• Starting this fall, schools in Beijing must provide at least eight hours of AI instruction.
• AI education will be mandatory for students from elementary school through high school.
• The move comes as China powers ahead in the AI race.

China's capital, Beijing, is making AI education compulsory for students — including elementary schoolers.

Starting this fall, schools in the city must provide at least eight hours of AI instruction per academic year, the Beijing Municipal Education Commission said in a statement on Friday. Schools can teach AI as a stand-alone course or integrate it into existing courses like science and information technology.

Under the new plan, elementary schoolers, typically ages six to twelve, would take hands-on courses to kick-start their understanding of AI. Those in middle school would learn how to apply AI in schoolwork and daily life, while high schoolers would focus on strengthening AI applications and innovation, the agency said.

In China, compulsory education consists of six years of elementary school, three years of middle school, and three years of high school.

The commission said the initiative is meant to create a "teacher-student-machine" learning model and integrate AI ethics.

Beijing isn't alone in pushing for AI education in schools. Last year, California passed a law requiring its education board to consider AI literacy in school curricula. Reuters reported in September that Italy would begin testing AI-powered tools in 15 classrooms as part of a broader effort to enhance students' digital skills.

China pushes on in the AI race

Beijing's decision to make AI education mandatory comes as China powers ahead in the AI race, with its homegrown startups gaining global attention.

Earlier this year, AI startup DeepSeek made headlines after unveiling a low-cost reasoning model that shook up the AI industry and the US stock market. The company said its model rivals top competitors, like ChatGPT's o1, at a fraction of the cost.

Last week, Alibaba's stock surged 8% over two days after the company launched its latest open-sourced AI model, which it said used less data than its rival DeepSeek.

Other Chinese AI stocks, including Tencent, have also seen gains amid excitement for newly announced technology, while top US-based AI stocks, like Nvidia, have faced losses.

For America's managers, 2025 is shaping up to be the Year of the Low Performer.

When Mark Zuckerberg laid off some 4,000 employees last month, he said the goal was to "move out low-performers" and "make sure we have the best people on our teams." Around the same time, Microsoft axed scores of employees with low performance ratings. And Elon Musk has been firing thousands of federal workers he claims have failed to meet performance standards. Never mind that many of the targeted employees turned out to have high ratings. Bosses all across the country are sending the same message: Raise your performance, or you're next.

"They're trying to create more accountability," says Adam Grant, an organizational psychologist and professor of management at the Wharton School. "They're worried that people are a little too comfortable and complacent. They're hoping that some people will even opt out, because they realize they can't live up to the performance standard."

There's only one problem with cracking down on low performers: It doesn't work.

As decades of rigorous research have demonstrated, aggressive efforts to "raise the bar" on performance, as Zuckerberg put it, tend to backfire with remarkable consistency. CEOs may think they're creating a meritocracy, but in reality they're marching their companies straight into a trap of sunken morale, high turnover, depressed profits, and reduced innovation.

"In the short run, you might be creating some heightened performance standards and some accountability," says Grant, who serves as the chief work-life expert at Glassdoor. "In the long run, you may be shooting your organization in the foot." The evidence on making employees fear for their jobs, he adds, is clear: "They're very shortsighted decisions."

What motivates workers to do their best? It's a question managers have been wrestling with for as long as managers have been around. Back when America was first industrializing, the prevailing belief was that the best tool for driving employees was fear. The influential management theorist Frederick Taylor argued that workers were inherently lazy and in need of constant supervision. Swooping into factories, he set brutally high productivity standards — and summarily fired anyone who fell short. Everyone else had no choice but to buckle down and grind, no matter how unsafe the new standards might be, or how much misery they provoked.

As Taylorism swept the country, it made things worse rather than better, contributing to a wave of strikes that left factories idle for long stretches. By the 1950s, many companies were trying out a kinder, gentler philosophy of management. Instead of using fear to drive workers, they drew on a host of other motivating forces identified by organizational psychologists: a sense of connection and community, interesting and varied tasks, the desire to be useful. But in the early 1980s, as globalization began to erode American competitiveness, management by fear came roaring back. At General Electric, Jack Welch famously ordered his managers to rank 20% of their employees as A players, 70% as B players — and the remaining 10%, many of whom were fired for low performance, as C players. The practice, which came to be known as "rank and yank," spread throughout corporate America.

As a management philosophy, it proved to be a disaster. Take what happened at Microsoft, where the rank-and-yank system was known by another name: stack ranking. By the early 2010s, the once dominant company had watched its market cap plunge by more than 50%. One of the primary culprits? Its Welchian management system, which treated performance as a zero-sum game. If you wanted to succeed, someone else had to fail.

"Staffers were rewarded not just for doing well but for making sure that their colleagues failed," the journalist Kurt Eichenwald found. "As a result, the company was consumed by an endless series of internal knife fights. Potential market-busting businesses — such as e-book and smartphone technology — were killed, derailed, or delayed amid bickering and power plays." By 2013, when Microsoft finally abandoned stack ranking, much of corporate America had as well — including GE, where it all started.

The long history of management by fear has given scholars a lot of data to scrutinize. So what has all the research found? For starters, using terror to motivate your staff works in the short run: When their jobs are hanging in the balance, employees work harder and faster. But the initial surge in productivity, studies have shown, comes at the expense of quality. As workers rush to keep up, their output is inevitably shoddier, and riddled with mistakes.

What's more, work in the performance pressure cooker becomes less innovative. Take a study that took place in the 1990s, at a Fortune 500 tech company with more than 30,000 employees. After a series of layoffs, the remaining high performers became less creative and generated fewer new ideas for inventions. Organizational psychologists call this a "threat-rigidity response" — our tendency to respond to fear by clinging to the familiar. The anxiety generated by job insecurity becomes so overwhelming, studies suggest, that it actually impairs people's cognitive functioning. That might not matter so much when you're completing routine tasks, but it's debilitating when it comes to problem-solving.

"People focus very narrowly on protecting their jobs," says Grant. "They stop taking risks and thinking creatively and innovating, which is exactly what you need them to do in a turbulent environment."

Making employees fear for their job security also causes them to flee: One study estimated that laying off just 1% of a workforce would, on average, lead to a 31% spike in voluntary turnover. That might not sound so terrible for a company that's trimming its head count, but the departures aren't random. High performers, who have the most options, leave in far larger numbers than mediocre employees. Creating a culture of fear also makes it harder to recruit high performers. In one study, businesses that conducted layoffs slid in Fortune's rankings of the most admired companies. The more you slash your low performers, the fewer high performers you'll wind up with.

Pretty much every study that has ever crunched the numbers has found the same thing: Contrary to what leaders like Zuckerberg and Musk believe, instilling fear in employees actually hurts a company's profitability in the long run. That effect is particularly large in R&D-intensive, high-growth industries like tech. The feelings of uncertainty that job cuts engender end up paralyzing businesses instead of turbocharging them.

"It's a destructive practice," says Sandra Sucher, a professor at Harvard Business School who studies layoffs. "If Mark Zuckerberg thinks that this is inspiring to people to do a better job, he needs a primer on how it is that people are motivated. Most people aren't sufficiently motivated by fear to actually do better."

That's not to say that CEOs should run their companies like Montessori preschools. There were a lot of things that Taylor got right a century ago: setting high standards, monitoring employee output, rewarding people who do well. Those remain the cornerstones of good management today. During the pandemic, some companies may have swung a little too far to the gentle side, suspending performance reviews altogether. It was an expression of empathy that recognized the extraordinary stresses of the crisis — but it left some managers with no idea what their employees were doing, let alone how well they were doing it. High performers weren't getting recognized and rewarded, and low performers weren't getting the help they needed. Many bosses blamed the chaos on remote work, and ordered everyone back to the office. But the real problem was the lack of a properly functioning system of performance management.

"There's a big difference between being demanding and being demeaning," says Grant. "Demanding is about saying: 'Look, we have extremely high expectations. We hired you because we believe you're capable of meeting them. Here are your goals. Let's talk through what I can do to help you achieve them.' Then, if somebody is not pulling their weight, you give them feedback — you let them know what they need to change. If they're not willing or able to change it, yes, of course, at some point you let them go."

The demeaning way? It's basically the approach being taken by Zuckerberg and Musk. Setting arbitrary quotas of the number of employees who should get cut. Forcing managers to fire people who were consistently told they were meeting and exceeding expectations. Publicly labeling them as "low performers," which hurts their chances of landing a new job. And above all, failing to recognize that an employee who isn't working out isn't just a failure of the individual. It's also a failure of management.

"Unfortunately," Grant says, "what seems to be in vogue right now is a more demeaning approach to leadership."

Given the overwhelming evidence against management by fear, it's puzzling why Silicon Valley is trying to revive it. The tech industry, after all, was founded on the belief that everything should be dictated by data. Grant blames ignorance. "When I talk with CEOs, many of them are just unaware of the evidence," he says. "They haven't thought through the unintended consequences of their decisions."

Surely, though, it shouldn't be difficult for a company like Microsoft to remember just how poorly things went the last time it went after low performers — and how much better it did once it replaced stack ranking with Satya Nadella's softer approach of "model, coach, care." Microsoft post-2013 is one of the great success stories of the past decade — an ailing giant that actually managed to become relevant again. The tech industry boomed, in no small part, because starry-eyed startups motivated their coders and product managers and salespeople with the promise that they were changing the world. Eager millennials were happy to devote their nights and weekends to make that mission a reality, and they turned their underdog employers into some of the largest businesses in history.

"It's hugely frustrating, because we become smart for a while and then we become stupid," says Sucher, the Harvard Business School professor. "But if you've been in business for a long time, which I have now, you get used to the fact that it goes in cycles like this."

Perhaps using performance-based cuts to instill fear in their employees is just the CEO version of a threat-rigidity response. In the 1980s, the threat was global competition. Today, it's the winner-takes-all war over AI. Under siege, history teaches us, bosses behave the same way employees do: They keep reverting to the same tired methods that just don't work, no matter how many times they try it.

Even the famously cutthroat Jack Welch, toward the end of his life, repudiated the rank-and-yank phrase that had become synonymous with his name. Low performers, he said, should never be surprised when the conversation turns to dismissal. And they should never be "summarily shown the door." Instead, he said, their managers should "help them find their next job with compassion and respect." Today's low performers, it turns out, may not be the employees who are being laid off, but the CEOs who are firing them based on an outdated — and counterproductive — system of management.

Aki Ito is a chief correspondent at Business Insider.

• Shelley Janek, 70, is looking for a job because Social Security isn't enough to cover her essentials.
• Janek moved from California to Wyoming to save money on housing and other expenses.
• BI has heard from roughly 4,000 older Americans, many of whom are living on Social Security without savings.

Shelley Janek, 70, hoped to retire with a strong nest egg at her age. Instead, she's paying bills with Social Security and looking for a job.

Janek is one of millions of retirees navigating the rising cost of living in the US. Business Insider has heard from roughly 4,000 older Americans who are struggling to make ends meet on Social Security and dwindling savings. Some, like Janek, told BI that they are unable to retire or are trying to reenter the job market to boost their income, while others are scrambling to cut their expenses.

With just over $2,000 a month in Social Security income, Janek said she is unable to afford most essentials, like groceries and rent. She recently moved from Sonoma County, California — where she lived for 34 years — to Casper, Wyoming. She's living with a friend to save money and applying for jobs, with no luck yet.

"Everything is just climbing so dramatically that I think seniors are going to be in some real trouble in the future," she told BI.

We want to hear from you. Are you an older American comfortable sharing your retirement outlook with a reporter? Please fill out this quick form.

Looking for work at 70 because Social Security isn't enough

Janek spent her career in various roles in finance, computer programming, and environmental conservation. She said she felt financially comfortable for most of her life, but never made enough money to buy her own home in Sonoma County, where median home prices are nearly twice the national average — per the real estate platform Redfin.

In 2021, Janek said she had to retire earlier than she expected and claim Social Security due to a health condition. She spent most of the money she saved for retirement on bills and caring for her mother.

Janek said it's been challenging to land a new job at her age. At some companies, she never hears back after submitting her application. At others, she doesn't pass the interview stage. She said she hasn't been able to land a full-time job, and is unable to work in retail or the service industry because she can't stand for long periods of time.

Last summer, Janek said she moved to Wyoming in an effort to cut her living costs. She said that utilities and gas are cheaper in Casper, and she saves on rent because she is staying with a friend, but there are fewer healthcare options than she had on the West Coast. Janek said she would qualify for some low-income housing, but she has been on waiting lists in California, Wyoming, and neighboring states for years without a placement.

"It's depressing to realize that there's very few places I can afford to live," she said. "And the few places I could afford to live are not places I really want to live. It's looking like I may have to leave the country."

Moving again could make Janek's life more affordable, but she said it comes at the expense of her community. Relocating has already been lonely, and she said it's been difficult to reestablish care with new doctors and meet new friends.

Janek isn't sure what she will do next but she said it helps to know that she isn't alone: many older Americans are struggling with finances in retirement.

"I think there are a lot of people in my situation," she said.

• Elon Musk said he doesn't plan to shut down Starlink's terminals in Ukraine.
• "We would never do such a thing or use it as a bargaining chip," Musk said.
• SpaceX sent thousands of Starlink terminals to Ukraine during the early days of the war.

Elon Musk said on Sunday that he will never turn off Starlink's terminals in Ukraine.

"To be extremely clear, no matter how much I disagree with the Ukraine policy, Starlink will never turn off its terminals," Musk wrote in an X post on Sunday.

"We would never do such a thing or use it as a bargaining chip," Musk added.

Musk's remarks came after Poland's foreign minister, Radosław Sikorski, wrote in an X post on Sunday that his country "will be forced to look for other suppliers" of satellite internet services if SpaceX "proves to be an unreliable provider."

Poland was spending about $50 million a year on Starlink's services for Ukraine, Sikorski wrote.

"Be quiet, small man. You pay a tiny fraction of the cost. And there is no substitute for Starlink," Musk replied to Sikorski on Sunday.

Sikorski's post also drew a response from Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who said on Sunday that Sikorski was "just making things up."

"No one has made any threats about cutting Ukraine off from Starlink. And say thank you because without Starlink Ukraine would have lost this war long ago and Russians would be on the border with Poland right now," Rubio wrote in an X post.

Musk's position on Ukraine

Musk was initially supportive of Ukraine when it fought back against Russia in the early days of the war.

In June 2022, Musk said SpaceX had delivered 15,000 Starlink terminals to Ukraine after Russia's invasion began in February that year.

In 2022, Musk also challenged Russian leader Vladimir Putin to single combat over Ukraine and suggested the president could "bring his bear" to their man-on-man fight.

But Musk's pro-Ukraine stance has shifted.

In October 2022, he posted a peace plan to end the Ukraine war on X. The plan, which called for Ukraine to recognize Russia's annexation of Crimea, was praised by the Kremlin.

During a 2024 X Spaces event with GOP senators, Musk said he thought there was "no way in hell" Putin would lose the war in Ukraine.

"This spending does not help Ukraine. Prolonging the war does not help Ukraine," Musk said in February 2024 while calling for the US to stop funding Ukraine.

On Sunday, Musk said he was "sickened" by "years of slaughter in a stalemate that Ukraine will inevitably lose."

"Anyone who really cares, really thinks and really understands wants the meat grinder to stop," Musk wrote on X.

Last week, the Trump administration paused all military aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine.

"The President has been clear that he is focused on peace. We need our partners to be committed to that goal as well. We are pausing and reviewing our aid to ensure that it is contributing to a solution," a White House official said in a written statement to Business Insider.

Musk and the State Department did not respond to requests for comment from BI.

• Palmer Luckey's startup Anduril scored a $642 million deal for anti-drone tech in Marine Corps bases.
• The 10-year contract is meant to help fight smaller drones like the exploding ones in Ukraine.
• The Defense Department said Anduril was chosen out of 10 total bids.

Defense startup Anduril clinched a $642 million contract on Friday to help the US Marine Corps fight smaller drones at its bases.

Anduril's new deal is for the Marine Corps Installation-Counter small Unmanned Aircraft Systems program, which is essentially a network of anti-drone defenses for bases and facilities.

The announcement comes after Anduril scored a separate five-year $200 million agreement in November to bring counter-drone tech to the Marine Air Defense Integrated System. This mobile air defense system can be mounted on vehicles like Humvees.

Like with the MADIS, Anduril's offering for this new contract is to fight smaller drones, which the US military classifies as Group 1 and Group 2.

Such drones are typically no heavier than 55 pounds and fly at a maximum altitude of about 3,500 feet, like the exploding commercial drones used in the war in Ukraine.

When the Corps first opened its contract in April 2024, it warned of a "security capability gap" for dealing with these smaller drones at its bases.

"The sUAS threat poses unique challenges to military installations when compared to those of operational forces," the Corps wrote.

The Defense Department said on Friday that 10 companies had submitted proposals for the contract, but did not name them.

With Anduril scoring the deal, the department said that 80% of the work until 2035 would be done in Costa Mesa, California, home to Anduril's headquarters. The rest is expected to be performed in Washington, D.C., and other Marine Corps facilities.

The announcement did not specify what type of product or how many systems Anduril will deliver.

Press teams for Anduril and the Marine Corps did not respond to requests for comment from Business Insider outside regular business hours.

One of Anduril's main offerings for fighting smaller drones, Anvil, features a quadcopter that flies out from a portable storage box to track and crash into enemy systems. It can also be fitted with explosives to attack bigger targets.

Additionally, the company sells electronic warfare jammers called Pulsar, which it's already providing to the Pentagon as part of a $250 million deal from October.

Anduril, founded in 2017 by Oculus creator Palmer Luckey, has become a rising star in the defense industry as it emphasizes ready-made designs that can be produced at scale. In that sense, it hopes to reuse the same design to bid for multiple contracts instead of creating each one specifically for a single deal.

The firm is also working with ChatGPT-maker OpenAI and runs its products on an AI software called Lattice to survey the battlefield and identify threats.

One of its biggest scores so far is a $22 billion contract with the US Army to provide soldiers with mixed-reality goggles. The contract was originally awarded to Microsoft but later ceded to Anduril.

The firm hopes to expand quickly. In August, Anduril raised $1.5 billion to build a 5 million-square-foot factory in Ohio that it said would "hyperscale" production.

• Mark Carney is expected to replace Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in the coming days.
• The Harvard graduate and former Goldman Sachs banker headed two central banks.
• Canada's ruling Liberal Party elected Carney to replace Trudeau on Sunday.

Mark Carney, the former governor of Canada's and England's central banks, is expected to replace Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau just as the country faces a chapter of uncertainty over tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump.

The Harvard graduate and former Goldman Sachs banker was elected as the leader of Canada's ruling Liberal Party on Sunday. Carney's predecessor, Trudeau, said he would step down as party leader in January.

Carney, 59, is expected to be sworn in as prime minister in the coming days. An election to determine the next prime minister must happen by October, but it could be called sooner.

Until then, the country will have to navigate Trump's 25% tariffs, which he imposed on March 4 but delayed until April 2.

The tariff turnaround, combined with Trump's comments on making Canada the 51st state of the US, has ignited a defensive fervor in Canada.

Carney referenced Canada's relationship with the US during his victory speech on Sunday.

"I know that these are dark days. Dark days brought on by a country we can no longer trust," Carney said.

Carney's financial sector background

Carney has never held political office but has a deep history in the financial sector.

He was born in Fort Smith, in the Northwest Territories, and graduated from Harvard, where he played ice hockey. He spent 13 years at Goldman Sachs, working at the investment bank's offices in London, Tokyo, New York, and Toronto.

Carney led two central banks at pivotal moments.

After leaving Goldman Sachs in 2003, Carney served as deputy governor of the Bank of Canada. He was made governor in 2008, at the start of the global financial crisis. He was the first non-British governor of the Bank of England from 2013 through 2020, where he guided the bank's response to Brexit.

Since leaving the Bank of England, Carney has held a mix of commercial and international roles. He was appointed vice chair of Brookfield Asset Management in 2020 and was made chair after the division was spun out as a new company in 2022.

In 2021, Carney became a board member of Stripe, a digital payments company. He was named as the chair of Bloomberg's board in 2023.

That is on top of his work with international organizations. Before he left the Bank of England, Carney was appointed UN special envoy on climate action and finance in 2019. In 2021, Carney launched the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero, a global climate-finance coalition.

In January, Carney said while announcing his leadership bid for the Liberal Party that he had resigned from all his commercial and international roles.

What he thinks about Trump's tariff threats

In his victory speech Sunday, Carney didn't hold back on Trump's tariff threats. At times, he spoke as though he were facing off against the American president rather than his expected opponent, Pierre Poilievre, the leader of Canada's Conservative Party.

Carney threatened to impose dollar-for-dollar retaliatory tariffs that would have "maximum impact in the United States."

"My government will keep our tariffs on until the Americans show us respect, and until they can join us in making credible and reliable commitments to free and fair trade," Carney said on Sunday.

Carney didn't hold back on Trump during his speech.

"Trump, as we know, has put, as the prime minister just said, unjustified tariffs on what we build, on what we sell, on how we make a living," Carney said. "He's attacking Canadian families, workers, and businesses, and we cannot let him succeed, and we won't."

• Kate Hudson, 45, says she isn't afraid to apologize to her kids whenever she's in the wrong.
• Instead of being combative with them, the "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days" actor tries to acknowledge her shortcomings.
• There are several steps to making an effective apology, psychologists previously told BI.

Kate Hudson, 45, isn't afraid to admit to her kids when she's in the wrong.

During an appearance on Thursday's episode of the "Not Gonna Lie with Kylie Kelce" podcast, Hudson spoke about being "conscious of" her own behavior while parenting her kids and learning how to apologize to them when she goes "too far."

The "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days" actor recounted a recent incident when she butted heads with her son, Bingham, 13, after he refused to do something she had asked him to.

"And in that moment, I got triggered," Hudson told host Kylie Kelce. "It wasn't about him, it was about my own inability to resolve or walk away from the moment that was happening."

Instead, Hudson said she "became combative" with her teenage son.

"But it happens all the time as a parent. When you walk away from it, you can recognize where you might've created more of a problem than you did a lesson," Hudson said.

She said that admitting to her kids that she could've handled the situation better would have been more helpful in resolving the conflict.

Not only that, it would also be a better parenting model for her kids to emulate.

"Sometimes in conflict, you go too far, and you need to say you're sorry, instead of teaching them that you doubled down," Hudson said. "And what you find in going to your kids and saying, 'I could have handled this better' or 'I made a mistake' or 'I'm sorry I didn't trust you' — whatever the scenario — is that connection becomes stronger."

Knowing when to acknowledge her shortcomings has been a key part of her parenting journey.

"I think that's the biggest lesson for me, and now that I feel like a veteran mother. Been like doing it for 21 years," the "Running Point" star said.

Hudson welcomed her eldest son, Ryder, in 2004 with her ex-husband, Chris Robinson. In 2011, she gave birth to her second son, Bingham, whom she shares with ex-fiancé, Muse front man Matt Bellamy. She welcomed her daughter, Rani, in 2018, with her current fiancé, Danny Fujikawa.

Psychologists previously told Business Insider that there are several steps to making an effective apology. These include being accountable, putting a plan in place to rectify the mistake, and being sincere.

It is also important to avoid phrases like "I'm sorry if…" or "I'm sorry, but…" since they reduce the apologizing party's accountability, Leah Rockwell, a licensed counselor, previously told BI.

"By adding 'and' into an apology, you create an easy way to open and broaden the conversation rather than to close it," she said. "As soon as the word 'but' is present, you are operating from a place of defensiveness."

A representative for Hudson did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent by BI outside regular hours.

• Shailesh Chauhan shares strategies that helped him grow his career growth across Big Tech companies.
• He emphasizes saying no to your managers and resisting the urge to showcase how much you know.
• Overcommunication is crucial in fast-paced environments to ensure alignment and clarity.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Shailesh Chauhan, a product manager at Meta in the Bay Area. It has been edited for length and clarity. Business Insider has verified his employment history.

I began my career in civil engineering in India and moved to the US for a master's in the same field. While studying at the University of Illinois in 2011, I realized that software was driving a big chunk of innovation, and I wanted a career in tech.

I started taking coding classes and built my skills to the point I was hired as the first product manager at a small startup in the Bay Area. I spent five years at the analytics software startup and saw it grow from a company of 10 to one of over 1,000 employees.

I left the startup in 2018 and joined Uber as a product manager the same year. Two years later, I moved to Amazon and worked as a product lead for Amazon Web Services. In 2022, I made a career switch to Meta, where I work as a machine learning product lead.

Four strategies have helped me switch industries and scale my career:

1. Learn to say no

Saying no is extremely hard, especially as a junior employee. You tend to overwork yourself, which can be a risk to your reputation if you overpromise and then underdeliver because you took on too much.

Denying some requests can earn you more respect from your managers. It demonstrates maturity and strategic thinking because you don't allow yourself or your team to spend time on any random thing thrown at you.

I see it as my job to think about what are the biggest opportunities for me and what I want to say yes to. This allows me to carve out time for projects that are important and save my team's time.

One way to tackle this is by asking counter-questions about whether what your manager is asking will benefit the final product or the team. Another way is to list tasks you think are important and have high impact and ask your manager: "Hey, I understand that this may be important, but how would you relatively think about it?" Now, you can say no gracefully.

2. Be the dumbest person in the room

This is a strategy I first learned at the startup I worked at, where I was surrounded by senior leaders from Google. I was the first person hired on the product team, and I felt pressure to project what I knew about our product. But I found it more valuable to listen carefully to get a full picture of the company and product so that I don't fight over things I don't really believe in.

Since then, I have found it valuable to play the "dumb card" and ask as many questions as possible, focusing on questions that uncover insights for other people. It is tempting to show that you are knowledgeable and that you have experience, but that should come from your work, not your words.

Early in your career, being quiet can be hard because you feel the need to fill any silent moments in meetings and one-on-ones. It's OK to embrace the silence instead of saying something redundant. Listening intently helps you bring in fresh ideas, which helps you prioritize your long-term career development over the short-term wins at that meeting.

3. Focus on relationships beyond work

I focus on building personal relationships with the people I work with because good relations go beyond company and country boundaries. Also, I do my best work when I am surrounded by people I trust and enjoy working with.

I ask myself whether someone I am working with would want to work with me when they leave the company. If the answer is no, I try to work on that relationship so that it lasts beyond our day to day work.

4. Over-communication is key

Sometimes, people feel that they should not repeat themselves after making a point. But I think overcommunication is a feature and not a bug, especially in fast-paced environments where there are so many people and priorities, all working across multiple time zones.

So even when I feel like I risk sounding redundant, I choose to repeat myself because there are always one or two people who miss a message you send. I utilize different channels and make sure that everybody understands me and is on the same page.

• After losing my job, I wanted to use my free time to catch up with people.
• I was nervous on my way to meet a stranger who had been my friend on LiveJournal.
• Reconnecting made me feel 19 again.

On a Wednesday afternoon in August, I sat at my kitchen table and tried not to sound creepy. I was about to slide into the DMs of a stranger who was maybe actually a girl I'd known on the internet.

Reaching into the past is like operating one of those arcade claw machines in a dark room: you'll emerge either with a treasured artifact or empty-handed. Even if the Instagram account I'd found was the same Sarah I'd known on LiveJournal as "lonelypainter," a reference to Joni Mitchell's "A Case of You," I didn't know if she'd want to reconnect. Not everyone is as nostalgic as I am.

I only had to wait 10 minutes for my answer. "Hi! You guessed correctly! It blew my mind a bit to see the username 'heyromeo' pop up in my notifications! Wow. It's great to hear from you! How have you been?"

We fell right into talking about art again, encouraging each other like we had all those years ago when I knew her as a writer, and she supported my budding literary identity.

I decided it was time for us to meet in person.

We lived about 2 hours away

Now, Sarah was also a musician, and I loved her clear, delicate voice as I listened to her song clips on Instagram.

After losing my job at the end of September, I resolved to take chances and catch up with people while I had the time. Sarah and I had only lived about two hours apart for most of the past 20 years; why not finally meet up "IRL"? She loved the idea, and we picked a Sunday in November.

I felt nervous when the day came as if preparing for a first date. What if the virtual friendship we remembered fondly didn't carry over to the real world?

Jason Isbell, one of Sarah's current favorite musicians, played softly on the television as we drank tea in her cozy living room. It felt like hanging out, particularly in college, when being under 21 or too broke to go out, leads to talking, watching movies, or listening to music in dorms and first-apartment living rooms.

I felt like I was 19 again

In the 15 years since we drifted away from LiveJournal, I was still married, now with two kids. Sarah said she felt like she'd "lived many lives." I told her about my novel-in-progress and we discussed the essays she'd recently published on her Substack about recovery and sobriety.

Before I left, Sarah played a few songs for me on piano and guitar, a John Prine cover and some originals. I felt goosebumps as I heard "Room To Move," a song about leaving an abusive relationship with a defiant chorus of "And I don't ever miss you."

Time collapsed; I felt 19, 41, and all the years between. The project of reading my LiveJournal and seeing Sarah's comments on nearly every entry inspired me to look for her. It also showed me how many people come into and out of our lives over the years. Staying close to all of them wouldn't be possible, nor is it always desirable. But I feel deeply grateful for every connection I ever made, however fleeting or painful.

"From my writer's heart to yours," Sarah signed her CD for me. I drove home listening to the songs I'd just heard live, my friend's voice filling the car with warmth, and a plan to return in March to see her play again.

• President Donald Trump downplayed fears of an economic recession in a Fox News interview.
• Trump said that the US economy will face a "period of transition" while it adjusts to his tariffs.
• Economists predict Trump's tariffs may increase inflation without boosting US manufacturing.

President Donald Trump downplayed economic uncertainty over his tariffs, saying a "period of transition" is headed for the US economy as it adjusts. But he notably did not rule out a recession in the near future.

Trump paused his 25% tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada earlier this week, just after they went into effect. In an interview on the Fox News show "Sunday Morning Futures," Trump said he paused his planned tariffs on Mexico and Canada to help American car manufacturers and "to a certain extent," to help both countries. Trump paused the tariffs until April 2.

"I wanted to help the American car makers until April 2," Trump said on Fox. "April 2, it becomes all reciprocal. What they charge us, we charge them."

After a strong start to the year, the stock market has seen significant volatility in recent weeks. This week, the market saw considerable uncertainty, with the S&P 500 down as much as 2% on Thursday following tariff concerns.

Still, Trump downplayed fears over a possible recession in the Fox interview. When asked if he expected a recession in 2025, Trump responded: "I hate to predict things like that. There is a period of transition, because what we're doing is very big. We're bringing wealth back to America."

"It takes a little time," he added.

Trump also avoided questions about providing clarity for publicly owned businesses about how his tariffs could disrupt the economy.

"They have plenty of clarity," he said. "They just use that. That's like, almost a sound bite. They always say that, 'we want clarity,'" Trump told Fox about business asking for economic clarity.

Trump paused tariffs impacting US auto manufacturers on March 5 after Ford, Stellantis, and General Motors called the president requesting a reprieve. When pressed by Fox about what "automakers are going to do for a month" while the tariffs are paused, Trump said that this is a "transition period."

"I said, 'look, I'm going to do it this one time, but after that, I'm not doing it,'" Trump told Fox. "They called me and they wanted help during this little transition period, and I gave it to them."

Economists are still grappling with the impact of Trump's tariffs, which some economists say will increase inflation. Some analysts say that Trump's tariffs will not help increase manufacturing in the United States.

"Tariffs will not increase US manufacturing: technology, rather than trade, has been primarily responsible for the fifty-year decline in manufacturing jobs," John Veroneau, a former deputy US trade representative, wrote in a February 11 post on the Council on Foreign Relations website.

• SpaceX's Starship exploded after its latest launch to space, causing flight diversions and viral videos.
• The Federal Aviation Administration closed Florida airspace after the SpaceX incident.
• A previous Starship explosion in January also caused debris over the Caribbean.

Mariah Davenport and Dane Siler were over an hour into their flight when they saw it: flaming debris out their window.

The young couple, both college students in Wisconsin, told Business Insider that they were heading back to the US on Thursday from the Dominican Republic where they had been vacationing in Punta Cana.

Siler said the Frontier pilot had warned them that the flight from the Dominican Republic to Chicago might take a little longer because of a diversion in the flight path due to the SpaceX Starship launch Thursday night.

However, they were surprised when, not yet midway through the flight, they heard the pilot make an announcement.

"He said, 'If you look to your right, one of the rockets just blew up,'" Siler said. "I'm like, what? So then we looked through a window, and that's when I grabbed my phone and recorded it."

A video of the flaming debris that Davenport posted on TikTok went viral, accruing over 12 million views in a matter of days.

SpaceX's Starship spun out of control shortly after its launch and exploded as it reached space. The Federal Aviation Administration closed the airspace over much of Florida after the incident and issued a temporary ground stop at several airports.

The explosion comes a month after a Starship exploded during a test flight in January and rained debris down over the Caribbean, causing similar flight disruptions and diversions.

"We thought it was cool," Siler said. "We didn't think we were in any danger, and then 20 minutes later, he told us that we were going to have to go back to Punta Cana, so that was another hour and a half."

Davenport said she was unnerved when, after the plane had landed back in Punta Cana to refill on gas, she overheard a flight attendant mumble, "That was too close for comfort."

"Hearing that was very frightening," Davenport said.

The couple eventually made it home several hours later than planned.

The FAA is investigating the incident.

Frontier and SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

• Ben Stiller, the 'Severance' director and EP, sees similarities between Lumon Industries and Apple.
• Stiller discussed the hit AppleTV+ series with Apple exec Eddy Cue at SXSW in Austin.
• 'Severance' Season 2 is currently airing and explores themes of corporate culture and capitalism.

Ben Stiller, the executive producer and director of the AppleTV+ series "Severance," said he sees similarities between the fictitious corporation in his show and the real-life global tech giant Apple Inc.

"Severance" follows a group of employees at Lumon Industries whose work is so mysterious that their work personas (or "innies") are medically severed from their outside selves (or "outies") with a small chip implanted in their brains.

The series, which is in the midst of airing its second season, offers striking visuals and a nuanced take on corporate culture, the impacts of capitalism, and the depth of human emotion.

Stiller spoke about the show with Eddy Cue, Apple's senior vice president of Services (including AppleTV+), at the 2025 SXSW Conference & Festivals in Austin, Texas.

"I think we were lucky in that when we started out, you guys gave us a lot of creative freedom," Stiller said.

Stiller suggested that Apple has similar mysterious qualities that draw the viewer into Lumon in "Severance."

He's not the first one to point this out. Fans have previously drawn comparisons between the two companies, such as the circular architecture at their respective headquarters and the reverence allotted to their company founders.

"It's funny because people talk about, 'Oh wow, you know, Apple is a huge corporation, and Lumon is a huge corporation,'" Stiller said.

He added that it is "the perfect show to be on Apple" because of its aesthetic and mystery of "what's going on" in the company — similar to Apple.

"But I've never once ever gotten any, you know, like note or anything from Apple about anything we do, and I feel like there's an intrigue about Apple," Stiller said. "By the way, how is Apple doing? Because sometimes I worry, are you guys doing okay?"

Cue said Apple is doing great and working on creating "new things that people really love."

Spokespersons for AppleTV+ did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.

Throughout the second season's airing, fans have taken to social media in a frenzy to assemble theories about different aspects of the plot.

As the show progresses, Lumon's mission and objectives become increasingly sinister, and Adam Scott's Mark Scout tries to piece together the mystery behind his workplace and his severed memories.

Business Insider secured quotes from the interview via live closed captions from SXSW's website.

• The Walt Disney Company developed Celebration, a residential community in Florida, during the 90s.
• Celebration's first residents arrived in 1996 after winning a housing lottery.
• Now, about 11,000 Central Florida residents call Celebration home.

The Walt Disney Company had an ambitious plan in the 1990s: build a picture-perfect community brimming with the charm and feel of America's small towns.

Until then, the company had primarily focused on attractions and entertainment projects when it developed Celebration, which is a residential community just 15 minutes from Walt Disney World.

While visiting family in Orlando, I decided to drive to Celebration to explore the community 29 years after the first families arrived.

Ahead of my trip, I also spoke with Joe Davison, one of the first postmen in Celebration. He began working at its post office in 1996 and retired in 2009.

"I wouldn't trade it," Davison said. "That was by far the best 13 years of work for me."

I also spoke with Celebration HOA President Don McDonald, who has lived there with his family since the mid-1990s.

"The first few years it was very tight knit," McDonald said. "There were only a hundred and some odd houses. We knew everybody and the kids knew everybody, and we felt relatively safe letting the kids run free and free range."

Disney broke ground in 1994.

The Celebration Company — a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company — developed the community with the help of several architects, including Robert A.M. Stern. Stern's firm helped create the master plan, which sought to build a picturesque landscape endowed with small-town charm and Southern flair.

"An emphasis on tree-lined streets, parks, and civic buildings will create a strong public realm, an essential ingredient to any real town," the company website says.

Community is the main focus in Celebration, so the architects created their designs to encourage that.

"Garages are located on alleys, opening the streets to views of houses rather than garage doors, and at the same time allowing for narrower lots which decrease walking distances and enhance the sense of community," the website says.

When I arrived on a balmy Saturday, the community appeared especially lively. A group of children performed a choreographed dance in a nearby park, where a cultural festival with booths representing different countries and a bouncy house was in full swing. Nearby, families strolled leisurely through the town center.

Disney hosted a lottery to choose Celebration's first residents.

Celebration's first residents scored their homes and apartments through a lottery hosted by The Walt Disney Company.

A 1995 article from The Orlando Sentinel reported that once potential homeowners were chosen, they made a refundable $1,000 deposit and an appointment with a sales consultant. The paper reported at the time that homes were worth between $127,000 to over $500,000.

McDonald and his family were among those who entered Disney's lottery. He and his wife wanted to live in Celebration for education options for their children.

"Disney was going to build a state-of-the-art school, so we wanted to get the kids in," McDonald said.

The first residents began moving moved into Celebration in 1996, but it wasn't a bustling town just yet.

"A lot of people moved there from all over the country, but we weren't really that busy then," Davison said.

Working in the post office during Celebration's early years allowed Davison to meet many of the new faces.

"At that point in time, the post office was pretty slow, so a lot of people coming in were residents," Davison said.

The atmosphere among residents in Celebration was welcoming, which he said was different from his previous post office job in South Miami.

"A lot of them would let you know you didn't live there," Davison said about Miami. "In Celebration, nobody ever treated me like an outsider, which is nice in that respect. You felt like part of the community."

Around 2,700 people called Celebration home by 2000, according to the census data.

Some modern Celebration homes cost millions.

Celebration has grown quite a bit since the first residents arrived in 1996.

Three neighborhood — or village — expansions were completed from 2000 to 2003. The most recent expansion happened in 2021 with Island Village, which is nestled into the west side of Celebration.

On my way to the town center, I noticed the idyllic, charming homes dotting the neighborhood.

Home prices in Celebration vary, but active property listings shared by local real estate agencies show a mix of six- and seven-figure residences. One six-bedroom, six-bathroom home in Celebration Village is selling for $2.5 million, and a four-bedroom, three-bathroom home in Island Village is on the market for $929,000.

Condos, townhomes, and rentals are cheaper. A two-bedroom, three-bathroom townhome in the South Village is priced at $440,000, while a one-bedroom, one-bath condo in Celebration Village rents for $1,550 a month.

The median household income was $97,654 in 2023, according to the US Census Bureau. The town's population has also grown since the first few residents arrived. About 7,400 residents called Celebration home in 2010, and the population rose to 11,100 by 2020.

The population is around 13,000 as of 2023, according to Census Reporter.

The town center attracts residents and visitors alike.

The town center opened in the fall of 1996.

McDonald said one of the perks of moving to Celebration was how accessible shops and restaurants were to residents.

"Everything was right here in town, so we rarely had to leave," McDonald said. "To this day, we call it staying in the bubble."

He recalled being able to travel to Celebration's downtown, where he could grab a bite, get a haircut, and pick up groceries with ease.

"It was like living in a small town, but we certainly had the amenities of a bigger city. We kind of got the best of both worlds."

Now, after a private equity firm purchased Celebration's downtown in 2004, the town center has nearly 60 businesses, shops, and restaurants. Among them is the Downtown Diner, where Max's Cafe & Coffee Shop used to be. Other businesses in Celebration include a Mexican grill restaurant, a martial arts academy, a hotel, and a Starbucks.

While walking through the town center, all I could think about was how it perfectly encapsulated the nostalgia of small American towns. Couples enjoyed fudge treats — courtesy of Kilwins Chocolate and Ice Cream Shop — while friends darted in and out of boutique shops. The streets were lined with pastel-colored buildings, including restaurants that overlooked Lake Rianhard and Lakeside Park.

Although Celebration seems almost artificially perfect, McDonald said his community is very real.

"This is not 'The Stepford Wives' or 'The Truman Show,'" McDonald said. "We don't have artificial birds in the tree. Every one of those birds is a real bird. They wake me up in the morning."

Some shops are still in Celebration decades later.

Photographs from the 1990s offer a glimpse into Celebration's early years, when shops and stores lined Market Street, including Market Street Gallery.

I ventured inside, where they sold everything from sparkling Christmas ornaments to home decor. Items based on Disney characters were displayed around the shop. A website for Celebration's Town Center said the shop acquired new owners in 2019. It's family-owned and operated by Celebration residents.

Davison said retailers settled into Celebration, but some struggled to remain in business due to rent prices and what he considered a lack of publicity from Disney.

Celebration is only a 15-minute drive from Magic Kingdom, meaning it's part of a competitive tourism market where retailers are trying to attract tourists and locals alike.

"Businesses didn't stay very long because they weren't making it, to say the least," Davison said.

McDonald, who used to own antique map store in Celebration, said it was "hard to compete."

If Celebration ever got a makeover, McDonald said building the downtown closer to U.S. Highway 192 could benefit the retailers because they'd be closer to the broader community.

Celebration's iconic movie theatre is now defunct.

Davison said the AMC Theatre in Celebration opened its doors in 1996. He said the community gathered at the movie theater one evening to watch a showing of "The Preacher's Wife," starring Denzel Washington and Whitney Houston.

"That's where a lot of people that were living there met each other for the first time," Davison said.

The movie theater became integral to the Celebration community. It doubled as a church and held Sunday services before a permanent place of worship settled in Celebration. The theater was also the site of Celebration's first high school graduation.

However, the two-screen, 527-seat theater closed in 2010. A resident told BI in 2018 that the theater's final showings were "Megamind" and "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1."

Unfortunately, Celebration's AMC theatre is still shuttered 15 years later.

The theatre's doors were locked and the lights were off when I found it during my trip in February. Posters advertising Celebration — not films — were stuck on the darkened windows.

Although the theater stands empty, the building feels like a landmark highlighting Celebration's early days.

The fountain has kept residents cool for decades.

Most Americans are still bundling up in winter coats and scarves in February, but not Florida. The temperature was about 70 degrees Fahrenheit when I was in Celebration, where most folks wore warm-weather clothes.

The fountain proved to be a popular spot for families and children passing through Celebration's downtown. Many of them stopped to take in the scenic landscape or splash in the water.

The Inn at Celebration opened at the turn of the century.

A stroll down Bloom Street will lead to The Inn at Celebration, a 115-room hotel built along Lake Rianhard.

The hotel, built in 1999, was previously called the Bohemian Hotel Celebration and the Celebration Hotel. Renovations were completed in late 2024.

Davison said the hotel was a pillar in the community, and at one point, residents used it to host charity bingo games.

It also became valued by the larger Central Florida community, including the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, in the 2000s. The NFL team hosted its camp at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex and housed players at The Inn at Celebration for seven years.

Now, there are several schools in Celebration.

Celebration School welcomed its first students in 1996. A website for the school said students previously attended school in the Town Hall building before the current campus opened in 1997.

"At the time, there was only one school and it was K through 12," Davison said. "In fact, the first graduating class it was only four kids."

Davison said the locals threw a small parade on Market Street to celebrate the graduating class, which is just one example of how residents tried to foster a tight-knit community.

As Celebration's residents grew, so did schooling options for families.

Celebration School pivoted to K-8 education after Celebration High School opened nearby in 2003. Additionally, local children can also attend the Montessori Academy of Celebration, Creation Village World School, and Island Village Elementary School.

• When my son was 1, we moved from San Francisco to Thailand.
• People in Thailand welcomed us with open arms and helped me when needed.
• We moved back to the US when he was 5 and experienced culture shock.

When my son was 1, I moved from the tumultuous San Francisco Bay Area to the rolling hills of Northeastern Thailand. When I stepped off the plane, I could tell my parenting experience would be different.

Once on the ground, we hopped into a courtesy van that would take us on another hourslong journey to Loei Province, our final destination in rural Northeastern Thailand. As we stopped to fuel up at one of the many 7-Elevens dotting the highway, I ducked into the store to buy some essentials.

Unfortunately, my screaming baby had other plans. He kicked and arched his back as I tried to pay the cashier, only to be suddenly whisked away and soothed by a middle-age Thai woman (and perfect stranger) while I fished through my pockets for the unfamiliar Thai currency.

I'd soon learn this was the norm in Thailand: I never got dirty looks when my son was tearful or noisy, only an endless stream of adoring aunties ready to help the moment they were needed — even before they were asked.

I was a helicopter mom in the US

As a former helicopter mom, this was new for me. Parenting in the San Francisco Bay area had been a notably solo venture, especially as a young mom whose friends weren't very interested in kids, let alone starting families.

When we settled into our new home in Loei with a small community of expats, I learned the extent of the Thai people's friendliness and camaraderie. I enlisted the help of a nanny named Ot, who insisted we call her Auntie with the familiar Pa before her name.

Pa Ot became a true auntie to my son and, frankly, like a second mother to me. With several kids of her own and much more experience than I had, she showed me how to soothe my baby's mosquito bites and remove the relentless cradle cap that cropped up repeatedly in the sweltering humidity.

People took care of us

She showed my son how to eat in the traditional Thai fashion, grabbing and molding sticky rice into a tiny bowl with his fingers to scoop up a morsel of meat or vegetables. She also taught us both how to speak Thai, though my son was always ahead of me.

On weekends, she'd invite us to the local river to swim, another opportunity to meet the Thai villagers and learn about their way of life. She even showed me the wall where she'd printed his photo after months of helping to care for my son and hung it as if he were a part of the family.

Then, there was Jung Niem, the groundskeeper who tended the gardens in our little expat community. He'd invite my truck-obsessed son to sit in the front seat of his work truck with him and paw at the steering wheel, never too busy or distracted to take the time. The office manager, Pi Pat, would routinely grab my kiddo and plop him on her lap, laughing as he banged on the keyboard and terrorized the tiny office.

When we moved to Bangkok, the welcome continued. Our high-rise apartment complex was like a little village, with two restaurants, a dry cleaner, a 7-Eleven, and two massage shops on the ground floor. Mothers and kids were always outside, ready to play, and we didn't need to perfect the language to make friends.

When we moved back to the US I experienced culture shock

The true culture shock set in when we moved back to the US when my son was five. I had forgotten how insular people could be, even parents with kids who ostensibly needed me as much as I needed them. Between competing schedules and priorities, pinning down a playdate was akin to coordinating a rocket launch.

In Thailand, I finally learned how to relax and accept the help I needed as a young, inexperienced mother. The Thai people welcomed me and my son with open arms, no questions asked: community was a given, not a luxury. On returning to my country of origin, it struck me what poverty of community we often face in our individualist culture, especially in a frenetic metropolis like the Bay Area.

Thailand taught me what a powerful gift it is to receive community support as a parent, giving new meaning to the oft-used but seldom-lived adage, "It takes a village."

• NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams held a press conference last week.
• Wilmore said politics hasn't influenced the timeline for when he and Williams will return to Earth.
• Elon Musk said the astronauts were left at the International Space Station for "political reasons."

NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore said politics aren't the reason he and pilot Suni Williams are still in space nearly nine months after they were expected back on Earth.

The two launched on Boeing's Starliner ship on June 5, 2024, planning to stay on the International Space Station for a week or so. It's been over 275 days since then.

Ahead of their anticipated return in late March, Wilmore and Williams hosted a press conference from the International Space Station last week, answering questions about their mission, return, and how politics plays a role.

Although Wilmore and Williams are about 250 miles from Earth, comments made by President Donald Trump and SpaceX founder Elon Musk have thrust them into the political spotlight.

In January, Trump said Wilmore and Williams were "virtually abandoned by the Biden Administration" in a post on Truth Social.

Musk, the face of DOGE, said the two astronauts were left in space for "political reasons" during a joint interview with Trump on Fox News in February.

The billionaire reiterated this claim during a spat on X with European Space Agency astronaut Andreas Mogensen, saying he offered to bring Williams and Wilmore home on a SpaceX ship, but the Biden administration declined.

During the press conference, a reporter asked if Wilmore and Williams felt politics had influenced their timeline to return to Earth.

"From my standpoint, politics is not playing into this at all," Wilmore said during last week's press conference, adding, "We came up prepared to stay long, even though we planned to stay short. That's what we do in human space flight. That's what your nation's human space flight program is all about, planning for unknown, unexpected contingencies. And we did that."

When asked how it felt to be at the center of a political story following Trump and Musk's comments, Wilmore said politics are "part of life" and that he and his fellow crewmates aboard the ISS — Williams and Nick Hague — support the US and its leaders.

The astronauts have been in space since June 2024

In June, the two astronauts traveled to space aboard Boeing's Starliner ship to conduct its first crewed flight, which was meant to prove Boeing could be used for routine human space travel.

However, five of Starliner's reaction control system thrusters malfunctioned as it flew to the ISS. The spacecraft's helium system was also leaking.

NASA and Boeing, unsure of how the thrusters would perform on the flight back to Earth, conducted weeks of tests and reviews. Ultimately, NASA did not feel confident in Boeing's spacecraft and tapped Elon Musk's SpaceX to bring Wilmore and Williams home.

Although the pair were expected back on Earth in February, a delay with SpaceX's Crew Dragon spaceship means they aren't expected to return until late March.

NASA plans to launch a new crew, dubbed Crew 10, into space on March 12. If all goes according to plan, after Crew 10 arrives at the ISS, Crew-9 — including Wilmore and Williams — will hand over operations to the new crew.

"Following the handover, NASA and SpaceX will prepare to return to Earth NASA astronauts Nick Hague, Suni Williams, and Butch Wilmore, along with Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov aboard Crew-9 pending weather conditions at the splashdown sites off the coast of Florida," NASA said on its website.

Representatives for NASA, SpaceX, Musk, and the White House did not respond to a request for comment made outside regular business hours. A representative for Boeing referred BI to NASA.

• "Saturday Night Live" brought in comedian Mike Myers to play Elon Musk for a second week running.
• The episode began by spoofing the aftermath of Musk and Marco Rubio's White House clash.
• Myers drew parallels between his "Austin Powers" supervillain and Musk's influence on US politics.

Mike Myers made a second appearance as Elon Musk on "Saturday Night Live" this weekend. The billionaire tech investor, Musk, continues to dominate headlines for his involvement and influence on Donald Trump's presidency.

Following last week's introduction to Myers's savagely funny impersonation of Musk, the NBC show began with a cold open spoofing the aftermath of the clash between Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the DOGE advisor that occurred during a meeting on March 6.

The sketch began with James Austin Johnson, playing Trump, trying to broker peace between Rubio, played by Marcello Hernández, and Musk.

"I know you're under a lot of stress but I can't have you fighting with Elon, OK? I need you to be my good little Marco," he said.

"Mr. Trump, if you think I'm going to stand here and let you call me that, you're right," Hernández's Rubio replied.

The New York Times reported that Musk and Rubio exchanged tense words during a meeting in front of Trump and about 20 others over the level of staff cuts that Rubio has carried out.

Per the outlet, Musk accused Rubio of having fired "nobody" and resisting his push for large staff reductions, kicking off a verbal sparring match between the two of them.

In the sketch, Hernandez's Rubio said: "While Elon's been causing chaos, I've been working behind the scenes, and I am very close to a deal with the Panamanian government to retake the Panama Canal."

"Eh, I don't want it anymore. You know, seems like a hassle. What I really love is Thailand. Okay? Because I've been watching 'White Lotus' and it looks beautiful," Johnson's Trump replied.

Midway through the scene, Myers appeared as Musk. Following a jab about him wearing a suit for once ("It's giving groomsman"), Johnson's Trump tried to resolve the conflict.

"I can't have you two at each other's throats, OK? After all, I have a perfect record. Everyone who's ever worked for me has left on good terms and then gone on to write a book called 'The Man Who Ruined Everything,'" he said.

"Marco, get your budget under control," Johnson continued. "Elon, stay in your lane. You're not the boss."

As Johnsons's Trump outlined their respective roles, Myers's Musk zoned out and questioned whether he'd made a mistake in getting involved in politics.

In a voiceover, he mused: "Phase one of my plan is complete: Ingratiate yourself to the president and take over the media. But was taking this job a bad idea?"

"A lot of people seem to really hate me. My Tesla stock is crashing, and my personal net worth just dropped by… $100 billion dollars," he added, as he brought his pinky to the corner of his mouth, referencing his famous Dr. Evil line from the "Austin Powers" films.

As the audience erupted into laughter and cheers, Johnson's Trump wrapped up the meeting and the sketch.

"So, headlines from the meeting. One: America is doing bad guys now. Two: Marco, get your budget under control. And three: Elon, stay in your lane, you're not the boss."

"But I paid you $300 million," said Myers's Musk, referencing the enormous sum Musk spent in political contributions to support Trump and other Republican candidates last year.

"And that's why you're the boss," Johnson said without a beat. "We'll get out of your office."

• Season three of 'The White Lotus' explores themes of identity and spirituality in Thailand.
• Creator Mike White is interested in Buddhist principles, which influenced the character's arcs this season.
• Greg's storyline continues from season two, hinting at karmic consequences for his past actions.

Identity is a prison. That's the operating thesis of season three of Mike White's hit HBO satire "The White Lotus." To be on the nose for this season's Thailand-set exploration of privilege and hijinks, the line is uttered by a Buddhist monk in the premiere episode.

White has used each season's location and its meaning in the American consciousness to draw out the mess of interpersonal relationships among the hotel's staff and guests. In the first season, the colonial afterlife of Hawaii set the scene for exploring wealthy, predominantly white tourists' extractive relationships with the locals who serve them. The romance of Italy in season two formed the backdrop for the passions, affairs, familial and marital drama of the group who visited Sicily.

In season three, the spirituality of Thailand rattles the cages of identity The White Lotus' Western tourists lock themselves in. It's a location that allows the show to examine Eastern spirituality and satirize the way Western tourists appropriate it for their own self-help vacations.

"They're all in some kind of hurt," White said of his Thailand White Lotus visitors in an interview with Time. The dramatic irony is that the suffering they've come to cleanse themselves of is caused by the very thing that allowed them to be there in the first place — the exorbitant wealth and privilege they wield.

That irony likely isn't lost on White, who takes special pleasure in making sure his characters — even the lovable ones — get what's coming to them. You could call it karma, which just so happens to be a key principle of Buddhism, Thailand's dominant religion.

So who's due for some karmic repayment this season? Here's how the major tenets of Buddhist philosophy could offer some clues.

Prisons of identity

White has personal experience with Thailand and Buddhism.

"I had a Buddhist self-help phase when I had a nervous breakdown in my 30s," he told Time in January. "I use Buddhist concepts as a way to sort of organize my ideas."

Time in Buddhist philosophy doesn't work the same as time in Western philosophy. In the West, time is linear. Our lives have a fixed start date — birth — and end date — death.

In Buddhism, time is circular. Life is a cycle of death and rebirth. Identity isn't as fixed within a cycle of reincarnation, since you could be reborn into a higher or lower caste in the next life, depending on the karma you make in this one.

To be caught up in the material circumstances of the present creates the "prison of identity" discussed on the show. Each group of Western tourists is struggling with the prisons of their own identities in some way or another.

For the Southern Ratliff family, particularly the parents, pill-popping Victoria (Parker Posey) and stressed Duke dad Tim (Jason Isaacs), their identities are defined by having good values and by being successful. All that is about to come crashing down, though, since Tim's office is being scrutinized by the feds for a money laundering scheme he participated in years ago.

Rick (Walton Goggins) is clearly tormented by the prison of his own identity, which has led him on a heavily implied revenge tour to Thailand to track down the person responsible for his father's death. The fixation on his father, his origin story, and the emptiness it's left him with is what the Buddhists would call attachment (derogatory) — the kind that only causes you suffering.

The trio of women on a girls' trip are trapped by the competition they've built up with one another. They're constantly vying for power over one another, to be seen as the most successful of the three. "It's not a midlife crisis; it's a victory lap," Southern housewife Kate (Leslie Bibb) insists in episode one.

Karmic repayment

"The White Lotus" is ostensibly an anthology, but if you've seen more than one season, you know that isn't exactly true. In Italy, Tanya McQuoid (Jennifer Coolidge) was the throughline from the first season in Hawaii, and you could say she met her karmic end in the Mediterranean for the false promises she made Belinda (Natasha Rothwell) in Hawaii.

In Thailand, Greg (Jon Gries) is the throughline from the previous season. When we encounter him on Koh Samui, he's assumed an alias "Gary" and denies having ever been to the White Lotus in Hawaii, where he met Tanya and Belinda. If you think of each season as one cycle of reincarnation, then Thailand is Greg's next life after the one he left in Italy, which effectively concluded with Tanya's death.

Of course, the audience knows all about the bad karma Greg stirred up in Sicily by organizing his wife's hit. Since the episode four teaser shows Belinda closing in on Greg with a little bit of internet sleuthing, it's fair to expect his old life to come flooding back.

In Buddhism, you can't enter a new life without balancing the karma, good and bad, that you've made in your previous one. Greg, responsible for the demise of Tanya at the end of last season, still managed to escape unscathed.

It's fair to expect he'll be getting some cosmic payback at the end of this one, whether it comes in the form of a snake bite, a poisoned seed, or a watery demise on the resort grounds. If Thailand has anything to teach him, it's that you can't start over without a little karmic justice.

• Elon Musk has called for the US to exit NATO.
• In a post on X, Musk said it "doesn't make sense for America to pay for the defense of Europe."
• Trump has repeatedly criticized European defense spending and threatened to leave NATO if allies didn't pay more.

Billionaire Elon Musk has suggested the US should leave NATO, as tensions between the US and its European allies continue to build.

Musk, the CEO of Tesla and head of the Department of Government Efficiency, reshared a post on X Sunday that read "Exit NATO now!"

"We really should," Musk wrote. "Doesn't make sense for America to pay for the defense of Europe."

The current White House administration has had an increasingly strained relationship with its European NATO partners, with President Donald Trump repeatedly criticizing Europe's defense spending.

Trump has called on European members of the alliance to raise defense spending to 5% of GDP —significantly more than any member, including the US, currently spends. In his first term in office, Trump also threatened to withdraw from the alliance if allies did not boost spending.

While a number of countries have since pledged to make such changes, Trump has remained skeptical, saying earlier this month that the US would not defend NATO members who don't pay enough for their own defense.

It comes at a pivotal time for Europe as it seeks to step up support for Ukraine while the US appears to be pulling away from Kyiv. Trump announced that he would pause military aid to the country earlier this month following his dramatic clash with Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in the Oval Office.

Musk has taken on an influential role in the Trump administration.

In his position as head of DOGE, he has pushed for mass layoffs of federal workers and canceled federal contracts in a bid to cut government spending.

• My husband and I retired to Cuenca, Ecuador, but always wondered what other options were out there.
• We spent time in Cancún and Playa del Carmen to see why many American expats retire in Mexico.
• We were pleasantly surprised and impressed by the weather, shops, and more in each place.

In 2010, we left the United States and retired abroad to Cuenca, Ecuador.

Although we're fortunate to enjoy a fabulous retirement life abroad, we've always wondered if there's an even better place for us out there.

So, over a decade later, we set off on an adventure that lasted more than two years to explore other potential retirement spots around the globe to find out.

Our journey started in Mexico, a popular spot for American retirees in part due to its proximity to the US, generally lower cost of living, and its warm weather.

While there, we spent two weeks each in Cancún and Playa del Carmen, two of the country's popular Caribbean vacation spots.

Although we chose tourist-heavy cities, we tried to get a taste of daily life by staying in neighborhoods outside the main vacation and hotel areas.

We were pleasantly surprised by Cancún

Located on the northeastern coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, Cancún is a major tourist destination in Mexico. That said, Cancún has a "hotel zone" along the beach that's miles away from the city itself.

Most visitors (like us on an anniversary trip years ago) arrive at the airport, take a shuttle to their hotel, and never leave the vicinity before departing for home.

On this trip, though, we rented an Airbnb in a residential section of downtown to attempt to see what it might be like to live there.

We found downtown Cancún to be quite different from the miles of fancy resorts, boutiques, and eateries in the hotel zone.

As we walked around, we passed numerous modest single-family homes and locally owned shops and restaurants. We liked that the downtown had everything we could need for daily life within walking distance.

In addition, the area had some popular American chains, like Walmart, which had a surprisingly impressive selection of affordable products and produce.

Plus, there's a major international airport just 20 to 30 minutes away from downtown — ideal for American expats who want to visit family back home.

Our apartment was miles from the beach, but an inexpensive bus ride made getting there a snap. However, once we got to the miles of public beaches, we were disappointed to find very few designated access points.

It was harder to enter the beach than we expected, especially since we'd been used to walking from an oceanfront hotel directly onto the sand when we'd stayed in Cancún as tourists. This was definitely a drawback, but not an insurmountable one.

Overall, though, we were pleasantly surprised at how similar downtown Cancún felt to our current neighborhood.

Playa del Carmen seemed to offer the best of both worlds for American expats

Located about an hour south of Cancún is the coastal town of Playa Del Carmen. Unlike Cancún, Playa del Carmen doesn't have an isolated hotel zone separate from its residential areas.

This city has beaches, the famous 5th Avenue a couple of blocks away, and then local housing and businesses all the way to the major highway that runs from Cancún past Tulum.

I liked that nearby neighborhoods could easily access the beach and popular spots like 5th Avenue. The lively area felt like Mexico's version of Bourbon Street in New Orleans, filled with tourists, vendors, and live music. This was fun, though I worried it could eventually be annoying to navigate while trying to do chores and run errands on a daily basis.

Even so, the area felt overflowing with outstanding food and shopping options.

In addition to local offerings, we found popular American chains like Walmart, Sam's Club, Office Depot, and many familiar chain restaurants in the area that US expats missing home would surely enjoy.

Although Playa del Carmen doesn't have its own international airport, the one in Cancún is only about an hour away.

Overall, we can see why retirees would choose either place

It was exciting to see what else is out there for other Americans looking to retire abroad.

We appreciated how Playa del Carmen and Cancún both felt beautiful and walkable, with fairly easy access to airports, which is great for retirees moving away from family.

We can definitely understand why the warm weather, beaches, and other perks would bring expats to either place.

That said, we also realized the area's generally hotter temperatures weren't quite an ideal fit for us. For now, we still call Cuenca home.

• I'm a Lisbon local and tour guide, which means I see visitors make many of the same mistakes.
• Some wrongfully assume Portugal's weather will be sunny all year and don't pack comfortable shoes.
• We generally appreciate it when tourists leave tips and try to speak Portuguese.

Portugal's capital city, Lisbon, is high on many must-visit lists for a good reason. After all, it is a historical and gastronomic paradise.

I was born and raised in Lisbon, and I'm now a tour guide there, so I've seen visitors make a lot of missteps and errors while visiting my beautiful city and the areas beyond it.

Here are five mistakes I wish tourists would stop making when they come here.

Assuming the weather is always pleasant and sunny

Many picture tons of year-round sunshine when they think of Portugal — I can tell by the way many tourists fail to dress properly when the weather is anything else.

Before you visit, know that our Mediterranean soil comes with all four seasons.

Summer is indeed hot and sunny, a great time for sunset cocktails on the Tagus River and outdoor diner parties with grilled sardines and small cold beers in the Alfama quarter. Winter can be a bit chilly.

In spring and autumn, temperatures tend to be more mild, making these great times of year to hike across Lisbon's seven hills and go on day trips around the city.

However, you'll want to pack carefully because the weather can also be the most unpredictable during these months. Definitely do some research before packing for your trip.

Wearing flip-flops or high heels around the city

Like many other Portuguese cities, Lisbon has an array of beautiful cobblestone patterns in its squares and sidewalks. However, these stones can get slippery and sometimes be uncomfortable to walk on.

So, pack sensible, comfortable footwear. The Portuguese pavement can be challenging enough to navigate without high heels and flip-flops.

Not even trying to speak the local language

Although many of us locals enjoy practicing our English with tourists, we still appreciate it when visitors try to speak Portuguese.

Making an effort to use our language is a nice tribute to local culture — and there's a good chance you'll get better service just for trying.

At the very least, it's polite to know and use basic phrases, like hello (olá) and please (por favor).

Drinking strong Portuguese coffee as if it's the same as what you usually have back home

In Portugal, most of our coffee blends are made with robusta beans. If this is what you're used to back home, you should be fine.

However, robusta beans have way more caffeine than arabica ones, which are the more common offering in the United States (and much of the world).

To avoid caffeine overload, be mindful of this difference when getting drinks here. If you want a bigger cup of coffee that's less intense, order an abatanado (basically an Americano).

Also, keep in mind that we typically consume our coffee at a leisurely pace — it's meant for sipping while sitting at a café. It's rare to see locals drinking coffee out of plastic or paper cups on the go.

Thinking the Portuguese don't like to be tipped

Tipping culture varies around the world, but that doesn't mean service workers here don't appreciate an extra bit of change.

In Lisbon, tipping isn't considered as essential as it is in the US, as our service workers are usually paid a living wage. However, tips should still be used to reward good service, especially at tourist-friendly activities and restaurants.

As a tour guide, I know firsthand just how much we appreciate them.