• Asia's richest man is hosting a lavish wedding in Mumbai for his youngest son this weekend.
• Local traffic police announce road closures, causing frustration among some Mumbai locals.
• Mumbai is already plagued by traffic and faces added congestion from the three-day wedding affair. 

Asia's richest man is throwing a massive wedding for his youngest son in Mumbai this weekend.

Anant Ambani, son of Mukesh Ambani, is set to wed Radhika Merchant in a lavish affair.

It's expected to delight Bollywood celebrities, business leaders, and politicians who are all on the guest list. But one group of people are not pleased — city residents.

Earlier this month, local traffic police posted a social media notice announcing road closures and diversions from Friday through Monday.

The document, posted on X, noted that a large number of guests and VIPs would be in attendance and added that the measures were being taken "in order to avoid inconvenience" for guests.

The notice and its wording, which also called the wedding a "public event" angered some locals who expressed their frustration on X, saying that Mumbai residents should not be disturbed so that a billionaire can throw a big party.

Mumbai is seen as India's financial capital, and its Bandra Kurla Complex, where the wedding is taking place, is a major business district. The city is also the country's populated, and traffic congestion is a headache for locals.

Sonam Srivastava, CEO of Wright Research, whose office is adjacent to the Jio World Convention Centre, where the Ambani wedding is being held, told Business Insider that the venue has experienced "significant disruptions" due to traffic blockages.

Srivastava added: "This situation has forced us to reschedule critical client meetings and events planned for these dates. It's alarming that traffic in such a prominent business district has come to a standstill, causing significant inconvenience to businesses, for a private event."

The Ambani family hosted pre-wedding parties in Jamnagar in March, which were attended by some of the world's elite, including Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, and Ivanka Trump.

India's The Hindu newspaper reported at the time that around 150 planes descended into the local airport.

An airport official told The Hindu that the airport organized some extra capacity for the guests by setting up a Customs, Immigration, and Quarantine (CIQ) center at the airport.

• I started working in media, and my first job was severely underpaid and isolating. 
• I interviewed for other roles at the company, but my boss renegotiated my contract for another year.
• Since she did it behind my back, I interviewed anyway and landed a better-paying role. 

As the media industry is notoriously tough to break into, I felt grateful when I landed a yearlong contract at a broadcasting organization in my early 20s. However, after a few months, my excitement turned to frustration when I realized my job wasn't going anywhere.

Looking back, there were red flags right from the start. I worked predominantly with higher-level managers and executives, so I was often alone at my desk while they were in meetings. When they were around, their conversations were generally irrelevant to my role, and I certainly couldn't afford the expensive bars they frequented. I was the most junior on the team yet the managers openly discussed how their salaries weren't high enough — despite being double what I was paid.

My role also meant that I worked almost exclusively with companies outside the organization, so I never had any real opportunity to build or showcase my skills to colleagues in the office. As I desperately wanted to be able to find another job at the company, I became increasingly anxious and my mental health started to suffer. These feelings were exacerbated when I saw my peers moving between jobs and gaining the credits that I also needed to have longevity in a competitive industry.

My anxiety about the job was the red flag I needed

I stuck it out for the first year — until my anxiety became so bad that I knew I would only get better if I left. I told my immediate manager I was applying for new jobs within the company. I didn't worry about it too much as my contract was nearly up.

My plan worked, as I was shortlisted to interview for better-paying jobs at the same company. This was a huge relief, as my role was woefully underpaid, and I needed the extra money.

What I didn't realize was that my higher-up boss had renegotiated my contract with HR for another year without consulting me. It forced me to explain to her that I had interviews coming up — despite already telling my immediate manager. She'd done it because my role was tough to fill, and HR had signed off on a contract extension to avoid recruiting again.

As this was only revealed in the last weeks of my job, it imperiled my plan to leave and feel normal again. Even though I knew this wasn't my responsibility, I still cried during a meeting with my boss. She wanted me to stay and couldn't understand why I wanted to leave. It was also frustrating that the company preferred to retain that role with all its issues instead of changing it to make it more appealing for new recruits.

I stuck up for myself despite being a junior member of staff

Against her wishes, I went to the interviews, and thankfully, I was offered a higher position at the company.

HR eventually accepted my resignation and moved me into my new role — but not without a few weeks left on my current contract. I had to stay on for an additional five weeks while they found someone, which I spent trying to please my team by creating a detailed handover for my replacement. Still, those last days were intensely boring, and my boss's resistance to my resignation cast a shadow over the rest of my time there.

Once I moved jobs, I realized that all of my instincts about the role were correct. Not only was I being paid more for my new position, but it was less stressful, there were more opportunities, and I had coworkers who became my friends. Even within the same company, the situation was entirely different, and I learned many new skills there. Most importantly, I stopped having panic attacks, and my mental health improved.

After years of working in the media industry, I'm proud that I stood my ground despite the intense turmoil I felt while doing it. I now know that people leave jobs and move around all the time for reasons similar to mine.

It should never feel personal to leave a job, nor should anyone have to spend so much time in an environment where they feel unhappy. This is especially true when there are much better career options waiting for you. So I'm glad that I stood up myself, which was scary as a junior staff member but empowering in the long run.

• Creatives Rebuild New York gave 2,400 artists $1,000 monthly for 18 months in a basic income program.
• The program aimed to help New York artists financially recover from the pandemic.
• Guaranteed income programs are being piloted across the US as an approach to poverty reduction.

Guaranteed basic income allowed Jacinta Bunnell to finally take a deep breath.

The 52-year-old is an artist based in Stone Ridge, New York, an area about 100 miles north of Manhattan. She's created coloring books, projects using found paper and objects, and a children's book focused on LGBTQ+ family life called "A More Graceful Shaboom" — along with selling vintage items online. She loves her work, but she often lives paycheck to paycheck.

Recently, that changed. Bunnell was a participant in Creatives Rebuild New York's guaranteed income program. The organization — which was created in 2021 to help New York-based artists financially recover from the pandemic — gave 2,400 artists across the state $1,000 a month for 18 months.

1. Participants were in staggered payment groups beginning summer 2022, with the last payments distributed in March 2024. They could spend their money however they chose, no strings attached.

The program was designed by a think tank of artists, arts administrators, and guaranteed income scholars. Meanwhile, funding came from several foundations, including the Mellon Foundation, Tides Center, Ford Foundation, and Stavros Niarchos Foundation.

"The timing of it literally couldn't have been more perfect because I was able to get on my feet again and start thinking about making art," Bunnell told Business Insider.

To be eligible for the program, participants like Bunnell had to demonstrate financial need under the self-sufficiency standard, a measure created in the 1990s by Dr. Diana Pearce. The standard determines the income required for a person to afford basic necessities where they live.

Some of the guaranteed income participants lived in cities, while others lived in rural areas. For example, an individual living in Northwest Brooklyn needs at least $53,000 a year, according to the self-sufficiency standard.

Participants also had to identify as an "artist, culture bearer, or culture maker," which could include practicing crafts, dance, design, filmmaking, literary arts, theater, music, or oral tradition. The participant's work was not evaluated based on merit.

The 2,400 selected participants were surveyed about their experiences throughout the program — similarly to other guaranteed income research — but there was no control group. The full Creatives Rebuild New York report with the results of these surveys is expected to be published at the end of July, according to the program.

"Artists have been making so much important work that we all live by, live with, and care about," said Maura Cuffie-Peterson, the director of strategic initiatives, guaranteed income for Creatives Rebuild New York. "But they are very rarely fairly compensated or taken care of to make that work."

Creatives Rebuild New York's guaranteed income program joins over 100 similar pilots across the US aimed at reducing local poverty levels. The programs typically give low-income Americans between $100 and $2,000 for a set period of time to spend as they choose. BI has heard from participants who used the money to afford rent and groceries, pay off debt and medical bills, and support their children.

Bunnell spent her money on healthcare and art resources

Bunnell said she and her partner both work and have some savings, but their bills sometimes feel never-ending.

Per the Creative Rebuild New York artist survey, most artists in New York have a household income below $50,000 a year, though that figure can fluctuate significantly month-to-month, and 46% rely on gig work for additional income.

For Bunnell, the pilot helped her pay for healthcare. She developed a chronic illness a few years ago and said her guaranteed income helped her afford the specialists, medicine, and supplements she needed, especially since many of those treatments were out-of-pocket-costs.

The illness also limited her ability to work. She said the $1,000 a month helped her fill in the income gaps and gave her resources to take on more art projects.

"I think there's a misconception that it can make you lazy and not want to work," she said. "I've met a lot of artists who received this, and it only made them more motivated and excited."

Creatives Rebuild New York offered some artists a financial safety net

In addition to monthly guaranteed income, Creatives Rebuild New York is leading a two-year program that funds $65,000 annual salaries for another 300 artists across the state, ending in 2024. Neither program plans to extend beyond its initial timeline or funding. The organization allocated $43.2 million total to the guaranteed income program and $61.6 million to the artist employment program.

To be sure, cash payment programs continue to face political and legal opposition across the country, and not all policymakers agree that the model is a sustainable way to reduce poverty. Results from programs like Creatives Rebuild New York are based on participant's self-reported experiences while receiving payments, and it's not yet clear how guaranteed income will impact their long-term financial stability.

Cuffie-Petersons, however, said that anecdotal results so far show that participants are using the money to build financial stability and continue their art.

"The reality is that most people could really benefit from a little extra cash a month," she said.

Have you benefited from a guaranteed income program? Are you open to sharing how you spent the money? If so, reach out to this reporter at allisonkelly@businessinsider.com.

• Jackie Lange started Panama Relocation Tours in 2010, helping expats move to Panama.
• Lange moved from Texas to Boquete, Panama, for its cooler climate and lower cost of living.
• She's seen Americans go from not being able to retire in the US to retiring comfortably in Panama.

Jackie Lange, 69, moved to Panama from Texas in 2010, thinking she would retire to the mountains. Instead, over a decade later, she's led 250 tours helping hundreds of expats move to Panama.

Shortly after making the move, she started Panama Relocation Tours, which takes interested expats across the country, from the beach towns to Panama City. Now, she has expats and local drivers assisting her tours, and her two kids have joined the business.

She's found joy in helping others find their new home in a culturally respectful way. She said she's seen people go from worried about not having enough for retirement in the US to living stress-free in Panama.

"I get an email, phone call, or Facebook message almost every single day from people who say, 'Thank you so much for helping me move here. There's no way I could have done this if it hadn't been for all your advice and help,'" Lange said, adding her tours are booked until October.

Moving to Panama

Lange, a real estate investor, lived in Dallas with a lake home in East Texas. After 12 years as a stay-at-home mom, she bought old homes and kept some as rental properties, meaning she could retire early and live off her rental income.

She increasingly couldn't stand the "concrete jungle" and the "brutal" summers. She recalled one summer in which the temperature rarely fell below 100 degrees. She racked up $400 monthly electric bills from the air conditioner.

"When I was thinking about making this move, I was looking 10, 15 years down the road and thinking, my health insurance is $4,000 now, so what's it going to be like in 10 years?" Lange said. "It was going to be $10,000 a year from my health insurance, and if my electric bills were $400 a month, what would it be like in 10 years? Was I going to just want to keep on working to keep paying bigger and bigger bills for everything?"

For a year, Lange traveled to 10 countries, spending two to three weeks in each, in search of a cooler climate, a lower cost of living, and a stable government and economy.

She considered Panama, spending two weeks visiting Panama City and smaller towns across the country, settling on the small mountain town of Boquete near the border with Costa Rica.

Before moving, she did another tour with real estate investor friends, during which she checked out local groceries and shops to see if they would have everything she needed. She also looked at homes and made a split-second decision to rent a two-bedroom home on a coffee farm for $600 a month, which she bought a year later. She couldn't move immediately, as she had to sell some of her houses and wind down her Texas business.

The town is in a valley surrounded by mountains and, when she moved, was a hot spot for expats from different countries due to its year-round mild weather. She said it's also an hour's drive to the Pacific Ocean and three hours to the Caribbean Sea.

She lived on the farm with her husband for 12 years, building a greenhouse where she grew organic food. When her husband died, she moved to a nearby home that required less upkeep.

She said the temperature stays around 75 degrees Fahrenheit daily, though it feels cooler during the summer rainy season — she estimates her area gets almost 200 inches of rain a year. She's adjusted her schedule to get her errands done in the morning so she's inside when the rain starts in the afternoon.

'Accidentally' starting a tour company

Lange had the budget to retire early in Panama, but after giving her first tour to eight of her real estate investor friends similar to her solo tour, some of their friends began calling her about getting on her tours.

"I didn't plan to start the business at all, so every time I did a tour, I learned something new that I wish I would have included in it," Lange said. "I don't know how it happened exactly, but a bunch of people looking to move someplace else, because of the videos I had and the articles I wrote, would call me and ask me questions. The business just grew pretty quickly."

She crafted a website herself and started advertising on expat groups. At first, she organized the tours based on her itinerary when she first came to Panama, including the beach communities, urban centers, and mountain towns. Her tours included meetings with immigration attorneys and tourism leaders who could share information about getting a residency visa, as well as meetups with other expats.

Over time, she researched more ways to avoid costly mistakes, from how to buy a car to taking care of pets. She added more information about rentals, as she said sometimes homes under $1,000 a month may lack amenities like hot water. She gives participants a list of 17 questions to ask before renting a house, such as whether it has a reserve water tank in case of a drought. Lange advises expats not to buy a home until they've rented for at least six months.

Her kids joined the business and now handle the logistics and marketing. After 10 years of leading the tours herself, she recruited expat tour guides and Panamanian bus drivers to help run group and private tours. She also crafted an online relocation guide with information on health insurance companies, private hospitals, CPAs, shipping and moving companies, and real estate agents.

She said she's increasingly received emails from people saying they're supposed to retire in a few years in the US but can't afford it and don't know what to do. She's guided people nervous about finances to move to Panama, and many of her clients told her they're less stressed about making ends meet. She also said she's noticed people's health improve after moving to Panama, as they're often less stressed and eat healthier.

"I could retire tomorrow if I wanted to, and we wouldn't skip a beat," Lange said, noting she intends to keep the business running since most days don't feel like work. "I love helping people who are feeling like it's a hopeless, helpless situation and showing them there is a solution, there is a way to take all that stress away."

Cheaper living in Panama

After she sold her farmhouse, she moved into a three-bedroom, two-bath rental property for $1,000 a month. The home is fully furnished with all utilities included — even a gardener — and she has modern appliances with high-speed internet. She said she's seen towns nearby with furnished one-bedroom rentals for $250 a month.

She spends about $80 a week on groceries and cat food and mostly shops at local farmer's markets. She paid $20,000 for her 2020 Hyundai Santa Fe.

She pays $2,788 a year for health insurance, which covers 100% of hospital and emergency room visits worldwide. Without insurance, many routine doctor visits are $15. A few weeks ago, she got her teeth cleaned and received X-rays for $42.50.

She said prices vary significantly across the country. Homes in the coastal city of Coronado, which has many expats, can sell for three times the price of similar homes in beachfront communities with fewer foreigners.

"You have choices to live by the expat community, where it might be a little bit more expensive, but if you're on a tight budget, you can move to a town an hour away, 30 minutes away, where the prices could be 50% less," Lange said.

Have you recently left the United States for a new country? Reach out to this reporter at nsheidlower@businessinsider.com.

• Intuit is paying more than $555,000 in back wages to workers who missed overtime payments.
• The Labor Department said it hadn't kept accurate pay records and didn't pay workers for required training.
• This affected nearly 15% of its global workforce. The company this week announced 1,800 job cuts.

Intuit, a Silicon Valley company that provides financial software for employers, is paying back more than half a million dollars to thousands of its own workers after failing to pay them for some required training.

The announcement came just a week before the company announced it was laying off 10% of its workforce.

The US Department of Labor said in early July that an investigation by its Wage and Hour Division had found that about 2,600 US employees had collectively missed more than $555,000 in overtime pay because Intuit hadn't kept accurate pay records and hadn't paid workers for some time spent on required training.

As a result, Intuit failed to pay these workers the correct amount of overtime pay — which is one-and-a-half times normal wages for hours worked over 40 in a workweek — which violated the Fair Labor Standards Act, the DOL said.

A group of 2,610 workers — all based in the US — is getting between $76 and $694 each in back pay, with an average of about $200, a DOL spokesperson told Business Insider. Based on its employee count of about 18,000 before the layoffs, this makes up nearly 15% of its global workforce.

The case, which was settled administratively, covered the period from September 2021 to July 2023, the DOL spokesperson said.

"All current and former employees who took QuickBooks ProAdvisor certification between September 2021 and August 2023 were notified that they would be compensated for the time they spent completing the course and they have now all been compensated," an Intuit spokesperson told BI.

Separately, Intuit announced Wednesday that it was laying off 1,800 employees, or about 10% of its workforce, including 1,050 who it said weren't meeting performance expectations. Its CEO said that this wasn't down to cost-cutting measures, noting that Intuit planned to hire about 1,800 more workers.

Intuit also said that it would be closing two offices: one in Boise and another in the Canadian city of Edmonton.

Intuit's products include TurboTax, QuickBooks, Credit Karma, and Mailchimp. It says it has about 100,000 customers globally.

• While Biden continuously fails to reassure voters of his fitness, Harris has been doing the opposite.
• On Thursday, Harris did her level best to shore up support at a rally in North Carolina.
• Harris may be one of the most likely replacements for Biden if he were to step aside.

While President Joe Biden tried to keep it together at his big boy press conference on Thursday, his vice president was at a rally in North Carolina putting up a much stronger show.

The pressure to perform well was high in Biden's live press conference — his first unscripted dialogue since the disastrous CNN debate that had Democratic lawmakers and donors questioning his fitness to run for reelection.

And Biden did not provide much reassurance to his supporters. During the event, he fumbled — with gaffes like calling Vice President Kamala Harris "Vice President Trump," and mistakenly addressing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as "President Putin."

In contrast, Harris was out on the campaign trail in North Carolina, delivering strong, articulate messages about the president's capabilities.

"If there is one single person who deserves credit, in the world, for strengthening NATO, making it stronger, making it more united and more effective, that is Joe Biden," she said.

"And having made it more effective, then together with our allies around the globe, we are standing up to the dictator Putin. All to ensure that America is strong and Americans are safe," she added with her voice raised, to loud applause and cheers.

Harris's performance, particularly in contrast with Biden's, did not go unnoticed.

Rep. Jared Huffman of California reposted Harris' North Carolina campaign speech on X on Thursday, writing: "VP Harris is on fire. She's vetted, tested, and has been Democrats' strongest messenger throughout this campaign.

He added: "Let me be very clear: if/when President Biden passes the torch, I'm all-in for Kamala Harris!"

Former CNN correspondent and political commentator Brian Stelter echoed Huffman's sentiments, saying on X: "Many powerful sound bites from VP Kamala Harris on the nightly newscasts right now."

Harris may be quietly gearing up for a 2024 run

Rumors have been brewing that Harris may be quietly preparing to take over the Democratic presidential ticket from Biden.

For one, her staff changed her schedule after the debate, having her appear alongside Biden for the Fourth of July fireworks and picnic at the White House, something she has not done before, The New York Times reported.

She had always traditionally celebrated the day at a local fire station.

And Al Sharpton, a civil rights leader who spoke to Harris on July 5, told The Times that people around Harris were gearing up for the possibility that they might have to make her the Democratic candidate.

"I think there are some that are independent of her that are getting ready," he told The Times.

And surveys have shown that Harris may be a viable Biden replacement.

A new Thursday poll, conducted jointly by ABC News, Washington Post, and Ipsos, showed that if Harris ran for the top job instead of Biden, she would have a two-percentage-point edge over former President Donald Trump.

Biden's campaign manager has also said that if Biden quits, most of his campaign's sizable war chest will go to Harris.

It's not just members of the Democratic Party. In a video posted on his Truth Social account on July 3, Trump, too, acknowledged the possibility of running against Harris rather than Biden.

"I got him out the race, and that means we have Kamala," Trump said in the clip.

In anticipation of a switch of candidates, Trump is already trialing some nasty nicknames for Harris, including "Laffin' Kamala Harris" and "Cackling Copilot Kamala Harris."

Harris has remained loyal — for now

Despite mounting pressures on Biden to step aside in favor of a younger and more viable candidate, Harris has stood resolutely behind the president.

And to be sure, while Harris is Biden's most likely replacement, other names have been floated, like Gov. Gavin Newsom of California, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, and more.

Newsom and Whitmer have both publicly affirmed their support for Biden, saying they would not challenge him in the race.

And Biden, too, is hanging in there despite at least 16 House Democrats and one Democratic senator calling on him to quit.

In a letter to House Democrats on Monday, he said: "I wouldn't be running again if I did not absolutely believe I was the best person to beat Donald Trump in 2024."

Representatives for Harris did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Business Insider sent outside regular business hours.

• When I was first diagnosed with diabetes, I felt ashamed.
• I didn't tell anyone for a while and didn't identify as diabetic internally, either.
• But eventually, I accepted my diagnosis, and doing my insulin shots in public helped.

Last week, I was in a chic restaurant with colleagues blustering through semi-fake smiles, feeling acutely distracted. I needed to run to the bathroom for an insulin shot before the appetizers arrived. Life as a type 1 diabetic requires stealth, timing, discipline, and, above all, humility.

I inadvertently learned I was diabetic over a decade ago during a routine physical appointment in my early 20s when my triglycerides had suddenly skyrocketed to dangerous levels. My primary care physician did more blood work, diagnosed me with insulin resistance — or type 2 diabetes — and swiftly sent me to a specialist.

A specialist diagnosed me with type 1 diabetes

It took over nine months of working with a specialist to be diagnosed with type 1 diabetes rather than type 2. The primary difference is that the bodies of people with type 2 diabetes produce insulin and can't effectively process it. In contrast, people with type 1 don't produce insulin, so it needs to be injected subcutaneously.

Once I was first diagnosed, my entire life changed. I was markedly ashamed of the disease. I saw the way diabetes was described in mainstream media as something that primarily affected people who were overweight. And I've always been overweight. Though it's type 2 diabetes that was medically linked with obesity, I still worried most people didn't know the nuance of diabetic diagnoses and would make assumptions about me.

For a while, I felt shame about my diagnosis

I spent the first years of my diagnosis isolated in shame. I wore an insulin pump under my clothing. The bulky device clipped into my bra and was tethered to the injection site by a long, clear tube that got caught on everything. I started hugging people at a distance, worried they'd feel it pressing on them. I went to education classes on medical equipment required by my insurance carrier. But I didn't identify as a diabetic internally to myself, or to others. I wanted to keep my condition at an emotional distance, even from myself.

I eventually got a continuous glucose monitor, but it was conspicuous, either on the back of my arm or presenting as a visible lump under my waistline. I hated getting questions at the gym when I wore a tank top: "Oh, what's that for?" Or from the woman fitting my wedding dress: "You might want to pick a different style if you wear this on the big day."

Eventually, my perspective changed

It took me another decade to slowly let people in on my diabetic secret. I realized that for every prying question, like, "Is that for allergies?" followed by, "Oh, I didn't know you were DI-A-BE-TIC! (gasp)," when I'd give the answer, there was rarely a follow-up. People were curious about the medical equipment, but the deriding comments I was afraid of often didn't materialize.

Maybe it was wisdom that came with age, but eventually, I simply stopped caring what other people thought about my condition and how I was managing it. Plus, I knew I was doing great, maintaining a healthy A1C — which measures average blood glucose levels over three months — under 6.1%. This was down from 9.1% when I was first diagnosed; for context, a non-diabetic A1C is around 5.7%.

Owning the emotional reality of my condition also helped me make better choices for my care. I switched from an insulin pump to shots, which makes me feel more in control of my dosing. I have authentic conversations when people ask me how I manage my blood sugar.

Soon, I was surprised to find that the shame that kept me from hugging people years ago, scared they'd feel my insulin pump, had evaporated. Now, not only do I not care if people know I have diabetes, but sometimes, at business dinners, I pull out my insulin pens, screw in the needle, and push the required units into my belly right through my blouse at the table.

I ward off prying questions with a confident smile and a remark that sends us back to the conversation at hand. I'm not as annoyed by inquiries as I once was, but I rarely speak at length with acquaintances or strangers. I reserve in-depth conversations for my partner, close friends, and endocrinology team.

Over 20 years, I've learned that owning my condition means leaning into pragmatism rather than emotion. After all, I'm the one living with diabetes, not anyone else.

• China just issued draft regulations to rein in solar cell production.
• This shows Beijing knows and is concerned about industrial overcapacity.
• China and the West have been mired in a trade dispute over overcapacity, which Beijing has pushed back on.

China and the West are in disagreement over claims that the East Asian giant is producing too much stuff and depressing global prices.

China has pushed back against this notion, saying the West is trying to contain its economic growth.

But Beijing recently released a new set of draft rules that show China knows and is concerned about overcapacity too — specifically in solar cell production.

On Tuesday, China's industry ministry released new draft regulation to promote "high-quality development" in the industry. The draft rules are open for public consultation until Monday.

The ministry did not explicitly target excess capacity but said in its proposal that it aims to guide solar cell companies to reduce manufacturing projects that "simply expand production capacity" while improving innovation, production, quality, and reducing production costs.

China's industry ministry is looking to increase the ratio of capital that shareholders must invest in projects. This could limit the speed of industry expansion and curb overproduction.

The new rules come as the solar industry deals with a glut of panels following years of breakneck growth. The sector is one key pillar of the country's "new three" economic drivers, so Beijing would want it to be sustainable.

China is producing more solar panels than the world can absorb

As it stands, China is producing way more solar panels than its power grid can handle. There's such a huge glut of solar panels worldwide that some people are using them as garden fencing.

China's solar module manufacturing capacity nearly tripled in 2022 alone before gaining another 84% in 2023, commodities consultancy Wood Mackenzie wrote in a report in April.

Ed Crooks, the vice-chairman of energy at Wood Mackenzie, called the surge "most dramatic."

Last year, China — the world's largest solar energy producer — installed fewer panels than it produced, per Wood Mackenzie.

The oversupply caused a plunge in solar cell prices that even Chinese manufacturers are up in arms about.

In May, the China Photovoltaic Industry Association called for more mergers and acquisitions, as well as restrictions on domestic competition to control capacity.

On Monday, Longi, a major Chinese solar maker, said in a stock filing that 2024 will be a "difficult year" for the company and industry. The company laid off thousands of workers earlier this year.

"The entire industry does not have the ability to support further price declines in the short term," Longi said on Monday.

• Russia is targeting Ukrainian airfields before the first of Ukraine's F-16s arrive.
• Experts told BI that Russia is wary of the boost the aircraft will likely give to Ukraine.
• One expert said Russian forces are "going to go for every F-16 base they can find."

Russia is targeting Ukraine's airfields before the first F-16 fighter jets arrive in the country, and air warfare experts told Business Insider it's because it's worried about what Ukraine can achieve once it has them.

Ukraine has been promised dozens of F-16s by Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, and Belgium, with the exact number due in the first wave not publicly known.

The F-16s, the first of which are due to arrive this summer, will be more advanced than the Soviet-era aircraft Ukraine has been using since Russia launched its invasion.

Ukraine has not confirmed where it will keep its F-16s, but Russia said after one recent airbase strike that it was targeting airfields it believes Ukraine will use to house the planes.

Russian strikes have been recorded at multiple Ukrainian bases in recent weeks.

This includes Russia claiming to have hit Ukraine's Mirgorod air base, 100 miles from the border with Russia, destroying five Sukhoi Su-27 fighter jets.

Ukraine confirmed the attack and said there were some losses, "but not the ones the enemy claims."

Michael Clarke, a Russia and Ukraine expert and a UK national security advisor, said Russia is "very worried about the F-16s because of their capabilities, no question about that."

He also warned that Russian forces "are going to go for every F-16 base they can find."

Rajan Menon, a senior research scholar at Columbia University's Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies, said that Russia is focused on the advanced weaponry coming from the West.

"I think their belief is that the more Western weaponry Ukraine has of all sorts, the more formidable its military will become," he said.

Meanwhile, Tim Robinson, a military aviation specialist at the UK's Royal Aeronautical Society, said Russia's military likely believes the F-16s are "going to change the balance slightly against us."

He said that once they arrive, Russian aircraft will probably have to be more cautious over Ukrainian territory. That means efforts to limit the jets' effects now present a tempting prospect for Russia.

Ukraine has steps it can take

The potential impact of Russia's efforts, and whether it manages to damage or destroy more air bases, is unclear.

F-16s need particular long and smooth runways, as well as protective hangars.

Matthew Savill, the director of military sciences at the UK's Royal United Services Institute, said the answer from a Ukrainian perspective is obvious: more air defenses.

Ukraine has repeatedly asked for more air defenses from its allies, to better enable it to stop Russian drone and missile attacks.

Ukraine also says it is building underground stores and bunkers at its bases to prepare for the F-16s, and will disperse the jets to different bases to make it harder for Russia to detect them.

A Ukrainian Air Force official also said in June that Ukraine would store some of its F-16s abroad, so Russia cannot attack them.

It's hard to take out airfields

Robinson said that destroying air bases is not an easy task.

"Is it very, very difficult to shut an air base completely down," he said, especially given that they can be repaired.

To keep one out of commission, he said, you have to strike again and again — something that would be particularly hard if Ukraine uses more air defenses to protect bases where it has its F-16s.

Still, Ukraine's F-16s being destroyed soon after they arrived — or not being able to be used because airfields are destroyed — would be a huge practical as well as symbolic blow for Ukraine.

Clarke said the past Russian airbase strikes indicate "incompetence" by Ukraine, but said that the "silver lining" was that it was a good lesson — one that has taken place before any F-16s arrive.

F-16s are expected to aid Ukraine

F-16s are not expected to be a game changer for Ukraine, but analysts say they should boost its fightback against Russia.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said this week that the F-16s will allow Ukraine "to effectively defend themselves."

As well as replenishing aircraft Ukraine has lost so far, the F-16s are expected to work as defenses that can stop Russian drone and missile attacks.

They can also launch attacks on Russian weaponry and troops, though experts say Ukraine has not been promised enough to be able to use them in such an attacking role, and that it would be politically damaging to lose one because so few have been committed.

Robinson also previously told BI that the F-16s would "make Russian pilots there a little bit more kind of wary, a little bit more careful about what they're going up against."

• Janika Cook spent eight years going to college off and on before dropping out with $25,000 in loans.
• She started a paid apprenticeship program in tech, which provided practical skills and experience.
• Cook now works as a data analyst, earning $67,000 annually, and is paying off her student loans.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Janika Cook, a 28-year-old data analyst in Cleveland. It has been edited for length and clarity.

I graduated from high school in 2014 and felt like my only option was to go to college, so I enrolled at Ohio University as a political science major.

I only attended classes for a year before my family couldn't pay the outstanding tuition balance — even with the $10,000 in loans I took out for living expenses — so I had to unenroll and move from Athens back to Cleveland, where I'm from.

I decided to try community college

I started working 40 hours a week at Chick-fil-A, and a few months later, I enrolled in a community college as a political science major again because I still wanted to make college work.

I took out more loans, but I was also getting financial aid, and to continue to qualify, I had to complete a certain number of classes. I wasn't getting satisfactory grades because I was also working and overwhelmed with juggling both work and school. I stopped qualifying for aid.

I went back and forth for eight years in that cycle and ultimately took out $25,000 in student loans but didn't graduate. Sometimes, I would have money to pay out of pocket for community college classes, but not always.

I tried to get internships, but many were unpaid. It felt like a double-edged sword where I didn't have the experience or education to progress in my career, but it was also difficult to get that experience unpaid while needing to work.

I then found an apprenticeship program

In the summer of 2022, I saw an ad on TikTok for Multiverse, a company that provides paid apprenticeships to those looking for careers in tech.

I kept scrolling, but a couple of days later, I saw the same video again and decided to look into it more because, at the time, I was underemployed doing DoorDash and looking for a new opportunity.

Initially, it sounded too good to be true because it was free, and you didn't need any experience to get started. I felt like there had to be a catch. I set up an info session, and it turned out to be exactly what I was looking for.

After holding some data-focused positions at nonprofits, my interest in data grew and I wanted to gain experience with more technical data roles. I signed up for the advanced analytics apprenticeship program.

I landed a position making $55,000 a year

Within a few weeks, I interviewed with Intermountain for a data analyst position. I got an offer for a $55,000 base salary and started my 12-month apprenticeship with a cohort of about 30 people.

Many of the people in my cohort are people of color, and I liked that Multiverse focuses on helping people of color gain skills needed for tech jobs.

During the program, we met with a data coach for a couple of hours every month, and the rest of the time, we learned on the job. It worked well that we could learn something from our data coach one day and start implementing it at work the very next day.

After graduation, I moved up to $67,000

I graduated from the program last summer and received a full-time offer for a $67,000 base salary with the company I apprenticed with. I'm still working there now, but I'm on a different team at Castell, a company owned by Intermountain.

My colleagues and I try to lower medical costs and improve patient outcomes. Helping people motivates me, and I use data to do it, which is really cool. I see myself staying at this company for a long time. I also enjoy that I'm still learning every day, and the company fosters professional development.

I'm making more than I've ever made. It's been life-changing to be able to pay my bills and start paying off my student loans, which I've already gotten down to under $22,000. I'm paying a few hundred dollars a month, and I'm hoping to be able to pay them off in the next few years.

My company also gives us money toward additional education, so I'm considering getting my data analytics degree. My local community college has a new program I'd like to start in the fall.

College is not the only option

I wish I had known when I graduated from high school that apprenticeships were an option. I think they're great for people who don't learn as well in the classroom and instead learn better on the job and with hands-on projects.

I've realized there's no age limit to change your career. Through this program, I've met people who are 50 or 60 years old completely turning their careers around. You can always start over and try something new — even if you've spent five or 10 years going toward a certain path, you can pivot and do something else if it's not working.

While I do think I gained things from going to college — mostly interpersonal skills like how to work with others, resolve conflict, and work on a team — I think I could've also gained those skills in my career. I don't think I retained much of the classroom knowledge I learned in college, and I wish I had pursued an apprenticeship earlier.