Insider Finance - Business - Putin's doomsday bunker

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May 17, 2023

Hello, Insiders. I’m Jennifer H. Cunningham, editor in chief of the news division. We’ve obtained Russian President Vladimir Putin’s plans for an underground, bomb-proof bunker beneath his palatial dacha on the Black Sea. That’s today’s big story.

We’re also covering:

Gen Z has an addiction to buying cheap clothes that are terrible for the environment.
Towns outside of New York City, Boston, or DC where houses are relatively affordable.
Say goodbye to the US car market as we know it: Cheap Chinese EVs are coming.

— Jennifer H. Cunningham

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No one knew a US aircraft carrier water tank had jet fuel in it until the crew hooked it up to the drinking water system, per a Navy report.

THE BIG STORY

Putin’s bunker

Contributor/Getty Images; FBK; Metro 2000 via Wayback Machine; Alyssa Powell/Insider

You would think that the architects who designed Vladimir Putin’s palace thought of everything.

The 190,000-square-foot, billion-dollar complex, perched above the Black Sea, has every luxury that an autocrat could possibly desire. As revealed by Alexei Navalny’s investigation, the palace has its own church, wine cellar, casino, hookah lounge, ice rink, and more.

But as Mattathias Schwartz and Anastasiia Carrier report for Insider, the palace’s builders appear to have neglected one crucial detail: They failed to hide plans showing two elaborate tunnels running beneath the palace complex.

The plans — emblematic of Putin’s obsession with survival — were first posted publicly to the Russian internet. They show tunnels encased in thick concrete, supplied with enough fresh water, ventilation, and extensive cables to support VIP occupants for days or weeks at a time.

Today, Insider is publishing annotated versions of the diagrams with English-language translations.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

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ERIC PIERMONT / Getty Images; Arif Qazi / Insider

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An IBM employee has been on sick leave for 15 years. Ian Clifford sued the company for not giving him a raise — or vacation pay — during the time he had been out. The IT worker has leukemia and claimed the lack of money fell under disability discrimination. More on that.
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Googlers make fun of their company’s AI demonstration. Google employees love their memes. And the annual I/O developer conference was ripe with content that employees could memeify.
A travel influencer was “mom-shamed” when people thought she left her son in economy class. Karen Akpan posted on social media about upgrading to business class with her husband, while leaving their son in economy. Then the onslaught began.

TAKE A LOOK

NASA’s sound graveyard

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NASA's Aero-Acoustic Propulsion Lab is basically a graveyard for sound. Every surface inside is covered with 17,000 spiky wedges that absorb sound and prevent echoes.

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This edition was curated by Jennifer H. Cunningham, and edited by Hallam Bullock, Lisa Ryan, Diamond Naga Siu, and J.R. Stacey. Get in touch: insidertoday@insider.com.

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Insider Finance - Business - Putin's doomsday bunker

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