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9 of Ukraine's deadliest strikes that killed scores of Russians with a single blow — US HIMARS and ATACMS take a toll
Nils Petter Nilsson/Getty Images
Russia is believed to have lost more than 450,000 soldiers during the war in Ukraine.Some Ukrainian strikes have killed scores of Russian troops with a single blow.Russia and Ukraine are both secretive about death tolls and their estimates usually widely differ.More than two years on, the war in Ukraine has been brutal and costly for both sides, particularly for invading Russian forces.
The UK Defense Ministry said on April 27, 2024, that it estimated 450,000 Russian troops had been killed or wounded since the start of the conflict.
Neither Russia nor Ukraine have ever confirmed the numbers of their losses.
Reports claimed Russia was hemorrhaging men and weapons in its attempts to capture Avdiivka, a strategic town in eastern Ukraine and a gateway to Russia-occupied Ukraine. The town fell to Russian occupation in February.
Now fighting wages on in the surrounding areas such as Chasiv Yar. Russia continues to have the upper hand, but Ukraine is holding out hope that newly approved US aid will reach its front lines sooner rather than later.
Despite high Russian losses, the country's population is about three times the size of Ukraine's — a large pool from which Russia could keep replenishing its ranks. In April, Zelenskyy claimed Russia was preparing to mobilize a further 300,000 troops by June, though the Kremlin denied this.
Russians typically outnumber Ukrainians on the battlefield by a ratio of almost three to one, The New York Times reported, but Ukraine has used weapons such as the US-supplied High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or HIMARS, and Western cruise missiles to inflict high casualties on Russian troops.
These are believed to be some of the deadliest single moments for Russia in the conflict so far.
White Sands Missile Range/John Hamilton
Ukrainian forces launched an ATACMS long-range missile strike on a Russian military training area some 50 miles behind the front line in occupied Luhansk.
The attack killed more than 100 Russian soldiers in one fell swoop, according to OSINT and military analysts.
According to a post on May 1, 2024, by Osinttechnical, associated with the US-based Centre for Naval Analyses, Ukraine appeared to strike the training area with three US-supplied M39 ATACMS tactical ballistic missiles.
Aerial geolocated videos indicated that one of the missiles struck a gathering of more than 100 Russian soldiers, with hundreds of M74 APAM bomblets falling on them, Osinttechnical wrote.
GeoConfirmed, a project specializing in open-source geolocation, reported that four ATACMS missiles were employed in the attack, though the first was a "dud." The strike targeted the village of Rohove in Luhansk. Footage shared by one of its volunteers suggested that the strikes occurred within a minute.
Photo by Serhii Mykhalchuk/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images
In February 2024, a Ukrainian HIMARS strike wiped out at least 60 Russian troops who were gathered en masse in an open field this week as they flouted a key wartime rule that Russia has repeatedly ignored throughout the war, according to reports and video footage.
The Russian battalion congregated at a training area near the village of Trudovske in occupied eastern Ukraine when the two missiles struck, The BBC reported.
Sources familiar with the incident told the outlet that the soldiers were gathered to await the arrival of a senior commander.
Ukraine was criticized in November following a similar scenario in which 19 soldiers were killed by Russian missiles at an open-air awards ceremony near the frontline.
AP Photo/Libkos
Ukrainian forces likely took out more than 70 Russian soldiers in a strike on the village of Hladkivka in the Kherson oblast on November 10, 2023, the UK Ministry of Defence said.
The attack, which targeted a convoy of trucks, likely took place 14 miles behind the front lines, highlighting Ukraine's long-range precision-strike capabilities.
Reuters
On December 26, 2023, images of a massive explosion went viral on social media of the Russian navy's stricken landing ship Novocherkassk.
A Telegram channel, the independent Russian media outlet Astra, reported there were 77 sailors aboard the Novocherkassk at the time of the Ukrainian strike on a dock in Feodosia in annexed Crimea, and 33 were reported missing and 19 injured.
Reporters and open-source intelligence channels posted photos showing the burning wreckage of the docked ship, supporting Ukraine's claim that long-range missiles — probably the highly-rated British Storm Shadow cruise missiles — attacked the ship.
Some reports said the vessel may have been loaded with Iranian-made Shahed attack drones when it was hit.
Screenshot/National Resistance Center
Ukraine released a video that claimed to show Russian soldiers being struck by HIMARS as they trained at Dzharylhach island, a 26-mile-long sandbank in the Black Sea that's part of the Russian-occupied Kherson oblast.
Ukraine said that the attack caused 200 casualties. The number could not be independently verified.
The drone footage from August 2023 shows soldiers appearing to stretch and exercise on the Ukrainian island's sandy shores before being hit from above.
Photo by Serhii Mykhalchuk/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images
Ukraine's HIMARS reportedly struck a large gathering of Russian soldiers in the city of Kreminna as they stood for two hours to watch a commander's speech in July 2023.
Some reports put the number of dead as high as 100 and total casualties as high as 200. The numbers could not be independently verified.
An unnamed Ukrainian official told the Kyiv Post that it was a "funny situation" because the Russian soldiers had made themselves sitting ducks.
The claim, which a Russian milbogger initially reported, led to Russian nationalists calling for military leaders to be punished.
REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko
While Russian officials have largely not acknowledged losses, Russia's defense ministry made a rare announcement confirming the deaths of 89 troops in a strike in Makiivka, a small city in Ukraine's Donetsk oblast.
Ukrainian officials claimed that the casualties were much higher, with around 400 soldiers killed and 300 injured. The figures could not be independently verified.
Ukraine said it used HIMARS for the attack, and the Russian ministry said Ukraine fired six rockets, four of which struck their troops, the ISW reported.
The attack sparked widespread criticism of Russian military leadership, ISW reported. A senior Russian military official, Sergei Sevryukov, blamed the high number of casualties on soldiers' use of cell phones without providing evidence, The Guardian reported.
Scott Peterson/Getty Images
Ukrainian forces decimated a Russian battalion as it tried to cross the Siverskyi Donets River in northeastern Ukraine in May 2022.
Ukrainian artillery destroyed several Russian pontoon bridges, and estimates put the toll of dead or wounded Russians at around 485, according to the Institute for the Study of War, or ISW, based on analyses of publicly available imagery.
They estimated that over 80 pieces of equipment could have been destroyed.
Media reports said that Ukraine used M777 howitzers to strike the battalion.
Russian milbloggers responded to the incident with shock and began commenting on the incompetence of the Russian military, the ISW reported.
MAX DELANY/AFP via Getty Images
Just two months into Russia's unprovoked invasion, Ukraine scored an early success by sinking the Russian warship Moskva, the flagship of the Russian Navy's Black Sea Fleet.
On April 14, 2022, Ukrainian officials said their forces had struck the ship with at least one Neptune missile, which the Pentagon confirmed.
Ukraine claimed that almost all 500 sailors on board had perished, while Russia said that nearly all had evacuated before the ship sank.
Later, Russia admitted under pressure that one sailor had died and that 27 were missing, but said the rest had been evacuated.
But several family members of Moskva sailors told the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta that at least 40 on board had died.
The true death toll is still unknown.
Where to watch Giro d'Italia: Live stream 2024 races free from anywhere
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The Giro d'Italia peloton.ANSA-PERI/DI MEO/ZENNARO
The multi-week Giro d'Italia is officially back for 2024. Below, we've compiled everything you need to know about where to watch the Giro d'Italia races, including free live streams. Better yet, the same free method will also cover you for the Tour de France.
The Giro d'Italia marks the first of the three Grand Tour cycling races each year, followed by the Tour de France in July and the Vuelta a España in August. The multi-stage race runs the length of Italy, even veering into a few other regions, and takes place over 21 stages, held almost daily (most Mondays are rest days). The portion of the race that passes through the Alps provides a particular challenge each year.
Last year's victor was Primož Roglič of UCI WorldTeam Bora—Hansgrohe, who has opted to forgo the race this year to train for the Tour de France this summer. Tadej Pogačar of UAE Team Emirates has become a top contender for the 2024 race.
Keep reading to learn everything you need to know about watching the 2024 Giro d'Italia. We'll show you how to tune in from anywhere, including a free live streaming option.
See also: How to watch NHL Playoffs | How to watch NBA Playoffs | Where to watch Formula 1Giro d'Italia quick links
US: Max ($9.99)UK: Discovery+ (£6.99)Australia: SBS (FREE)Access streams from anywhere via ExpressVPN (30-day money-back guarantee)When: May 4-26, 2024Upcoming races:Stage 1: Venaria Reale - Torino on Saturday at 7:50 a.m. ET / 12:50 p.m. BST / 7:50 p.m. AWSTStage 2: San Francesco al Campo - Santuario di Oropa (Biella) on Sunday at 6:55 am. ET / 11:55 a.m. BST / 6:55 p.m. AWSTWhere to watch Giro d'Italia in the US
Max is be the US streaming home of Giro d'Italia races in 2024. Subscriptions start at $9.99 a month or $99.99 a year. Live sporting events come as a part of the new B/R Sports Add-on. This will eventually cost an additional $9.99 a month, but it currently comes free with every Max subscription.
Where to watch Giro d'Italia in the UK
Discovery+ will show the 2024 Giro d'Italia races in the UK. Subscriptions start at £6.99 a month. You'll find most of the major cycling events here throughout the year. But the Tour de France will be shown for free on ITVX.
Where to watch Giro d'Italia in Australia
Giro d'Italia will stream on SBS in Australia. This is a free option live streaming option. Users just need to create an account using their name and date of birth.
How to watch Giro d'Italia from anywhere
If you'll be outside of Australia during any of the races and want to keep up, you can always access the streams with a VPN (virtual private network). VPNs virtually alter your device's location so that you can use apps and websites from anywhere. They're strong choices for people looking to boost their online privacy and keep up with their subscriptions while traveling.
Interested in learning more? We recommend ExpressVPN, an easy-to-use VPN with a 30-day money-back guarantee. Read our ExpressVPN review for more information and check out how to use a VPN below.
How to watch Giro d'Italia with a VPN
Sign up for a VPN if you don't already have one.Install it on the device you're planning to watch on.Turn it on and set it to an Australian location. Create an account on SBS On Demand.Navigate to the live races and enjoy.Note: The use of VPNs is illegal in certain countries, and using VPNs to access region-locked streaming content might constitute a breach of the terms of use for certain services. Insider does not endorse or condone the illegal use of VPNs.
We need to talk about whatever's happening with Starbucks' drinks
Ted S. Warren/AP
Starbucks' drink menu has changed a lot, which is fine! Great, even! Enjoy!But I feel like I have no idea what most of these drinks even are anymore. Iced Lavender Oatmilk Matcha?I feel like an old person, baffled and befuddled and unsure how to even place an order.Let me first give a disclaimer: I don't want to yuck anyone's yum. I don't want to disparage people's beverage tastes. I embrace change! I am by no means a coffee snob, and I love trying a fun new treat or flavor.
But.
Whatever is happening on the Starbucks menu right now is making me feel like I'm a senior citizen.
Currently, some of the "spring favorites" on the Starbucks app include a Lavender Oatmilk Chill, an Iced Lavender Cream Oatmilk Matcha, Spicy Dragonfruit, and an Iced Hazelnut Oatmilk Shaken Espresso.
And these are just the standard menu offerings. Over on TikTok, Starbucks employees go viral by showing off an endless amount of customizations.
In a recent video, a handsome young barista shows how to make "pink sauce" (to order: venti vanilla bean Frappucino with two scoops of dragonfruit and whipped on top and bottom). Another one of his creations is a "Milky Way Frappucino" (venti caramel crunch Frappucino with extra caramel and mocha drizzle, extra crunch and cookie crumbles, substitute sweet cream).
It's not just 'mocha-choca-venti-chino-lattes' anymore
It's a hacky outdated joke to scoff at people ordering a "mocha-choca-venti-chino latte" as some jab at blue-haired elitists or whatever. (This has always been a somewhat misguided target: I think, generally, the Frappucino stuff is for suburban teenagers; coastal liberal elite coffee snob orders are probably more likely pour-over served black. But I digress.)
But when I see the sheer amount of dairy products and sugar going into these drinks, I feel like a '90s standup comedian. What the heck is going on with these drinks these days?!?!
I'm no coffee purist, I like mine with half-and-half and Sweet 'N Low. I often drink day-old coffee over ice at home. I enjoy gas station coffee.
Look at all those options on that menu — and those colors! Starbucks, you're out of control!Lindsey Wasson/AP
I recently was in a Starbucks — which reported slower-than-expected sales this past week — and found myself stammering in confusion at the menu like a boomer, unsure if I was supposed to order with milk and sugar or if those were still self-serve. (The self-serve stations at Starbucks are a pandemic casualty, and probably for the better). After ordering a coffee with milk and Sweet 'N Low, I was informed they no longer carry "the pink packet" and, in fact, haven't in several years (I did actually know this but had forgotten).
In that humiliating moment, I imagined this must've been what it would be like to be a 43-year-old in 1999, learning to order a size "venti" for the first time.
I know very well the hesitant, mildly annoyed speech of those befuddled middle-aged people struggling to place their orders because I worked in a Starbucks as a teenager in 1999, a time when the chain was still new enough that the size names befuddled many.
The rise of complicated, multi-ingredient sweet drinks has coincided with the rise in popularity of the Starbucks app, accelerated by the start of the pandemic in 2020 when many locations couldn't take walk-in orders. Not only are there more options for a customer to add in extra pumps of syrup, drizzle, or whipped cream, but the app also makes it easier for the barista to actually make the drink — they have all the ingredients printed out on a sticker label, exactly how the customer wants it.
Back in my day, we would use a wax pencil to mark a cup with a form of shorthand to signal what the order was, and then the employee who was working the drink station would have to make it. I can tell you that we got a lot of people's drinks wrong!
I tried the newer Starbucks drinks myself
My Oleato Golden Foam Iced Shaken Espresso with Toffeenut drink, which was 360 calories and tasted like coffee ice cream.Katie Notopoulos / Business Insider
I acknowledge I'm a bit of a crank when I say: The Starbucks menu is out of control. But I don't want to be an uninformed crank. So I went out on a fact-finding mission Friday to my local Starbucks. I ordered the Oleato Golden Foam Iced Shaken Espresso with Toffeenut for myself, a Cinnamon Caramel Cream Nitro Cold brew for my husband — who asked me to get him "anything with real coffee in it" — and a Frozen Mango Dragonfruit Lemonade Refresher for my 7-year-old.
The adult drinks were sweet and creamy, like coffee ice cream. (I should note here that my grande iced drink was 360 calories, which does seem like a dessert treat rather than a morning coffee. It was tasty for a few sips, but my husband and I couldn't finish ours.)
Meanwhile, my son slurped down his fruit slushy and loved it, which sort of confirmed what I had been suspecting: These sweet new additions are for kids, teens, and non-coffee drinkers looking for a little afternoon treat. And hey, that's great — a caramel milkshake is a better teen trend than vaping. But it also reinforced what I already knew: Starbucks makes me feel 1,000 years old.
Google's former CEO lists $24.5 million mansion in most expensive ZIP code in the US
Vivien Killilea/Peter Lyons/Getty
Eric Schmidt, Google's ex-CEO, is selling his Atherton mansion for $24.5 million.The property, located in the most expensive US zip code, includes a main home and a guest house.Schmidt, who served as Google and Alphabet chairman, has a net worth of around $23.9 billion.Google's former CEO, Eric Schmidt, and his wife, Wendy, are selling their Atherton mansion for $24.5 million.
The 5,265 square-foot listing includes a main home and a guest house in the most expensive zip code in the US. Schmidt's current net worth is estimated at around $23.9 billion, according to Forbes' ranking.
Schmidt, 69, served as CEO of Google from 2001 to 2011. He later served as chairman for Google and its parent company, Alphabet, until 2018.
Since leaving his role as CEO, Schmidt turned his focus to tech investments and philanthropy.
Peter Lyons
The former CEO purchased the Atherton home for around $2 million in 1990, according to estimates by Zillow. The home was built in 1969, according to the listing.
Peter Lyons
Schmidt is one of several tech executives that have called Atherton home.
Peter Lyons
The prestigious town is about a 45-minute drive to San Francisco and less than 20 minutes from the headquarters of Google, Meta, and Tesla. The average household income in Atherton is over $450,000.
Peter Lyons
He bought the home for $20 million and used to rent it out for weddings. However, he reportedly struggled to keep renting it after Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries used the home as their wedding venue and divorced soon after.
The billionaire also bought a Southern California "French chateau" in Los Angeles in 2014, about five minutes from the Playboy Mansion.
Peter Lyons
Schmidt and his wife purchased a home in Nantucket in 1999, where she reportedly spent most of her time.
The billionaire also reportedly paid $67.6 million for a 267-foot superyacht in 2023.
Peter Lyons
Both the guest house and main home were designed by Schwanke Architecture.
Peter Lyons
The home has ample access to natural light with large open doors and windows throughout the home.
Peter Lyons
The two-story home also has a wet bar, according to the online listing by The reSolve Group.
Peter Lyons
The property has a 3.36 acre lot and 5,265 square foot living area, according to the listing.
Peter Lyons
Both the front and back of the house are shaded by large trees and greenery. The back of the house also has a fenced area to create privacy.
Peter Lyons
The greenhouse is equipped with wooden shelves, a sink, and black and white floor tiles.
Peter Lyons
In addition to the greenhouse, the outdoor area has several planting plots.
Peter Lyons
Dark wooden furniture and flooring contrast against bright green outdoor openings in the estate.
Tech titans love Modi's economic powerhouse India — despite mass unemployment and abject poverty
Kevin Frayer/Getty
The Indian economy has grown strongly under Narendra Modi, whose party is set to win another term.India's success has caught the eye of figures including Elon Musk, Jamie Dimon, and Tim Cook.Youth unemployment, income inequality, regional disparities, and Russian oil remain big problems.India's powerful economic growth and blossoming middle class under Narendra Modi have caught the eye of corporate titans like Elon Musk, Jamie Dimon, and Tim Cook.
Modi is pretty much a shoo-in for a third term as prime minister after the national election now underway ends on June 1. But the work starts there, as he'll have to navigate thorny issues such as youth unemployment, income inequality, and reliance on sanctioned Russian oil.
Fueling growth and shaking hands
India's economy has more than doubled in size during Modi's decade in charge to more than $3.7 trillion last year.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently upgraded its growth forecast for real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to a robust 7.8% this year, 6.8% in 2025, and 6.5% in 2026.
India has already overtaken Britain to become the world's fifth-largest economy. It's on track to leapfrog Japan and Germany into third spot behind the US and China by 2027.
The country's flagship stock index has also tripled in value since Modi took office in May 2014, thanks to wealth gains and growing investment appetites.
Moreover, one estimate puts the percentage of the Indian population living on less than $2.15 a day at below 5%, down from 12% in 2011. However, the World Bank pegged that figure at nearly 13% in 2021.
India's middle class has also ballooned with 60 million people now earning the rupee equivalent of more $10,000 a year — about $37,200 once adjusted for purchasing power. Goldman Sachs expects the ranks of the relatively affluent to swell to 100 million by 2027.
"Modi has done an unbelievable job in India," JPMorgan's Dimon told the Economic Club of New York last month. "I know the liberal press here, they beat the hell out of him. He's taken 400 million people out of poverty."
Musk has posted on X that he's looking forward to visiting India and meeting Modi this year. He delayed his trip last month, blaming "very heavy Tesla obligations." The pair are expected to discuss Tesla building a multibillion-dollar factory in the country.
As for Apple's Cook, he hailed India on a November earnings call as an "incredibly exciting market" and a "major focus of ours" given the explosive growth in potential customers as locals get richer.
Narendra Modi at a White House roundtable with Joe Biden, Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Apple CEO Tim Cook in June 2023.Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Modi has also met with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Microsoft boss Satya Nadella, and Alphabet's Sundar Pichai. He's likely to be seeking to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) in India — and to capitalize on bosses' desire to hedge their bets on China given its strained relationship with the US, economic woes, and how disruptive its strict pandemic lockdowns were to global supply chains.
"India's population and economic growth numbers are causing a lot of global executives to revisit their India presence and consider scaling up," Richard Rossow, a senior advisor and chair in US-India Policy Studies at the Center for Strategic & International Studies, told Business Insider.
"Paired with increased concerns about supply chain resilience and security concerns about China, it's a very good time for a hard push to win investments."
The United Nations said that India and China both had a population of 1.426 billion in April last year, meaning India is probably now the most populous given its rising birth rate.
Change for the better — mostly
Modi has instigated a raft of major economic reforms since taking office, intended to make India more business-friendly, and boost government revenues by taxing more of the country's vast informal economy.
He rolled out a tax on goods and services, simplified bankruptcy laws, lifted FDI restrictions, cut corporate income tax, and ended retrospective taxation.
However, not all of Modi's moves spurred growth.
"Demonetisation was a key economic policy which had negative effects on the economy," Kunal Sen, a director of the United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics, told BI.
Sen is the author of several books about India's economy and a professor of development economics at the University of Manchester.
He was referring to Modi's sudden declaration in November 2016 that all 500 and 1,000-rupee bills — 86% of Indian currency in circulation — would no longer be accepted as legal tender.
The government's goals were to capture undeclared income, get rid of counterfeit currency, broaden the tax base, and bring more activities into the formal economy.
"The other key economic policy was JAM — the trinity of bank accounts for the poor, mobile numbers and a biometric card. This last economic policy has been revolutionary," Sen said.
He was hailing a broader digitization drive under Modi that has transformed how Indians bank, invest, pay their taxes, and conduct business.
Prosperity for all
Modi's efforts have helped to usher in a more prosperous era for some Indians, but many have been left behind.
Young people are India's beating heart, with about half its population under 25 and almost two-thirds under 35. Matching those hundreds of millions of people with jobs has proven a challenge, with youth unemployment almost tripling from below 6% in 2000 to about 18% in 2019. It still stands at a hefty 10% in 2023, per the International Labor Organization.
The report found that nearly 30% of India's graduates were unemployed in 2022, and only about 10% of the working-age population was formally employed.
A farmer uses oxen to plow fields for lentils in Nimaj, Rajasthan, northern India.Tim Graham/Getty Images
"Unemployment is a big issue," Rossow said, emphasizing this isn't just a problem with recent graduates but a "much, much larger bubble: the underemployed farm laborers."
Rising agricultural productivity is likely to help farm workers make a faster transition to city life in the years ahead, but they'll struggle to secure modern jobs in the services industry "without significant reskilling and education," Rossow said.
As a result, lower-skilled manufacturing and assembly jobs and lower-end services jobs will be needed, he added.
Another major challenge will be tackling a widening wealth divide. The richest 10% of the population hold more than 72% of the nation's wealth, per an Oxfam report published last year.
Business tycoons Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani both rank among the world's 15 richest people, per the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Luxury-goods sales are booming with long waitlists for flashy purchases like the Mercedes "G Wagon."
Mukesh Ambani, Isha Piramal, Rihanna, Shloka Mehta Ambani, Akash Ambani and Radhika Merchant on stage during pre-wedding celebrations for Anant and Radhika.Reliance Industries/Reuters
The lavish pre-wedding party thrown by the Ambani family earlier this year was singled out by some as an affront to the huge number of Indians living in poverty.
Almost 1.3 billion people live on less than $3,500 a year by one estimate, and India ranks 111th on the Global Hunger Index, below even North Korea.
Rising equality is partly explained by a "capital-intensive mode of economic growth along with increasing power of business conglomerates," Sen told BI, referring to how huge companies like the Adani Group secure huge government contracts to build ports, bridges, highways, and other infrastructure.
A third challenge is regional inequality, as some states like Bihar and Uttar Pradesh haven't experienced the same growth and modernization of their economies as others, Rossow said.
The Russia riddle
One striking aspect of Modi's economic boom has been its reliance on Russia since it invaded Ukraine in early 2022.
India went from getting 2% of its crude oil from Russia before the war, to 35% last year. During that period, the US and Europe slapped sanctions on Russian oil to defund Putin's military machine and punish Moscow for attacking a sovereign nation.
Despite that, India purchased an estimated $37 billion of Moscow's oil in 2023 — 13 times the amount it bought annually prior to the conflict. Its buying helped Russia rake in a record $320 billion of federal revenue last year.
Indian demand for Russian oil has cooled in recent months as new sanctions have made it more expensive, but the buying remains controversial.
Officials in India have defended the purchases, saying that if they'd bought Middle Eastern oil instead, global crude prices would have shot up.
India is also one of the world's largest oil refiners and has helped Western nations to maintain access to refined petroleum products even as they're refraining from buying Russian crude directly.
Yet the country imports 85% of its oil, so its overriding interest is securing the cheapest oil possible to support its development, said Neelima Jain, a senior fellow and chair in US India Policy Studies at CSIS.
"India will continue to buy Russian oil if the price remains favorable and allows for firm volume guarantees, as the country prioritizes energy affordability and accessibility during its rapid rural-to-urban transition, which has led to a 6% year-on-year growth in energy demand," she told BI.
"In an inflationary environment, economics [rather] than geopolitics will drive India's energy choices."
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation leaders' summit in Samarkand on September 2022.Alexandr Demyanchuk/AFP/Getty Images
India the IT hub
Under Modi, India has made big strides in modernizing its economy, combating bureaucracy, and appealing to foreign investors.
Big Tech stalwarts like Microsoft have a long history of outsourcing to India, but recent efforts to cut red tape and slash corporate taxes appear to have fueled fresh interest.
Sweeping layoffs at Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, Salesforce and other US tech titans in the past few years could presage a large exodus of jobs to India.
Sanjay Shetty of Randstad India told The Economic Times last summer that he expected 30% to 40% of the tech jobs eliminated globally to move to India by 2025.
"India is going to be the biggest gainer in the medium to long term, as almost every company that we speak to is looking at expanding its India base," Shetty said.
Even if that pans out, it won't be a panacea for a country facing not just unemployment and underemployment, but also stark income inequality, regional disparities, and the risk of alienating Western allies by continuing to buy Russian oil.
Yet overall, India appears to be headed in the right direction.
"The growth is real, if focused on a few key states," Rossow said. "India's dynamic technology services sector is to IT services what China is to manufacturing. So there is much to cheer, even as the reform agenda seems to never end."
Armies need their own drone air force flown by specialist soldiers, study says
Anatolii Stepanov/Getty Images
Drone warfare is changing fast and demands battalions of specialists to fully exploit its potential.The group would fly support drones to increase the effectiveness of its attack and spy drones.The air war in Ukraine has become a cat-and-mouse game where drones must constantly evolve.Experience in Ukraine suggests that armies should concentrate drones in special battalions that have the skills pilots to fly them and the programmers to rapidly adapt to constant jamming, according to British defense experts.
Ukrainian data shows "the efficiency of [Unmanned Aerial Vehicle] operations when conducted by a dedicated formation has risen from 10 percent up to 70 percent for some mission sets," according to a report by the Royal United Services Institute, a British think tank. The report did not provide any more specifics on the data, other than a footnote that said it was based on Ukrainian General Staff "datasets of mission performance between different formations" that RUSI accessed in Ukraine in February 2024.
The RUSI report advocates the creation of "mass precision strike complex" units that launch integrated swarms of drones comprised of different types of reconnaissance and combat UAVs. The concept seems similar to "strike packages" of manned combat jets, which combine attack, escort and electronic warfare planes on a mission. To be clear, the report isn't calling for infantry platoons to be stripped of their backpack-carried drones, which have proven indispensable in Ukraine and the Middle East. But it does argue that for some tasks, such as long-range surveillance and strike, it's more efficient and economical to achieve this through dedicated units.
"UAVs may be distributed to provide units with situational awareness, but mass precision strike should be managed by a specialist formation," the report concluded. In addition to better mission planning by personnel trained and experienced in drone operations, "experience from contemporary theatres shows that almost all UAV capabilities are highly susceptible to hard counters as the adversary learns how the UAV functions; capabilities must therefore be continuously adapted and their supporting mission data files updated. This requires scarce skills such as UAV design and programming and the accumulation of data centrally."
RUSI envisions each drone battalion being equipped with everything needed to conduct a variety of UAV operations. The units would comprise "airframes and their payloads, and the launch crews, command links, planning tools, intelligence support and design teams required to field the capability," wrote RUSI researchers Jack Watling and Justin Bronk.
Drone battalions would have five types of UAVs whose capabilities range from spying enemy advances to blasting critical rear sites with explosives. This would include "situational awareness UAVs optimized for tactical reconnaissance; tactical strike UAVs; ISR [reconnaissance] UAVs able to penetrate into operational depth; operational strike UAVs; and platform-launched effects designed specifically to synchronize with and enable other weapons systems."
The idea is to have self-contained formations that can identify and destroy targets across the battlefield and beyond. To support friendly ground troops in contact with the enemy, flocks of expendable reconnaissance drones would operate up to 5 miles beyond the enemy front line. They would locate targets, such as armored vehicles and infantry trenches, that could be quickly hit by the battalion's cheap attack drones.
Meanwhile, longer-range reconnaissance drones would stalk up to 60 miles into the enemy's rear, searching for artillery pieces, air defense batteries and command posts that could be hit by missiles and other guided weapons. The drone battalion would also launch long-range strike weapons — with a range out to 300 miles — that could destroy fixed sites, such as supply depots, bridges and ammunition dumps. "By offering a persistent threat of precision strike against logistical infrastructure and command and control elements, these capabilities would add significant friction to the enemy's ability to resupply and coordinate forces, and therefore to achieve concentration," the report said. "These capabilities also represent a concern for air and naval forces insofar as they threaten infrastructure and basing."
A Ukrainian serviceman launches a drone during a press tour in the Zhytomyr Region, northern Ukraine on September 20, 2023.Kirill Chubotin / Ukrinform/Future Publishing via Getty Images
To maximize the effectiveness of reconnaissance and strike drones — and to keep them from being knocked down by enemy air defenses — the battalion would also have a variety of support UAVs. This would include long-endurance airborne communications drones to relay datalinks between the combat UAVs and ground operations, electronic warfare drones to jam radars and communications systems, and decoy drones to confuse enemy air defenses.
The Ukraine conflict demonstrates how warfare has become a cat-and-mouse game where drones must constantly evolve to survive enemy jamming of their control links. "As of mid-2023, the average period of peak effectiveness for a newly deployed UAV navigation and/ or control system on the battlefield was around two weeks, with degrading effectiveness over four more weeks," the report noted. "Between six and 12 weeks, the adversary would have gathered sufficient data on the waveforms and techniques being used to start effectively jamming and/or spoofing the system across the front."
Non-drone units lack the capability to identify and develop the software and communications challenges to respond to enemy countermeasures. "It therefore makes sense to concentrate UAV operation if UAVs are parts of a mass precision strike complex," the report concluded.
The issue of whether to concentrate or disperse assets is an old one. Until World War II, tanks were dispersed in small packets among infantry divisions, while aircraft were assigned to the ground forces. But experience proved that tanks were most effective when massed in tank divisions, and aircraft were best assigned to an independent air force that specialized in aerial operations (some still question the wisdom of the latter).
Drone operations may very well be more efficient in the hands of specialized battalions. But regular units will inevitably want their own drones that are available when needed, rather than having to request support from others. The issue is unlikely to be settled quickly or easily.
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.
Critics have panned Jerry Seinfeld's 'Unfrosted.' One called it 'one of the worst films of the decade.'
John P. Johnson / Netflix
Jerry Seinfeld's directorial debut, "Unfrosted," is out now on Netflix.Critics said that the movie is filled with gags but doesn't have a clear, interesting story.Some said only few moments in the movie are actually funny.Jerry Seinfeld's new movie "Unfrosted," about the creation of Pop-Tarts, has been flooded with negative reviews, leaving critics wondering why the comedy movie isn't very funny.
Seinfeld's directorial debut is framed as a comedic take on more serious brand biopics that have become popular in recent years, including movies such as "Air" and "Blackberry."
Instead of recreating real-life events, Seinfeld's film features bizarre, fictional moments.
Seinfeld recently stirred controversy after telling the New Yorker that TV comedy had been ruined by "the extreme left and PC crap, and people worrying so much about offending other people."
"Unfrosted" appears to respond to this, as many critics said the movie is filled with uninhibited jokes that overtake the story. But, according to them, there are a few moments in the film where the jokes land.
Here's what critics have said about "Unfrosted," which is streaming now on Netflix.
John P. Johnson / Netflix
"Unfrosted" currently has a Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score of 42% and an audience score of 53%.
Despite this, the film debuted with a rotten rating (to have a fresh score, more than 60% of the reviews need to be positive). Some critics did enjoy the film.
The Guardian's film critic Peter Bradshaw said the film was "amiable and funny."
Meanwhile, The New York Times selected the movie as its Critic's Pick for the week. In its review, Amy Nicholson wrote, "The jokes spill forth so fast that there's no time for the shtick to get soggy."
However, most were not as nice.
John P. Johnson / Netflix
The Chicago Sun-Times entertainment columnist Richard Roeper wrote that the film was "one of the worst films of the decade so far."
William Bibbiani, a critic for The Wrap, began his review: "Jerry Seinfeld's new comedy 'Unfrosted' is an impressive film. It's not a good film, and it's not a funny film, but if you watch the first three hours on Netflix and then pause it, you'll find that somehow only one hour has passed. And that is pretty impressive, in a boring way."
The Telegraph film critic Tim Robey described his viewing experience as "trapped in a writers' room full of stale air."
"When we reach minute 25, and not one joke has sparkled, you dream of escape," he said.
John P. Johnson / Netflix
If you are interested in the history of Pop-Tarts, this movie is not for you. Some critics have described the movie as "hollow," arguing that the story has nothing to say about Pop-Tarts, the cereal business, or even brand biopics.
Daily Beast critic Nick Schager wrote: "With no inspired perspective on its subject matter, the film proves a soggy attempt at deriving humor from a breakfast-wars premise that seems better fit for a five-minute Saturday Night Live sketch."
Ross Bonaime, Collider's senior film editor, wrote, referring to "Seinfeld": "Maybe it shouldn't be surprising that the man who created a 'show about nothing' has also made a movie that feels as hollow as a Froot Loop. Seinfeld has made a directorial debut that ends up feeling like a bowl of sugary cereal: not a terrible thing to eat, but not as fulfilling or substantial as you might've hoped it would be."
John P. Johnson / Netflix
The one thing "Unfrosted" offers is jokes and gags and, according to critics, there's a lot of them.
Bonamine wrote that the bizarre storylines in the movie are used to drop more jokes and "an absurd amount of cameos" rather than telling an interesting story.
"It's as though Seinfeld and his team crafted the jokes they wanted to tell within this world, then created a flimsy story around it to collect them all," he wrote.
Bibbiani wrote: "There's a non-stop cavalcade of celebrity cameos which aren't funny because, for the most part, the whole joke is that they're celebrity cameos. The humor is thuddingly blunt, and the punchlines constantly call attention to themselves, which robs them of their punch."
Kate Stables wrote for GamesRadar: "The mad rush to see how many jokes, pastiches, and celebrity cameos it can pack in (there's a terrific Mad Man interlude) produces a periodically frantic feel, amped up by the many 60s hits on the soundtrack."
John P. Johnson / Netflix
Many critics also said the movie failed to have a consistent tone because of the absurdity of the jokes.
Bonamine wrote that the cinematography sometimes made the movie look like a "candy-colored dream world," while other moments felt like a "single-camera sitcom."
The Times of London film critic Kevin Maher wrote: "The tone, however, is scattershot at best, and the film swings between madcap Willy Wonka-style fable and soft corporate satire."
Danny Leigh, a Financial Times critic, concluded his review that the movie feels like it was constructed for Seinfeld's own enjoyment.
"What strange mix of nostalgic boomers, under-12s, and Seinfeld completists is the target audience for a film that plays like a comedy for kids, but with running gags about Walter Cronkite's drinking?" he wrote. "Then you get the joke. It has been made for the only person on earth it could also have been made by: Jerry Seinfeld. He still can't act, and I'm really not sure he can direct either, but he has the gift of a true auteur for making a movie in his image."
John P. Johnson / Netflix
"Unfrosted" boasts a big cast of major names, including Jon Hamm, Hugh Grant, Melissa McCarthy, Bill Burr, Peter Dinklage, and Fred Armisen. However, only a few actors stand out.
Bibbiani said Grant, who stars as the man under the Tony the Tiger cereal mascot, "has the film's only consistently funny subplot."
Bradshaw wrote: "There are also nice supporting roles and cameos, including an extraordinary dual walk-on from Jon Hamm and John Slattery, recreating their ad exec Mad Men personae Don Draper and Roger Sterling."
Schagor wrote that one of the child actors, Eleanor Sweeney, "manages to one-up the film's cavalcade of stars" in one scene.
A college is hosting a sold-out Taylor Swift masterclass for parents ahead of the star's UK tour
Taylor Swift/YouTube
A UK college is running a crash course on all things Taylor Swift ahead of her UK tour.The one-day course is aimed at parents and plus ones of Swifties.The college says the course will provide "the full Love Story on all things Eras Tour."A college in Scotland is running a crash course on all things Taylor Swift ahead of the pop star's UK leg of her Eras Tour.
The one-day course held by Glasgow Clyde College is aimed at parents and plus-ones of Swifties set to attend the singer's three-night stopover in Edinburgh.
The college says the course will provide "the full Love Story on all things Eras Tour to help them have the best night of their lives."
"From set lists and crowd chants to need-to-know information on each Era, the course, which is being delivered by a Taylor Swift expert, will give members of the public a whistle-stop lesson that'll leave them ready for the gig," the college says on its website.
The Eras Tour, which has already become the highest-grossing tour of all time, pays tribute to Swift's first 10 studio albums and the unique styles and staging that accompanied them.
The release of the singer's 11th studio album, "The Tortured Poets Department," in April could mean that the setlist will change from previous legs of the tour, however — but the college seems likely to have that covered.
Glasgow Clyde College assistant principal Robert Anderson told local media outlet The Scotsman: "Taylor mania doesn't seem to be slowing anytime soon, and we expect it'll reach its peak here in Scotland in June. We understand that not everyone will be up to speed on all things Taylor and might not get the full Eras experience," he said.
"That's why we created this masterclass - to prepare those who'll be heading along to the gig with their superfan kids, friends or partners to ensure they have just as memorable a time," he continued. "Taylor's gigs are known for being so well crafted, and unless you're a fan yourself, you might miss some of the iconic moments."
Taylor Swift performs during The Eras Tour in Melbourne.Graham Denholm/TAS24/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management
The course is due to be held on May 7, one month before Swift kicks off her UK tour.
European cities could benefit from Swift's tour
Swift is taking her Eras Tour to 18 European cities this summer, and many are hoping Swifties will splash the cash as they arrive.
The tour has already boosted the US, Singaporean, and Australian economies, with eager fans spending big on things like travel, accommodation, and merchandise.
Taylor Swift performs during The Eras Tour in Sydney.Don Arnold/TAS24/Getty Images
While the UK and the rest of Europe have yet to feel the full effect of Swift's presence, the price of hotels and short-term rental homes across Scotland have shot up as opportunistic hoteliers and rental hosts have sought to take advantage of increased demand for accommodation.
Around 200,000 people are expected to attend across the star's three performances at Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh.
Marc Crothall, chief executive of the Scottish Tourism Alliance, told Business Insider that there would be a "ripple effect" from the shows that will be felt across Scotland.
"We're a small country. It's important that those who are coming from further afield, don't just go straight back to where they came from," he said, adding that they would hopefully go and visit some other parts of Scotland.
China has a lot more missiles — with US warships and bases in its sights
Roc Canals/Getty, Shaunl/Getty, Tyler Le/BI
American warships and bases in the Pacific are within reach of an increasingly worrying threat, a missile force unlike anything the US has faced in combat.
China's ever-expanding Rocket Force is armed with thousands of missiles with ominous nicknames such as "carrier killers" and the "Guam Express."
US military leaders and officials say these weapons could make a war in the Indo-Pacific devastating for American forces. And that's exactly the message they say Beijing wants to send, that messing with China would be catastrophic.
The dangers are startling. An American air base such as Andersen on Guam that routinely hosts US bombers or a carrier strike group sailing in the South China Sea could face dozens, even hundreds, of ballistic missiles in salvos intended to overwhelm their defenses, shatter critical capabilities, and send US warships sinking into the depths. China's missiles haven't been tested in combat, but the threat is real.
In interviews with Business Insider, current and former military officials and defense analysts described the meteoric rise of China's People's Liberation Army Rocket Force as a chief concern. One senior defense official said it's changing America's appetite for war in the region, "creating a conventional deterrence capability that threatens our posture, our presence, and our activities in ways that would potentially cause decision-makers in Washington to consider the risks to be too high."
From 2021 to 2022, the Chinese military effectively doubled its stock of some missiles, including the medium-range ballistic missiles it might use to target American military bases in Japan and intermediate-range missiles that are able to reach Guam, the Pentagon said in its most recent report on the military threat from China.
2022 estimates on China's Rocket Force.Department of Defense
TKDepartment of Defense
The "dramatic expansion" of the Chinese missile arsenal, especially MRBMs and IRBMs, is designed to threaten US forces and allies across the Indo-Pacific region, Thomas Shugart, an adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security and a retired US Navy submarine officer, said.
What these key developments show "is that the PLA leadership has decided that the long-range missiles are a winning capability for them," Bryan Clark, a retired US Navy officer and defense expert at the Hudson Institute, said.
The current commander of US Indo-Pacific Command, Adm. John Aquilino, said in his final public interview before he retired that during his tenure as commander, "the security environment has changed drastically and not in a good way," calling China "the most concerning security threat that exists."
China's growing, far-reaching arsenal
Chinese soldiers sit atop mobile rocket launchers as they drive in a parade to celebrate the 70th Anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, at Tiananmen Square on October 1, 2019 in Beijing, China.Kevin Frayer/Getty Images
China's military doctrine focuses heavily on maintaining the ability to deter threats and, failing that, striking fast and hard. It also encourages maintaining an element of surprise before dealing significant damage to its foes. The People's Liberation Army Rocket Force gives it such an option.
It "is designed as a mechanism to deliver an anti-access, area-denial (A2AD) strategy to push the US and allies and partners from the region," retired Adm. Harry Harris, a former commander of Pacific Command and former ambassador to South Korea, told BI.
He said that the force's "objective is to be able to enforce the illegal and illegitimate claim of everything inside the nine-dash line as sovereign Chinese sea and airspace, as well as forcibly bring Taiwan under Beijing's control."
The nine-dash line refers to China's vast claims in the South China Sea, including its human-made islands and others it has disputes with neighbors over.
Harris said China's advancing missile capabilities concerned him more than any other Chinese military developments during his time as the 24th commander of what was then Pacific Command.
Video screenshot shows a missile launched by the rocket force of the Eastern Theater Command of the Chinese People's Liberation Army PLA, targeting designated maritime areas to the east of the Taiwan Island, Aug. 4, 2022.Xinhua via Getty Images
The Taiwan Strait is one area where the Pentagon has said China is strategically expanding its Rocket Force with "new missile brigades, potentially indicating an increasing number of deployed missiles."
Experts said this was part of a larger strategy to prevent the US and its allies from gaining unrestricted access to the Pacific region — whether in a war or in a scenario where US forces attempt to come to Taiwan's aid during a Chinese blockade or invasion.
With these missiles, China is signaling that it could attack US bases and ships in the region with little to no warning, Clark said. One such missile, the DF-26, has been commonly referred to as the "Guam Express" or the "Guam Killer" because it can reach US forces on the island, which is roughly 3,000 miles from Beijing.
The weapon, capable of carrying both nuclear and conventional payloads, also has an anti-ship role and another nickname: "carrier killer." The People's Liberation Army Rocket Force's DF-21D is another such missile that China could use to target US ships.
TKDepartment of Defense
There's a lot more to the Chinese Rocket Force than these weapons, though. Other elements of the PLARF arsenal are its DF-17 hypersonic missile, short-range ballistic missiles such as the DF-15 that give it the ability to strike Taiwan with relative ease, and intercontinental ballistic missiles like the DF-5s, DF-31s, and newer DF-41s.
Newer developments, the Pentagon said last fall, "will significantly improve its nuclear-capable missile forces and will require increased nuclear-warhead production." The US Defense Department estimates China has more than 500 operational nuclear warheads, the third most in the world, and that number is expected to increase.
While some are based in silos, many of China's missiles are road-mobile assets or hidden in caves and mountains, making them harder to kill. And outside the Rocket Force, Chinese submarines carry long-range missiles. Its H-6 bombers can do the same. Any confrontation with China must account for the likelihood that many of its nuclear forces would survive direct strikes.
Beijing has put its nuclear-powered submarine fleet on public display, with state media on October 29, 2013 touting the move as unprecedented and necessary to show other countries China's strike capabilities as territorial tensions mount.AFP/AFP via Getty Images
In regard to the Chinese "carrier killer" missiles, satellite-imagery analysts have for years been finding mock-ups of US aircraft carriers and other warships out in Chinese deserts. The suspected targets suggest that China may be relying on these mock-ups to improve its missiles or to practice locking on to and hitting American warships. China has also conducted tests at sea, at least one against a moving target.
After the Pentagon's latest report on China's military power came out, Shugart suggested the sheer number of DF-26s and launchers could turn the missile into a generic "ship killer," available for strikes on not just high-value carriers but also destroyers, cruisers, amphibious assault ships, fleet oilers, and more.
And China doesn't have to sink a ship to score a combat kill. Damaged vessels would have to limp back home, where US repair and maintenance woes could mean a slow recovery.
Planes and helicopters are seen on the flight deck of the USS Gerald R. Ford CVN-78 in the Atlantic Ocean on Oct. 7, 2022.Kendall Warner/The Virginian-Pilot/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
That changes considerations for US Navy vessels when operating in the Indo-Pacific and raises questions about the role of aircraft carriers in a conflict with China, as they may not be able to get within the strike range for F/A-18s or F-35s.
At a certain range, Clark said, "you're going to have to expend so much effort trying to conceal your presence and prevent targeting by Chinese forces, it's going to constrain your ability to do air operations" from a carrier. And the jets might not even be able to reach their targets.
China's missiles could also influence how the Navy arms its warships, forcing them to carry more air-defense missiles at the expense of other weapons that may be useful in land-attack missions or a confrontation with China's larger navy.
Better defenses, but more work to do
U.S. and Japan Air Self-Defense Force aircraft taxi in an 'Elephant Walk' formation at Misawa Air Base, Japan, May 13, 2022.Navy Seaman Unique Byrd
In the vast Indo-Pacific region, the Rocket Force is one of the US military's top concerns "because of its unique capabilities to execute long-range precision fires while not exposing large numbers of personnel to danger," a senior defense official told BI, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence observations of threats in the Indo-Pacific.
Facing this threat and others from China, the US has expanded its training exercises and strengthened connections with its Pacific allies and partners to counter not only PLARF but also the broader Chinese military, the official added.
Experts and analysts have long called for the US to respond to the challenges from China in a way that recognizes the scale of the threats at hand, which goes far beyond the Rocket Force, as frequent risky and unsafe intercepts of US and allied aircraft by China have shown.
A Chinese fighter jet conducting "a coercive and risky" intercept of a US aircraft over the South China Sea on June 23, 2022.US Defense Department
Harris said one of the best ways to counter PLARF would be to make "robust" air and missile defenses a reality this decade in the region, with the US positioning land-based, medium-range ballistic-missile systems there, working closer with allies, and not letting China determine US foreign policy in the area, especially with Taiwan.
The US has beefed up its air defenses in the region, employing Terminal High Altitude Area Defense batteries in South Korea and working with Japan's navy on ballistic-missile interceptors such as the SM-3 Block IIA as part of the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System. And in Guam, the Army has fast-tracked a new project and office for the island's defenses. But experts argue that more is needed.
Robert Peters, a research fellow on nuclear deterrence and missile defense for the Heritage Foundation, wrote in January that the US should station Aegis Afloat cruisers near Guam that are equipped to defeat ballistic missiles. Peters said the US couldn't afford to lose Guam, and the land-based Aegis defense option is likely years from deployment.
A Terminal High Altitude Area Defense interceptor missile launches during a flight test at the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site in the Marshall Islands, Aug., 30, 2019.Courtesy of Department of Defense
"Should a war with China break out, conventional thinking is that China would launch a large salvo of cruise and ballistic missiles at Guam to destroy military bases there that are key to US military operations throughout the Pacific," he wrote, adding that an attack would be a "modern Pearl Harbor" that could hinder power projection and logistics.
Beyond strengthening air defenses, the US can also harden bases in the Pacific so that infrastructure, such as critical runways, could survive a barrage and still launch aircraft. But the disaggregation and dispersal of forces is also important. Fixed bases are targets that can only brace for an attack, not avoid them.
The US Air Force turned to a new doctrine in August 2022 that assessed: "New weapons systems now place bases at risk that were previously considered sanctuaries." That shift led to the creation of Agile Combat Employment, which looks to atypical approaches to keep key assets from being destroyed.
Marine Corps Sgt. Andrea Rosembert posts security during a halt on a training patrol at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, March 15, 2024.Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Ryan Little
Agile Combat Employment considers highways, fields, beaches, and more as nontraditional runways to create "a network of smaller, dispersed locations that can complicate adversary planning and provide more options for joint-force commanders." China can target runways at air bases, but it can't hit every piece of concrete in the Pacific.
US ground forces in the region are also keeping an eye on the Chinese Rocket Force, but they're less concerned than the other service branches that China more clearly has in its crosshairs.
The US Army Pacific commander, Gen. Charles Flynn, told BI that while the growth of the Chinese Rocket Force had been "meteoric," PLARF's missiles were "primarily designed to defeat naval and air power."
"I'm always worried about rockets," Flynn said, but they're "not there primarily to defeat distributed, dispersed, mobile, some fixed and some unfixed, reloadable, and meshed land-forces network," which his command and its allies in the Pacific have been developing and prioritizing.
Multiple B-2 Spirits land for aircraft recovery as storm clouds gather Aug. 24, 2016, at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam.HUM Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
That said, he added, there are many ways for ground forces to create a "dilemma" for Chinese missile forces, such as masking signatures, hiding in different environments, and undermining PLARF's ability to find, locate, and target them.
Beyond defensive measures, the US has various offensive options for combating the Rocket Force.
Difficult-to-detect American submarines can, for instance, fire cruise and ballistic missiles. Stealth bombers, like the B-2 Spirit, can also avoid being spotted while on missions to knock out China's weapons. The US doesn't have the missiles to counter China in this theater of operations, though these systems are in development.
Weak points in the missile game
Chinese soldiers practice marching in formation ahead of military parade to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China ON September 25, 2019 in Beijing, China.Pool
PLARF may be, as Shugart has said, the "crown jewel" of the Chinese military, but it's not without its limitations. Recent high-profile cases of corruption across the army, in particular in PLARF, have raised questions about how widespread graft may be — and whether that's affecting readiness in the short term.
US intelligence has documented several cases of supposed corruption, including missiles filled with water rather than rocket fuel and problematic silos. Military leadership shake-ups, too, have sparked concerns, as many senior officers and bigwig defense leaders were replaced with little to no explanation.
That said, the US and its allies can't afford to assume the Rocket Force won't be ready should conflict come.
Military vehicles carrying DF-26 ballistic missiles, drive past the Tiananmen Gate during a military parade to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of World War Two on September 3, 2015, in Beijing, China.Andy Wong - Pool /Getty Images
"They now have the world's largest navy, the largest air force in the region," Clark said, "but they invest substantially in these long-range missiles because it's clear that they see that as a more reliable capability."
But clarity on the threat gives the US options. Knowing that China could lean on its missiles in a Pacific showdown allows American forces to train and adapt to work around such a threat.
"Deterrence is a combination of a country's capability and willingness to use that capability," Harris said, "and an adversary's perception of both." In other words, how the US prepares itself and adapts to the Chinese Rocket Force gives it the best shot at avoiding a fight altogether. But there's no guarantee deterrence holds.
Jack Dorsey has entered the epic rap beef between Kendrick Lamar and Drake
Pierre Suu/Getty Images // Roger Kisby/WWD/Penske Media // Carmen Mandato/Getty Images
Jack Dorsey seems to support Kendrick Lamar's latest disses on Canadian rapper Drake.The former Twitter CEO liked a post on X calling "Euphoria" a "top-10 diss track."Dorsey's support for Lamar goes back years — he even appeared in one of Lamar's music videos.The beef between Kendrick Lamar and Drake has been filled with unexpected characters, including pop sensation Taylor Swift and long-dead legend Tupac Shakur.
Now, Twitter and Block cofounder Jack Dorsey is weighing in — and it appears that he's got "PRIDE" for Kung Fu Kenny.
After a back-and-forth of three diss tracks between Lamar and Drake, Lamar released two songs this week. "Euphoria" dropped on Tuesday, and "6:16 in LA" dropped on Friday.
Both of Lamar's tracks received approval from super-fan Dorsey, who has recently liked both new and old posts on X and praised the Compton rapper.
"I will give people a couple weeks to realize Kendrick dropped a top-10 diss track of all time," one post Dorsey liked from Wednesday said.
The former CEO also replied Friday with a heart emoji to an old 2011 Lamar post advertising a Toronto concert on June 16. Toronto is Drake's home city, and some fans have speculated that the "6:16" in Lamar's latest diss references this post.
Dorsey didn't become a fan overnight. The former Twitter CEO has been a consistent supporter of Lamar's art. In 2015, Dorsey posted a video at a Lamar concert calling the rapper "the greatest."
He's also praised many of Lamar's records, including the Pulitzer-prize-winning "Damn" and his pandemic record "Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers."
"this is an opera. @kendricklamar is a poet and a teacher. I learn something new each listen...and I can't listen to anything else. constant spin," Dorsey said of the 2022 album.
At one point, Dorsey even toyed with the idea of Lamar becoming a potential Twitter board member in 2016, Vox reported.
Lamar reciprocated the love by bringing Dorsey on for 2022 music video for the song "Count Me Out." Dorsey makes a quick cameo by sharing a toast with Lamar and venture capitalist Aviv Nevo.
Lamar also worked with Dorsey's fintech company Block and Ticketmaster to offer fans early access tickets for his 2022 Big Steppers tour, Quartz reported.
Dorsey isn't the only unlikely character outside the music world to chime in on Drake and Lamar's ongoing saga.
Actor Uma Thurman nodded to Drake in April through an Instagram post featuring an image of her costume in Quentin Tarantino's "Kill Bill: Volume 1." In the film, Thurman played the katana-wielding, revenge-seeking "Bride."
"Need this? @champagnepapi," Thurman wrote as a caption in her story.
On Lamar's side, iconic soul singer Al Green approved of his latest track, which uses a sample of Green's "What A Wonderful Thing Love Is."
It's an embarrassing development for Drake, who was roasted and promptly asked to remove one of his diss tracks against Lamar last week after Shakur's estate took issue with Drake's use of AI to recreate Pac's voice.
On Friday night, Drake released his latest response to Lamar: "Family Matters." In the 7-minute track, Drake mentions Lamar's longtime fiancée, Whitney Alford, and goes after Rick Ross, J. Cole, and The Weeknd.
Dorsey and spokespeople for Drake and Lamar did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
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“The personal attention, guidance and mentoring from iStart Valley helped us in understanding the startup ecosystem and coming up with the best strategy to develop a world-class enterprise level product. We are fortunate to collaborate with them in our journey towards success and look forward.”
“iStart Valley program has a one-of-a-kind schedule flexibility that's perfect for bootstrapped and early-stage startups. Their structure helped me fit the meetings and online assignments around my day job, family, and other responsibilities. It's covers all the best practices you.”