Canada's First Nations are constructing dense new housing in the country's most expensive city.
Canada faces a severe housing affordability crisis and the projects aim to help solve it.
Take a look at three of the ground-breaking developments.
Canada's First Nations are breaking new ground with several major housing developments in the city of Vancouver.
Like the US, Canada is facing a severe housing affordability crisis, in large part driven by a shortage of homes — and Vancouver has some of the highest housing costs in the country. These projects represent major strides in addressing disproportionate housing burdens on Canada's Indigenous communities, as Business Insider recently reported, as well as efforts to build generational wealth for tribe members.
One project minutes away from downtown Vancouver, being built by the Squamish Nation, will include 11 towers and 6,000 housing units. The Nation won back the 12 acres of land the project sits on about 20 years ago after their ancestors were forced off the land in the early 20th century.
In another set of projects, three First Nations – the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh peoples – have come together to develop six piecesof land in Vancouver and its surroundings. Acquired over the past decade, the value of the land sits at $4 billion, according to Brennan Cook, vice president of the MST Development Corporation, the real-estate company representing the three First Nations.
"What they're doing here is groundbreaking, it really hasn't been done elsewhere," Cook recently told Business Insider.
Take a look at these projects and the future of housing in Vancouver.
This rendering of the Sen̓áḵw development under construction in Vancouver shows what it'll look like when completed.
The Sen̓áḵw development in central Vancouver
Courtesy of the Squamish Nation
The first three towers in Sen̓áḵw are scheduled to be completed by November 2025.
The Sen̓áḵw development in Vancouver
Courtesy of the Squamish Nation
Altogether, the development will have 11 towers with 6,000 housing units.
The Sen̓áḵw development in Vancouver
Courtesy of the Squamish Nation
As the land belongs to the Squamish Nation, rather than the Canadian government, speedier permits were granted for construction.
The Sen̓áḵw development sitting across the city's False Creek
Courtesy of the Squamish Nation
The 12 acres the development sits on originally belonged to the Squamish Nation, before they were driven off the land in 1913.
View of the Sen̓áḵw development across the Burrad Street Bridge
The development will offer 99-year leases, instead of selling any property outright.
Heather Street Lands
Courtesy of MST Partnership and Canada Lands Company
With that strategy, the hope is for Heather Lands to be an "economic engine" for the tribes leading development, explained Brennan Cook, the vice president of the MST Development Corporation.
Heather Street Lands
Courtesy of MST Partnership and Canada Lands Company
A new social media app for Gen Z is reviving the format of early social media apps like MySpace.
The app's founder Tiffany Zhong, wants to bring back socializing to social media over curated feeds.
It's already amassed a waitlist of half a million people before its set to be released in June.
A new social media apptargeting Gen Z, Nospace, is set to be released in June, the company told BI. It calls itself "The most social network," — as it prioritizes users socializing with friends over posting viral hits.
Nospace was founded by Tiffany Zhong, a Gen Zer herself. Zhong is no stranger to the startup world; she founded Pineapple Capital, an early-stage consumer VC firm, and Zebra IQ, a Gen Z intelligence and research company.
Her new app jumps on Gen Z's love of Y2K and harkens back to a simpler age of social media. And it's already racked up a waitlist of 500,000 people, the company told BI.
Instead of stressing over carefully curated posts, the app encourages users to share their stream-of-consciousness thoughts on what they're eating, gaming, streaming, reading, and watching.
The app is primarily a text-based feed, with the option to switch to seeing posts just from friends.
Each profile is customizable: users can choose colorful backgrounds and text, and they can share their relationship status and interests. It's a less professional-looking version of social media than the big incumbents, like Instagram.
"They can be as weird and as authentic as they want" on the app, she previously told BI.
In recent years, social media users have become increasingly frustrated with the lack of fun online, as professionalposts have taken over socializing with friends.
"It's really bizarre to me that everyone's gone to this place in their mind that content has to be so curated," Tati Bruening, a Gen Z content creator, previously told BI. "So curated that you can't show what you're cooking for dinner, because that's not cool enough."
Nospace wants to recapture some of the magic of social media apps like MySpace and early Facebook, which centered on friendships and making new connections. The App Store preview shows that users can pin a list of their close friends to their profile, much like MySpace's "top 8" friends feature.
"Remember how fun the internet was before all the algos and ads? we do too… so we're bringing it back," the app's App Store description reads.
Zhong is a seasoned social media pro who knows how to appeal to Gen Z trends. Through her previous companies, she's advised companies like Snapchat, Levi Strauss, and Google on how to reach a younger Gen Z audience.
"People crave connection more than ever," said Zhong, previously told BI.
"All the social-media platforms are more so media than they are social. That's why people hang out in the comment sections of TikTok," she said.
Etihad and Emirates offer two of the most luxurious flying options between New York and the UAE.
Etihad, Stan Honda/AFP via Getty Images
Etihad Airways and Emirates both fly luxe Airbus A380 superjumbos between New York and the UAE.
Etihad's plane sports the world's only three-room suite, while Emirates offers premium economy.
Both of the UAE airlines offer unique luxuries like an onboard bar and lounge — and even a shower.
Etihad Airways' beloved Airbus A380 has returned to the US after four years. It landed at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport just after 10 a.m. on Monday after a more than 14-hour trek from Abu Dhabi.
The UAE-based carrier previously flew two Boeing 787 Dreamliners on the route but replaced one with the superjumbo to boost capacity amid strong demand.
Emirates has similar high-dollar amenities to Etihad's, like a shower and bar, but its retrofitted planes offer more options to those sitting on the lower level.
Here's how the cabin products on Etihad's A380 compare to those on Emirates' refurbished superjumbos.
UAE carriers Etihad and Emirates are among the few operators still flying the mammoth A380 to New York-JFK post-pandemic.
An Etihad Airways A380 flying over New York City in a rendering.
Etihad, Emirates, Lufthansa, and Korean Air are the only A380 operators scheduled at the airport this year, according to data from Cirium.
The award-winning airlines are renowned for their luxe cabins that come with specific perks not seen on most Western competitors.
An Emirates A380 decked out in its livery.
Emirates
Emirates and Etihad regularly win awards for their customer service and onboard products from ranking companies like Skytrax and the Airline Passenger Experience Association, or APEX.
Notably, Emirates has invested more than $1 billion to keep its A380 fleet flying, including cabin upgrades that make will eventually see all 67 A380 jets be retrofit with four-class planes, compared to Etihad's three designated cabins.
The regular economy cabins that sit on the lower level of both A380s come with the typical seatback televisions, tray tables, and power ports.
Emirates economy cabin (top) vs. Etihad economy cabin (bottom).
While Etihad's economy cabin comprises a staggering 415 seats across the entire lower level, Emirates only has 338 coach seats in total.
Emirates' refurbished Airbus A380 boasts a unique ghaf tree design throughout the cabin.
Thomas Pallini/Insider
Some of Emirates' three-class A380s are still in need of refurbishment and have 427 economy seats spanning the entire lower level.
That's because, in 2021, Emirates announced a refurbishment project that would add a new cabin to its A380 fleet — premium economy.
The new premium economy cabin on Emirates debuted in 2021.
Thomas Pallini/Insider
While most of the world's airlines turned their backs on the A380 during the pandemic, Emirates solidified its loyalty to the superjumbo with investments that are expected to push its operation into at least the 2030s.
Premium economy is an option between coach and business and comes at a sometimes much higher airfare than regular coach.
Premium economy is configured in a 2×4×2 layout.
Thomas Pallini/Insider
According to Emirates' website, a late-July roundtrip flight between New York and Dubai in premium economy costs about $1,000 more than regular economy.
The hefty upgrade includes added perks like more space, better food, a bigger seat, a deeper recline, and a legrest.
Customers have access to more storage and table top space, as well as more legroom.
Thomas Pallini/Insider
Customers will find the 56 premium economy seats located at the front of the lower level, each offering 40 inches of pitch and 19.5 inches of width — eight more inches of legroom than in coach.
The 13.3-inch TV is the same size as the one in regular coach.
Etihad's A380 does not have a premium economy cabin. Its "Economy Space" seat that offers more legroom is as close as it gets.
The extra legroom bulkhead seats on Etihad's A380 can come with a baby bassinet (pictured in 2015 before Economy Space was designated in 2018).
M101Studio/Shutterstock
Etihad introduced the "Economy Space" seat on its A380s in 2018 to offer more legroom. It complements the other add-on coach options like "neighbor," where the adjacent seat is free, or the family-friendly bulkhead rows.
Former Etihad CEO Tony Douglas has said the airline has continued not to add premium economy to keep costs and choice simple.
Etihad, however, does have a designated prayer room on its A380s.
Emirates does not have designated spots for praying on its planes but said it can accommodate those onboard who want to pray during the flight, according to Simple Flying.
The second level of Etihad and Emirates' A380 superjumbos is the cash cow of the operation.
The staircase on Emirates' A380.
Pete Syme/Business Insider
Emirates and Etihad have fit the upper deck of their A380s with business and first-class cabins, accessible by stairs — similar to other carriers like Singapore Airlines.
These high-dollar seats keep the expensive quad-engine A380 profitable.
Both business class cabins are similar, with the usual plush, lie-flat seat.
Emirates business class (top) vs Etihad business class (bottom).
Thomas Pallini, David Slotnick/Business Insider
Emirates sports 76 lie-flat business class seats on its A380, while Etihad has 70 "Business Studios," per SeatGuru. Both are in a 1×2×1 layout, giving all passengers direct aisle access.
Storage, linens, lighting, power ports, tray tables, giant TVs, and multi-course meals are all perks for the two UAE carriers' business-class cabins.
The center seats are separated by a privacy divider.
Thomas Pallini/Insider
Emirates and Etihad are considered two of the world's best airlines for premium cabins, according to aviation-ranking website Skytrax.
Neither product has a sliding door, though.
The business class seat on Etihad's A380.
David Slotnick/Business Insider
Despite their high-class status, neither jet's products have a sliding door, a common addition as airlines upgrade their business cabins.
Competitors like Air India, Qatar Airways, British Airways, and Japan's All Nippon Airways fly business-class products on twin-engine widebodies with full doors installed.
A wing or partition has been installed on the seats to enhance privacy instead of a door.
The middle divider is available on Etihad's center section seats.
David Slotnick/Business Insider
The middle section seats have a privacy divider to separate the two center passengers.
Customers will notice Etihad's A380 has some backward-facing business-class seats.
The forward and backward-facing business-class seats in Etihad's A380.
Hollis Johnson
Backward-facing seats aren't uncommon and are also seen on carriers like ANA and Qatar.
Meanwhile, Emirates' business class gains an edge over Etihad thanks to its included personal mini-bar.
The mini-bar on Emirates' business class seat.
Thomas Pallini/Insider
Emirates' business class also has a large tablet to control the seat. Etihad's, by comparison, has just the smaller but still nice handheld touchscreen remote.
Still, both UAE carriers offer a proper onboard bar and lounge to socialize or work at cruising altitude.
Emirates bar and lounge (top) vs Etihad bar and lounge (bottom).
Thomas Pallini, Hollis Johnson/Business Insider
The bar on Emirates is behind business class and can be visited by passengers on the upper deck. The same goes for Etihad, but its bar is between the business and first-class cabins.
The UAE airlines' most expensive A380 cabins are first class, mostly flown by ultrawealthy travelers and those savvy enough with points.
The "do not disturb" sign on Emirates' first class.
Thomas Pallini/Insider
Etihad's A380 has nine first-class apartments, while Emirates' has 14 first-class suites — and both cost thousands of dollars roundtrip.
A mid-June roundtrip A380 flight between New York-JFK and each airline's respective hub in the UAE costs about $22,000 on Emirates and about $11,000 on Etihad. A mid-October flight cost the same.
Emirates' first class builds onto its business class with a more plush seat and more exclusivity in the front of the plane.
Emirates' refurbished Airbus A380 at Dubai Airshow 2021.
Thomas Pallini/Insider
First class on both planes is in the front of the top deck, while business sits behind.
However, Emirates' most elite travelers get added perks like a privacy door, a vanity, and a bigger mini bar that stores into the side table.
Emirates' first class seat.
Thomas Pallini/Business Insider
The mini bar pops out at the touch of a button while the vanity sits below the television.
The suite also has a tablet and buttons to control things like the television, seat, and lighting, and has a "do not disturb" sign.
Plus, first-class travelers get access to Emirates' luxe "shower spa" — a rarity on commercial airliners.
The shower in Emirates' A380 first class cabin.
Thomas Pallini/Insider
The large lavatories have a vanity, toiletries, a walk-in shower, wood laminate toilets, and decorative walls to make you feel like you're flying on a private jet.
And Etihad's first-class cabin offers one, too.
The shower for travelers in Etihad's first class apartments.
Hollis Johnson/Business Insider
Airline showers are rare because the extra water carried adds costly weight, and carriers don't want to pay for it.
But Etihad offers something that Emirates' first-class doesn't — a separate bed and chair.
Apartment 5C on Etihad's A380.
M101Studio/Shutterstock
The staggered layout of Etihad's apartments allows an armchair and a twin bed to be installed in the cabin.
Moreover, some apartments can be combined for two people to share.
Two of Etihad's A380 apartments combined.
M101Studio/Shutterstock
The partition drops down, connecting the heads of the beds and making one giant room for people traveling together.
The television can swivel to be viewed from either the seat or the bed.
Emirates' cabins stop at first class, but Etihad offers something beyond that in the form of a three-room suite called "The Residence."
The Residence is Etihad's crown jewel.
Etihad
The one-of-a-kind aircraft cabin is exclusive to Etihad's fleet of A380s and is only available via an add-on upgrade from first class.
A one-way ticket in The Residence was more than $20,000 pre-pandemic.
The flying penthouse includes a separate living room, bedroom, and ensuite bathroom, complete with a shower.
The Residence bathroom with a shower.
Etihad Airways via Getty Images
A butler who used to serve the suite is no longer part of the offering post-pandemic, Etihad confirmed to Business Insider in December when the A380's return to NYC was first announced.
One or two people traveling together can enjoy The Residence thanks to the double bed.
The Residence bedroom has a double bed.
Hollis Johnson/Business Insider
The wide living room couch is also designed for two people. Having two rooms means one person can sleep while the other watches television or eats, for example.
Overall, Emirates and Etihad offer luxe long-haul products as each tries to one-up the competition.
An Emirates Airbus A380 sits at a gate.
ZGPhotography/Shutterstock
For example, Etihad offers the cream-of-the-crop of long-haul flying in its luxe The Residence, while Emirates' premium economy offers more choices to passengers.
With good fortune, both will continue flying the fan-favorite A380 to NYC for years to come.
Etihad A380 pilots after landing in New York on Monday.
Etihad Airways
Although Etihad was back and forth on its A380 fate, the double-decker is safe in the fleet for now. And it's unlikely Emirates' loyalty to the superjumbo will waver anytime soon.
Ghaderi said she was tasked with flagging possible legal violations in how Amazon was developing its LLMs, or large-language models.
(LLMs are text-generating services like Open AI's ChatGPT or Google's Bard.)
The complaint says Ghaderi's boss, Andrey Styskin, told her to ignore legal advice and Amazon's own policies to get better results.
From the lawsuit:
Styskin rejected Ms. Ghaderi's concerns about Amazon's internal polices and instructed her to ignore those policies in pursuit of better results because "everyone else"—i.e., other AI companies—"is doing it."
The allegation about Amazon's AI work came in a larger case where Ghaderi alleges she was demoted and ultimately fired for taking maternity leave.
In a statement to Business Insider, Amazon spokesperson Montana MacLachlan did not directly address Ghaderi's claims.
She did say that Amazon does not "tolerate discrimination, harassment, or retaliation in our workplace," and that it investigates allegations and punishes wrongdoing.
Ghaderi said she took her complaints to HR, which mostly dismissed her claims before ultimately firing her.
BI also sent messages to Ghaderi and the Amazon employees named in the complaint but did not immediately hear back.
Ghaderi's lawsuit alleges that Amazon violated California's law protecting whistleblowers and statutes outlawing pregnancy discrimination.
Her attorneys said in the filing that Amazon's haste to compete in AI left employees like her as "collateral damage in the battle for the future of the technology industry."
Ghaderi's LinkedIn said she worked at Amazon until January 2024, though the complaint says she was fired on November 17, 2023.
Ghaderi doesn't appear to have spoken about her departure from Amazon other than in the lawsuit.
Though Ghaderi's case is yet to be tested in court, the context of a frantic rush in Silicon Valley to develop AI products is well-attested.
That haste reached Amazon, too — in November 2023, Business Insider's Eugene Kim reported that it was racing to launch new AI products comparable to Microsoft's.
AI development is straining the limits of copyright law, as tech companies and publishers wrestle over the ownership and usage of the vast quantities of text the AI models ingest.
Some publishers allege that tech companies owe them billions of dollars for using their work.
Indonesia plans to relocate its capital from Jakarta to the new city of Nusantara.
The new city will cost $35 billion and won't be finished until 2045.
The climate crisis has prompted the move, with Jakarta at risk of sinking due to rising sea levels.
Jakarta, on the northwest coast of Java at the mouth of the Ciliwung river, is Indonesia's capital and its biggest city.
It's home to some 10.6 million people and about 30 million in the metropolitan area. It's also sinking, with about 40% of the area now below sea level.
The Indonesian government plans to move the capital to Nusantara, a new city being built on the eastern coast of Borneo, about 870 miles north of Jakarta.
It will cost an estimated $35 billion and won't be finished until 2045. About 6,000 government workers are expected to move there in time for the next president's inauguration in October, however.
The decision is not without precedent. Brazil shifted from Rio de Janeiro to Brasilia in 1960, while Abuja replaced Lagos as Nigeria's capital in 1991.
But this is the first time that the climate crisis has played a role in the process. In recent years, rising sea levels have made Jakarta the world's fastest-sinking megacity, which sparked the Indonesian government's decision to move the capital.
Take a closer look at Nusantara.
A new beginning
Getty Images
In August 2019, Indonesian President Joko Widodo approved a plan to move the capital from Jakarta to Nusantara.
The site in East Kalimantan was chosen because it's close to the sea and there's a relatively low risk of earthquakes, tsunamis, or volcanic eruptions.
Under water
Donal Husni/NurPhoto/Getty Images
This mosque in Jakarta has fallen victim to rising sea levels. Excessive groundwater withdrawals have contributed to subsidence rates of up to six inches a year, and 40% of the city is now below sea level.
Environmental experts warn that a third of Jakarta could be submerged by 2050 if subsidence continues at the current rate.
Indonesia's government is also spending tens of billions of dollars on measures to try to stop flooding in Jakarta.
Flood risk
Earth Observatory/NASA
Researchers at NASA and partner agencies used data in 2020 to produce this map to identify areas of Jakarta under threat of being flooded.
“Nusantara” roughly translates to “the outer islands”
Datawrapper
It was chosen to reflect President Widodo's geopolitical vision and evoke Indonesia's archipelagic nature. The country's 276 million people are spread across more than 17,000 islands.
Nusantara is on Borneo, one of the world’s largest islands.
AFP via Getty Images
Borneo is known for its 140 million-year-old rainforests, home to endangered native species including the Bornean orangutan.
About three-quarters of the island is Indonesian territory, with Malaysia and Brunei accounting for the remainder. Borneo as a whole has a population of about 23 million people.
Construction began in July 2022.
Construction is underway on Nusantara.
Firdaus Wajidi/Anadolu/Getty Images
Widodo sent some 100,000 workers to start building Nusantara, and the number later rose to between 150,000 and 200,000 as construction ramped up.
This is how the Nusantara site looked in April 2022.
Earth Observatory/NASA
The satellite image was taken by the OLI-2 (Operational Land Imager-2) on Landsat 9.
This is how it looked in February.
Earth Observatory/NASA
A network of roads has been carved into the forest since 2022 so that the construction of government facilities and other dwellings can begin. The initial population is expected to be about 500,000, according to the project website.
Indonesia’s government has pledged to make the city 100% green.
AFP via Getty Images
Policymakers have claimed that Nusantara will be a "green, walkable" metropolis, powered entirely by renewable energy by 2045.
They plan to build a 50-megawatt solar plant and only electric vehicles by the end of this decade.
Some big names are involved in the project.
Tony Blair Institute
Former UK prime minister Tony Blair and Abu Dhabi's crown prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan are both on the steering committee for Nusantara. In October, the Tony Blair Institute signed a deal to build a research center in the new capital.
It's not clear where the money is going to come from, though.
Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images
While the city is expected to cost about $35 billion, the Indonesian government has only committed to providing about 20% of the funds, and is struggling to find other sources of finance. In March 2022, Japan's SoftBank pulled out of the project.
Chinese sailors at a demonstration at China's Submarine Academy in Qingdao.
Kevin Frayer/Getty Images
Chinese submarine crews are training to operate farther into the Western Pacific.
The more intense training appears to be stressing them.
The training also seems bent on curbing cheating in China's military.
China is forcing its submarine crews to endure more intensive and realistic training exercises. The goal is to enable subs to operate farther from the Chinese coast and deeper into the Western Pacific, which requires commanders and crews capable of the flexible tactics and initiative that are the norm in Western navies.
But this change is taking a toll on submarine crews. Training has become "more realistic, rigorous, and standardized across the fleet," according to a report by the China Maritime Studies Institute at the US Naval War College. "Though stressful on submarine equipment and crews, these changes to training may ultimately yield a more combat-capable submarine fleet operating throughout the western Pacific."
The changes date to 2014, when China's military strategy expanded from continental defense on China's border to blue water operations in the Western Pacific. To accomplish this, Chinese leaders have called for attack submarines to embrace "informatization:" Rather than prowling as solitary hunters, they would send and receive targeting data from external sources such as surface ships, aircraft and fleet headquarters.
In addition to more joint training, the People's Liberation Army Navy is now trying to make training as real as possible.
"While the PLA has addressed wartime requirements in training for years, the explicit requirement to train under conditions that are expected in combat adds an intensity and rigor to training and pushes units to consistently train for war," wrote Christopher Sharman and Terry Hess, who co-authored the CMSI report.
Chinese attack submarines are also expected to act more independently, take more initiative and respond flexibly to changing tactical situations rather than await orders from superiors. This may not be easy for a submarine force brought up in the Soviet tradition of rigid control, and in which each boat sails with a political commissar who shares authority with the captain.
Attack subs are most effective when they can ambush warships and merchants, missions that require tactical prowess and flexibility. So-called "boomer" submarines, by contrast, need rigid command and control to be trained and ready to fire nuclear missiles.
Since 2018, the Chinese navy has created new training infrastructure, including more use of simulators and the establishment of special naval bases that evaluate submarine crews and issue those who pass with "deep sea battlefield" certificates. "A submarine might face twenty different scenarios that are used to evaluate fifty technical and tactical tasks while operating at sea," the report noted. "For example, during one assessment, evaluators directed a submarine to sea in poor weather causing severe sea sickness among the crew. In these conditions, evaluators tested the submarine's ability to dive, avoid anti-submarine ships and aircraft, overcome a rudder hydraulic failure, perform anti-surface and anti-submarine targeting, and launch live torpedoes."
In another test, "a submarine sonar operator detected a high-speed target maneuvering toward the submarine. The submarine's captain assumed the object was an enemy torpedo and began making evasive maneuvers. The target, however, was a decoy. Because the submarine had misidentified the target, the crew failed the exam."
A submarine arrives at a wharf in preparation for the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) on April 20, 2024.
VCG/Getty Images
Training seems concerned not just with combat proficiency, but also with preventing cheating in the corruption-prone Chinese military. "Oversight prevents units from grading themselves on training evolutions, which ensures training accountability by mitigating the risk of units falsifying capabilities and validates capabilities to execute operational requirements," said the report. "Moreover, it addresses two problems that existed in PLA training: inconsistency between how similar units train and incorrect training techniques."
China's submarines face some unusual challenges, including "internal solitary waves" — common in the Western Pacific — that can sink them. The Chinese navy also has a habit of selecting low-scoring officers to command its submarines, which often operate with senior commanders aboard to ensure things are done right. Nonetheless, the idea of strenuous and realistic training would seem normal enough to Western sailors.
But for Chinese submariners, the new training is stressful. Demands for more realistic training have resulted in riskier training. "In order to execute operational guidance, the submarine force must operate at sea for longer durations, operate further from the coast, and train under simulated wartime conditions while ashore and at sea," the report said. "This places tremendous emotional stress on the crew and physical stress on the submarine platform, increasing the likelihood of a mishap caused by a mechanical malfunction or human error."
Between tougher training and mastering new equipment as Chinese subs become more sophisticated, there is a greater chance of a mishap. "Crews have less time to familiarize themselves with their equipment, and over time there is increased likelihood their lack of familiarization will contribute to an accident or mechanical failure," the report warned.
Indeed, a 2021 Chinese military newspaper article reported "a submarine that conducted a maximum self-sufficiency test to operate as long as possible at sea without external supplies," according to the CMSI study. "Reportedly, the submarine was able to operate for 90 days before returning to port. During the deployment, sailors experienced physiological difficulties such as sensory degradation, eating disorders, and internal clock disorders."
At sea, sleep rhythms are defined by when sailors stand their watches and can shift away from the 24-hour day that's characterized by the night and day submariners don't experience.
Ironically, while rigorous training is intended to create a more skilled and aggressive submarine force, these changes could backfire. "Any potential mishap in the years leading up to a conflict could adversely affect PLA leadership's confidence in the ability of the submarine force to execute high-risk missions during a conflict resulting in more conservative submarine employment during combat," the report concluded.
Sub commanders who take initiative are praised in China's military press, and in 2018, senior officers were barred from sailing aboard submarines to babysit their captains. "But uncertainty remains regarding the full autonomy of submarine commanding officers," Sharman told Business Insider.
In fact, much about China's submarines remains a mystery. What we know largely comes from open-source literature, such as Chinese military media, but this only provides limited information. "Open-source literature provides little insight into the proficiency of Chinese submarines or their crews or how capable they are," Sharman said. "What the literature does suggest is that the PLAN submarine force is simultaneously incorporating a wide range of new operational guidance, platforms, and technologies that are pushing the crews and equipment of the PLAN submarine force in ways they have not been stressed before."
For several years before Russia invaded Ukraine, Western experts claimed that the Russian military had thrown off its Soviet-era rigidity and transformed into a flexible NATO-style force. But Russia's dismal combat performance in Ukraine showed that the reforms were mostly cosmetic. It remains to be seen whether China has remolded its submarine fleet.
"My reading of the literature, and watching the PLAN for over three decades, suggests PLAN submarine capabilities have improved over time," Sharman said. "But it still must improve further to be capable of supporting what is expected of the submarine force."
Michael Peck is a defense writer whose work has appeared in Forbes, Defense News, Foreign Policy magazine, and other publications. He holds an MA in political science from Rutgers Univ. Follow him on Twitter and LinkedIn.
Luxury powerhouse LVMH is investing billions in real estate, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The company's strategy involves purchasing older properties and creating new city centers.
The company spent $2.1 billion last year acquiring properties in Paris ahead of the Olympic games.
Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy, the brand behind some of the most well-known names in fashion, wines, and spirits, is reshaping older neighborhoods across the globe into luxury plazas and shopping centers.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the parent company of brands like Louis Vuitton, Dior, and Fendi, as well as private equity firm L Catterton, is betting billions on in-person shopping by buyingold shopping centers, hotels, and warehouses and turning them into mixed-use centers focused on their brands.
According to the report, much of the strategy involves buying property in sometimes historic neighborhoods — like the Pont Neuf neighborhood in Paris, which sent lawsuits LVMH's way from historians concerned about the integrity of the150-year-old La Samaritaine department store — and transforming theminto affluent neighborhoods by working with world-class architects like Frank Gehry to construct shopping centers.
Michael Burke, head of LVMH Fashion Group, told the Journal, "We're creating a city."
"We take something that does not exist and when we're done a city center has been created with the residential, retail, and cultural aspects to it," Burke told the outlet. "Most of our brands were brands that had fallen on hard times. Just like this real estate, we bought it because it was derelict. In ruins."
The "derelict" real estate includes areas like Miami's Design District, where the company turned 30 acres of warehouses and abandoned office buildings into a luxury space with museums, offices, and — of course — a retail center. Over 14 years, LVMH and a local developer took over blocks of the warehouse district. Now, asking rents for retail space in the area have increased by 200% since 2019, the Miami Design District said in a blog post, citing investment management firm JLL.
Burke told The Journal that the company's introduction to the world of real estate was in 2010 when he convinced CEO Bernard Arnault to revitalize the warehouse district in Miami. The company now has multiple sites in other cities internationally, including Paris and Montreal. According to the Journal, the company spent $2.1 billion last year acquiring properties in Paris ahead of the Olympic games.
The luxury brand is among several spending billions on luxury stores and experiences. Kering, the company behind Gucci and Saint Laurent, spent $1.4 billion on a building in Milan's Via Montenapoleone.
Chanel and LVMH are also interested in purchasing properties on New York's Fifth Avenue and the Champs-Élysées in Paris, the Journal reported.
The large-scale purchases are not without their controversies, however.
In Paris, The New York Times previously reported, luxury giants buying up property in the Marais district of Paris are contributing to the displacement of low-income immigrant businesses.
"This used to be a real neighborhood, with families and kids," Amar Sitayeb, a mini-mart owner, told the Times of the Marais district. "Now, all that's disappeared."
The Journal also reported that residents in Montreal, where the company has poured $1.5 billion into a mixed-use luxury shopping center called Royalmount, are apprehensive about the development's effect on the city's already established downtown. The Royalmount replaces a historical industrial site.
Global News Canada reported in 2019 that the project is estimated to increase car traffic by between 20,000 and 70,000cars daily. The company responded by building a footbridge that connects the shopping center to Montreal's public transit network.
"Without proper planning and without transportation alternatives integrated and implemented, is almost like a recipe for chaos," Saint-Laurent Borough Mayor Alan DeSousa told Global News at the time.
LVMH did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
Donald Trump unleashed attacks against Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longshot independent candidate, on Friday.
Alex Wong and Tayfun Coskun/Getty Images
Donald Trump posted on Truth Social Friday about Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Trump called the third-party candidate a "Democrat 'Plant'" and "Radical Left Liberal."
The diatribe comes as polling shows RFK Jr.'s run could siphon votes away from Trump.
Donald Trump will likely face a second contest against Joe Biden in the upcoming election, but the former president has another candidate currently in his crosshairs.
On Friday evening, Trump took to Truth Social to attack Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an independent candidate running a long shot presidential campaign.
"RFK Jr. is a Democrat 'Plant,' a Radical Left Liberal who's been put in place in order to help Crooked Joe Biden," Trump alleged in his post.
At the moment, six months before the election, Trump appears to have a razor-thin .8% lead in polls against Biden, according to national polling averages compiled by FiveThirtyEight.Polling for Kennedy shows he has 10.2% overall support, while Trump and Biden have 41.7% and 40.9%, respectively.
A Bloomberg News/Morning Consult poll also showed Trump as the favorite over Biden in six of seven battleground states, which is a key metric used to determine who could win the election.
Evan Siegfried, a former GOP strategist and crisis communications specialist, told Business Insider that Trump's diatribe is expected, considering another recent poll showing that Kennedy could actually hurt Trump in the election.
An NBC News poll published this month showed that Kennedy could siphon votes away from Trump, giving Biden a 2-point lead if the choices included all candidates — not just Biden and Trump.
"Honestly, this is not a surprise because in the last few weeks, polling has started to show that Kennedy takes away more from Trump than it does for Biden," Siegfried told BI. "He's clearly turned on RFK Jr. simply because he takes away from battleground states."
Trump's Friday attack is a notable shift in tone on Kennedy.
On April 5, The New York Times reported that Trump considered the Democrat scion as a possible running mate, according to two sources familiar with the conversations.
"I like Trump-Kennedy," Trump told one person, according to the report. "I like the way that sounds."
Kennedy dismissed the idea and told the Times it was "not a course I would consider."
A spokesperson for the Kennedy campaign declined to comment but pointed to an X post from the candidate on April 15.
"President Trump calls me an ultra-left radical. I'm soooo liberal that his emissaries asked me to be his VP," he wrote. "I respectfully declined the offer."
Siegfried told BI that Trump would love to establish a "dynasty" and one of the best ways to do that would be to attach oneself to the Kennedy name.
But the consideration was likely a passing thought the former president was "musing on," Siegfried said, adding that even Trump's advisors probably knew it wouldn't be a reality.
The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
SSG Cho told Business Insider that movies focus on a sniper's precision marksmanship, but miss some of the hardest parts of the job.
Staff Sgt. Phillip Cho
Staff Sgt. Phillip Cho is a sniper for the Army's 11th Airborne Division in Alaska.
Cho said that while movies mainly focus on precision marksmanship, there's much more to sniping.
Movies often don't show the true value of fieldcraft and concealment.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Staff Sgt. Phillip Cho, a US Army sniper in the 11th Airborne Division based in Alaska. It's been edited for length and clarity.
At sniper training, we focus on things like range estimation, target detection, and precision marksmanship, the last of which is the most heavily portrayed aspect in Hollywood movies.
But, really, the hardest part of being a sniper is combining all of that together, because someone good at range estimation might be terrible at detecting targets, especially in a heavily wooded area or an urban environment, for example.
And then I realized that's just a small partof the job. A lot goes into being a sniper, from staying hidden from patrols or trained observers to finding targets and calling for fire, like fire missions and artillery.
Hide-and-seek for adults
Soldiers zero their rifles during the 2022 European Best Sniper Competition in the Hohenfels Training Area in Germany on August 4, 2022.
US Army/Spc Christian Carrillo
Something I harp a lot on is the importance of training. If you train hard enough, and if you can do your job well under pressure in training, you can do it in real life.
Let's say you are calculating the distance of a target in training. Then you'd be able to do that in the field because you've already shown that you can right there.
Obviously, there are things you can't predict in real life, like equipment failures, but when it comes down to it, you probably would have experienced whatever failures or obstacles that you might be experiencing in the field in training.
In Week 3 of U.S. Army Sniper School, 35 students participate in the ghillie wash, which is designed to test the strength and durability of the suits as well as weather them.
U.S. Army photo by Patrick A. Albright, Maneuver Center of Excellence and Fort Benning Public Affairs
When we train for target detection, one of the biggest games we play is hiding objects in the open and having guys find them, sitting from one position. It's like hide-and-seek for adults.
I feel like, with all the training, you will be in the zone when it comes time to do your job regardless of your nerves.
But nerves are also a good thing. One of my first recon squad leaders told me, "If you do the job long enough where you get comfortable, you' should probably stop doing it because that's how you get people killed." Complacency is absolutely unacceptable, and we have to stay sharp.
I love my .300 Win Mag
SSG Cho said precision marksmanship is just one aspect of being a sniper.
Staff Sergeant Phillip Cho
Our section in Alaska currently has a few rifles in its inventory: the M110 chambered in .308, the M2010 in .300 Winchester Magnum cartridge, the MK22, the brand new one, we only have .308 for right now, and then the M107, which is our anti-material rifle.
The MK22 is an amazing shooting system and an easy weapon to use, but I've personally never used it in a field environment.
I'll always be a M2010 guy. I love my .300 Win Mag. It's the quintessential sniper rifle, but from what I've seen, the MK22 is an excellent weapon system and something I'll get more comfortable using.
The MK-22 Precision Sniper Rifle sights view a target on the range at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey, Oct. 22, 2023. The MK-22 replaced the Army's existing M2010 and M107 sniper rifles.
U.S. Army National Guard photo by Spc. Michael Schwenk
As snipers, we have to carry a ton of extra equipment, not just our rifles.
In the summer, our stuff, such as our observation and communication equipment, extra batteries, and the actual weapon and ammunition, weighs roughly around 60 to 80 pounds.
In the winter, we need things like our bunny boots, different layers to help keep us warm, and various other extreme cold weather equipment that adds to that. Snipers are typically carrying anything from 90 to 120 pounds of extra weight in the cold.
Camouflaging with elements of one's surroundings is what makes things like a gillie suit effective, and it's what allows a sniper to be unseen in their operational environment even if they don't have one on.
I would rather have someone who can hide without me having to babysit him than the guy who can call a perfect distance because we can work on that. It's mastering disappearing in depth and shadows in your environment.
And that's something that we have to master as a sniper that sets us apart.
I would've chosen Google even if it didn't increase its offer.
Zhang Yi/VCG via Getty Images
A recent tech grad received offers from Google, Meta, and Microsoft.
Meta initially offered $210,700 in total compensation, but Google offered other appealing benefits.
Eventually, they chose Google for its interesting work, company culture, and legacy as a tech giant.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with a Google employee who requested anonymity to protect their privacy. Business Insider has verified their identity and offer letters. The following has been edited for length and clarity.
I started school at a top-ranked school for tech about four years ago. When I first entered, I was undecided about my career path.
But by my sophomore year, I had my eyes set on FANG, also known as Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, and Google. My ultimate dream was to work at Google,
During my sophomore year, I started grinding on applications for the summer.
My GPA at the time was a 4.0, which definitely helped. But I also spent a ton of time doing Leet Code practice, which are algorithm brain teasers to test if you understand the fundamentals of theoretical computer science.
My hard work paid off and I was able to get an offer from Google, Facebook, and Amazon.
I ended up interning at Google for two summers, and the experience was everything I hoped for. I received great mentorship and worked on interesting projects that I learned a lot from.
When I finished my second internship, I received hiring committee approval, which allows former interns to get matched with a team full-time.
The issue was that it wasn't a guaranteed match — and if you don't get matched within a year, it expires.
I got full-time offers from Microsoft, Meta, and Google
I started off the job hunt process pretty confident. But a couple of months before graduating, I still hadn't heard from Google.
I sent several follow-ups asking about the matching process, but they had no updates for me.
So I started looking at other companies and ended up applying to at least 100 companies over the next few months. Once the market picked up, I started to receive a lot of DMs and cold emails from recruiters, including Meta.
I spent a couple of months interviewing and eventually received offers from Meta and Microsoft. Right as I was about to accept my offer from Meta, Google let me know that they found a match for me.
Meta initially offered a higher total comp, but Google had some attractive benefits
The offers from Meta and Google were most attractive to me so I was deciding between those two.
Meta gave me a better offer initially. It included $131,000 in base pay, 10% of my base as a bonus with the potential for an additional 10% based on performance, a $16,000 signing bonus, and $150,000 in stock options over four years. The total compensation came out to around $210,700.
The companywide performance bonus isn't given out every year, but if it does well, it will most likely be given out to its engineers.
Google originally offered me less in total compensation, but I was able to get them to increase the offer to $218,360 in total compensation, including a $138,000 base salary, 15% bonus, and $157,000 in stock options over four years.
Google also offered a $13,000 cash stipend for relocation, which made a difference. Meta's relocation package offered cash in lieu of some of the services they offered, like employment housing for 30 days, but the recruiter told me I could only cash out up to $5,000.
Google's front-loaded stock schedule also made a big difference in my first-year compensation, which appealed to me. At Google, I would receive 38% in the first year, 32% in the second year, 20% in the third year, and 10% in the fourth. At Meta, I would've received 25% every year.
Google also offered work for a month anywhere in the world, which was pretty cool.
Both have hybrid work structures, but Meta seemed stricter about it. The recruiter at Meta told me three days a week, in-person were required. At Google, it was a suggestion, and in the two summers I worked there, it wasn't enforced. Some weeks I didn't come in person at all and it wasn't an issue.
I would have chosen Google either way
If Google didn't increase its total compensation offer, I would've had a really tough decision to make. But I still would have chosen Google because the role itself was more interesting to me.
That, and it's the company I always wanted to work for.
Google made an impact on me early on. Before college and working in tech, Google was a name that stood out to me. It's a hallmark of company culture, and it started off bigger than the other tech companies that have emerged.