in December 2020.

"Stranger Things" actor Noah Schnapp also opened a chicken tender chain called TenderFix in March 2023, which worked out of about 1,000 IHOP kitchens to prepare its food. It's also unclear if TenderFix is still in operation. The company's social media pages have not been updated in at about a year and its website is no longer available.

Large brands like Wendy's and Kroger are scaling back on their ghost kitchen operations after the kitchens struggled to keep up with orders and received customer complaints, according to the Times.

Brinker International, which owns Chili's and numerous other restaurant chains, opened two virtual restaurants during the pandemic called It's Just Wings and Maggiano's Italian Classics, which used the Chili's locations to prepare their food. But last year, as more customers started to return to dining in person, the company found it difficult to juggle both. So Brinker closed Maggiano's and reduced the scale of It's Just Wings in 2023, according to the Times.

"Everyone thought if you have the labor and the equipment, it would be easy to run virtual brands, but the reality is, most of the delivery times for virtual brands transact during busy times for the regular restaurant," Brinker CEO Kevin Hochman told the Times. "It was too much to have a busy dinner rush with an influx of virtual orders coming in, too."

And as quality issues and late delivery times worsen, some ghost kitchens are starting to see legal challenges. In August 2023, Donaldson sued his ghost kitchen partner, Virtual Dining Concepts, claiming in court documents that some customers complained they had received raw meat. For now, Virtual Dining Concepts is still operating MrBeast Burger.

"One father of two felt as though he had 'let his children down' by ordering MrBeast Burgers when he received terrible quality food in unbranded packaging that he was able to trace back to a 7-11," the lawsuit says.

Cracker Barrel also opened its own virtual restaurant using CloudKitchens, another ghost kitchen group, according to Restaurant Business.

CloudKitchens, which Uber cofounder Travis Kalanick owns, is facing a class action lawsuit that claims the company misrepresented the true origin of the food that customers are ordering on food delivery apps like Grubhub and Doordash.

Still, some chains like Denny's are fully embracing the cloud kitchen model, the Times reported. The company owns three virtual brands, Banda Burrito, The Meltdown, and Burger Den.

Denny's President and CEO, Kelli Valade, told the outlet that it is able to meet higher customer demand than most other chains because Denny's locations are open 24 hours a day.

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• The UK's Royal Navy has relaxed its entry requirements due to recruitment problems.
• New recruits no longer need to prove swimming proficiency prior to joining.
• This change aims to streamline enlistment, but internal critics called it a "race to the bottom."

The UK's Royal Navy has relaxed its entry requirements for new recruits, no longer requiring them to demonstrate swimming proficiency prior to joining, Sky News reported.

A source within the defense community told the publication that the change was "a sign of true desperation to increase recruitment numbers" to the service, which was once the world's most powerful navy.

It exemplifies how the Royal Navy, the most feared world sea power in the 19th and early 20th centuries, is struggling to stay fit for purpose in the 21st century.

A Royal Navy spokesperson rebuffed claims of lowered standards, telling Sky News that all recruits would still undergo a swim test during training.

The spokesperson said the adjustment aims to remove barriers for non-swimmers or weak swimmers, streamlining the enlistment process without compromising operational readiness.

But the Sky source argued that such a move could lead to prolonged training periods.

Concerns have also been raised about the potential need for additional swimming instructors to accommodate the influx of recruits requiring remedial training, the UK news outlet reported.

"I absolutely get that there is a growing issue around young people being able to swim and therefore, maintaining the swim test could be seen as reducing the 'pool of eligible candidates,'' but at what point do we say enough is enough?" they continued.

They added that there was "outrage, unadulterated utter outrage" over the move internally. "It's a race to the bottom — literally the bottom."

Business Insider contacted the Royal Navy for comment.

One UK politician told British ministers in March that falling levels of recruitment in the British armed forces presented a national security crisis.

"We need to get back towards 80,000, 90,000 regular forces, we need to grow the reserve force – 30,000 is not enough even if that 30,000 were real, which I don't believe it is – we have to significantly grow the reserve force," MP Danny Kruger said.

Embarrassing setbacks

Alongside struggles to recruit new candidates, the Royal Navy's fleet has suffered several recent setbacks.

In February, the Royal Navy's flagship, the HMS Queen Elizabeth, was forced to withdraw from NATO Exercise Steadfast Defender, the alliance's largest military exercise since the Cold War, after an issue with one of its propellers was discovered at the last minute.

In 2022, its sister ship, the HMS Prince of Wales, broke down around the Isle of Wight off mainland England's south coast after experiencing a similar problem.

Meanwhile, the UK is stretching its naval capabilities by providing protection to vessels in the Red Sea targeted by Houthi rebels.

"There is a dissonance between the UK's military ambitions and its capabilities," Richard Barrons, former head of Britain's armed forces, said, per the Financial Times. "The risk is that we get drawn into a conflict and can't sustain our presence, and this exposes a strategic weakness

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• Russia's growing partnership with China isn't going to fade, a think-tank director said.
• That's because Moscow's alliance with Beijing checks off three big goals for Putin.
• The West should consider enforcing economic sanctions on China as well, he said.

Russia's no-limits partnership with China is here to stay, as tying Moscow's economy to Beijing's is the only option Vladimir Putin has to sustain his war and his antagonism toward the West, according to Alexander Gabuev, the director of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center.

In an op-ed for Foreign Affairs, the think-tank director pointed to Russia and China's economies becoming increasingly intertwined since Moscow began its invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The two nations scaled up their trade partnership to a record $240 billion last year, partly because China has snapped up key Russian commodities while the West has shunned trade with Moscow. Meanwhile, Russia has bought up huge amounts of Chinese goods as it becomes increasingly isolated from the global economy.

Russia is keen to keep its alliance with China, Gabuev said, as the partnership "emphatically" helps Russia with three of its goals: helping it win its war against Ukraine, helping its ailing economy, and helping the nation push back against the West for its support for Ukraine. 

Those are key incentives for Russia to continue its partnership with China, even as Beijing appears to be holding an advantage over Moscow as a trade partner. Its economy is larger and still maintaining a connection with the West, while some Russian trade is struggling under Western sanctions.

"Russia is now locking itself into vassalage to China," Gabuev said. "A couple years down the road, Beijing will be more able to dictate the terms of the economic, technological, and regional cooperation with Moscow. The Kremlin is not blind to this prospect, but it does not have much choice as long as Putin needs Chinese support to fight his war in Ukraine, which has become an obsession."

A lasting partnership between Moscow and Beijing suggests that the West needs to consider enforcing economic sanctions on China similar those imposed on Russia, Gabuev added. He noted that the current situation differed from the past when the US was able to step in and offer China strategic deals during the Cold War.

"Indeed, the deepening of this partnership is one of the most consequential results of the Ukrainian tragedy. Moscow and Beijing may never sign a formal alliance, but the evolution of their relationship in the years ahead will increasingly affect the world and challenge the West," he said. "US officials cannot extend a deal … to either Moscow or Beijing at this point. Any hopes of peeling them away from each other are nothing more than wishful thinking," Gabuev added.

Other political affairs experts have also noted potential risks stemming from Russia and China's growing ties, especially amid rising geopolitical concerns around the world.

An alliance between China, Russia, and North Korea could pose a "significant threat" to the world's financial system and security, Bruce Klingner, a research fellow for a Washington, DC-based think-tank wrote in a recent note.

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• A 25-year-old private tutor told BI about his experiences working in the UAE.
• He said he had taught the children of some of Dubai's richest people.
• One of his pupils paid him $3,000 to do his homework, he said.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with a 25-year-old private tutor and academic governor in Dubai. They were granted anonymity to speak freely about their experiences. This essay has been edited for length and clarity. The names of children have been removed to protect their identity.

I moved to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in 2020 to work for an international tutoring agency.

I've since taught children from some of Dubai's most elite families — millionaires and billionaires who had made their money from oil investments, tech startups, and other entrepreneurial ventures.

One of the families I taught lived in one of Dubai's most expensive apartments, which boasted an art room, a massage room, a gym, and a cinema. It was spread over five floors and also had a private elevator and guard dogs on the door.

Families like these often had dozens of staff, including security, maids, drivers, cooks, nannies, and, of course, tutors.

The parents often weren't around, but those I did encounter were almost always friendly to me.

I had most contact with the nannies, who were at the children's beck and call.

They would cook me dinner and bring me drinks, and I almost felt like I was a part of the family, sort of like a big brother.

One of my younger pupils had his own bespoke classroom in the family house — it was better equipped than anything you'd ever see in a normal school.

Having finished an arts and crafts class with him one time, I said we needed to clean up the mess.

"Absolutely not," he said. "I do not pay you to clean. I pay her to clean," as he pointed at the nanny.

With another child, who was around seven at the time, we had been studying birds in biology and he demanded we get an owl to observe it.

The next time I went to the house, an owl was perched on the kitchen counter.

Another student was told by his brother to "not bother doing any work" because "Dad would sort it out." He then paid me $3,000 to do his homework for him.

But this was normal behavior in Dubai, as the kids were used to extreme wealth.

The families would give me with gifts

These sorts of financial "incentives" were by no means rare.

Sometimes, the parents would go to great lengths to start a bidding war with one another.

If they knew I would be at one client's house at a time they wanted, they would offer to pay double, triple, or even more to convince me to come to them instead.

And each time I thought I'd seen it all, the job would find new ways of surprising me.

One time, my car broke down, and I turned up late for a lesson with one of my regular pupils. I told the mother the reason I was late, and the next time I had a class with that child, she gave me $7,000 in cash to pay for repairs.

The same family gave me a huge tip of more than $20,000 at the end of the year.

I spent the summer sailing the Italian coast on a yacht

Last summer, I was hired to look after two brothers, who were four and six years old. Their family had planned a trip on their private yacht and were looking to sail along the Italian coast for two months.

A few weeks after signing the contract, I found myself in a speedboat heading across the Mediterranean toward a superyacht the size of a ferry.

As I joined my new employers on the deck, uniformed staff offered Champagne (although I was not allowed to drink while working), and I spent the next few months jet-skiing, paddle-boarding, touring vineyards, and eating expensive foods.

This family was from Russia, and there was a marked difference in the way they treated me, often wanting to keep me out of sight.

While they partied on the upper levels, I was told to stay below deck.

They had hired me to be a kind of glorified babysitter for their kids, playing with them and keeping them entertained while speaking English to them.

For the Russian elite, having someone who speaks English with a native accent is a big boasting point.

Perhaps one of the funnier moments was when we returned to their villa on the south coast of France. On either side of the front door were two stone busts of the father's face.

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