Author: openjargon

• Recent drone footage shows a Russian soldier killing a wounded comrade in combat.
• Experts say the incident highlights violence and disregard among Russian forces.
• Similar past incidents suggest a deep-rooted issue with discipline and internal violence.

Drone footage showing a Russian soldier shooting a comrade hurt in combat highlights the "brutal culture" of "callous" behavior in the Russian armed forces, war experts say.

"The attempted or deliberate killing of a fellow soldier is unprofessional," experts at the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War reported in a June 23 assessment.

ISW analysts noted there have been many instances showing "a callous disregard for the lives of Russia's own soldiers throughout the war thus far, both within Russia and amongst Russian troops on the battlefield."

From high-casualty human wave frontal assaults that have been characterized as "meat assaults" to war crimes to videos of a defector being beaten to death with a sledgehammer, there have been numerous incidents.

Last October, the US condemned Russia's treatment of its own forces as "reprehensible" and "barbaric," with National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby saying Russia continues to have "no regard for the lives of its soldiers."

Another apparent example of such brutality was posted to Telegram on Saturday and depicts a Russian soldier shooting and killing a fellow Russian service member at point-blank range who was injured in a first-person view drone strike.

The Russian soldier who pulls the trigger, ending his comrade's life, noticeably does not attempt to evaluate the wounded servicemember, treat the injuries, medically evacuate them, or even collect their identification. They simply move on afterwards.

Business Insider was unable to independently verify the details of the video, including the extent of the wounded soldier's injuries.

ISW experts said there have been other instances of fragging, or the deliberate killing of fellow soldiers, often a superior officer, among Russian forces. In 2022, for instance, Russian soldiers ran over a commander with a tank following a streak of losses against Ukraine.

"Fragging is generally indicative of extremely poor discipline amongst troops, a disconnect between tactical level commanders and their subordinates, as well as a blatant disregard for human life," the experts noted. The situation goes deeper, though.

Russia has faced criticism for its mistreatment of wounded soldiers in the past, and there continue to be concerns. Russian military bloggers recently reported that injured troops with the 1st DNR Slavic Brigade are being held in "prison-like conditions" in Donetsk City without proper treatment.

"The fragging incident and the milblogger claims against the DNR command are indicative of a very poor culture within the Russian military, particularly the command's disregard for their subordinates and a generally low level of discipline," ISW experts concluded.

• The US was Germany's top trade partner in the first quarter of this year, replacing China.
• Geopolitical tension over the Russia-Ukraine war and electric vehicle competition are shifting global trade.
• Germany's economy minister visited China over the weekend to discuss EU tariffs on Chinese EVs.

China has been Germany's top trade partner for the last eight years, but something has shifted this year — the US could be moving into the top spot.

Trade between the US and Germany was 63.2 billion euros in the first quarter of 2024, edging out the 60 billion euros of trade between China and Germany, according to data from the German government.

While the gap is relatively small and the data is only for January through March, it highlights an underlying trend: Trade dynamics are shifting as geopolitics and competition influence new tariff policies and the international flow of goods.

Amid conflicts like the Russia-Ukraine war and concern over China's overproduction of goods like electric vehicles and solar panels, trade between the West and China is coming under increased scrutiny – and Germany's economic ties to China exemplify the shift.

Electric vehicles are causing rifts

Automobiles are at the center of a new dispute between China and Germany. The European Union recently imposed tariffs up to 38.1% on Chinese electric vehicles, following the Biden administration's decision to impose 100% tariffs on Chinese EVs.

The tariffs counter what European officials say are unfair advantages from Chinese government subsidies that bolster Chinese EV production. According to Bloomberg, the Chinese EV industry has received up to $231 billion in government subsidies since 2009.

According to the European Commission, the number of Chinese cars sold in the EU increased from less than 1% of the market in 2019 to 8% in 2023.

The number of Chinese EVs sold in Germany increased nearly tenfold from 2020 to 2023. From January to April, according to government data, about 41% of Germany's imported EVs came from China.

On the other hand, German car companies like BMW, Porsche, and Volkswagen rely heavily on the Chinese market. Nearly a third of German car sales in 2023 came from China, according to Reuters, leaving the industry vulnerable to a trade war.

Robert Habeck, Germany's economy minister, visited Beijing over the weekend to discuss trade with Chinese officials. According to Reuters, he was the first senior European leader to visit China since the EU announced its tariffs.

During Habeck's visit, Chinese officials said they hope the EU will drop their tariff proposals. Bloomberg reported China is even considering luxury perks for German automakers in a bid to persuade the government to ease tariffs.

Previously, China has taken a retaliatory stance, launching probes into French brandy and Spanish pork imports — steps that tend to precede tariffs.

China's support for Russia and supply chain problems bolstered tensions

German government data released Friday revealed a 14% decline in German exports to China in May year-over-year, while exports to the US increased 4.1% during the same period.

The slump in German exports to China is a sign of vulnerability in trade relations, according to the FT.

In 2022, trade between China and Germany was 50 billion euros greater than that between Germany and the US. In 2023, that margin decreased to 0.7 billion euros, according to government data.

Habeck said China's support for Russia's war in Ukraine is the main reason the nations' economic ties have faltered, Bloomberg reported.

Trade between China and Russia reached a record $240 billion in 2023. Meanwhile, according to a survey by the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China, just 13% of EU companies see China as a top investment destination.

Still, according to a report by the Atlantic Council, a think tank, a European decoupling from China is far from materializing, and Germany's economic ties to Beijing remain strong.

Trade data can change from month to month, and some economists said May's decline in German exports to China should not be examined too closely, as monthly numbers can differ before a long-term trend.

Oliver Rakau, an economist at Oxford Economics, told the FT that the decline in German exports is also affected by other issues, such as supply chain delays due to conflict in the Red Sea.

US trade policy is clear

While changes in trade between Europe and China are less certain, in the US, Trump and Biden have different approaches to the same goal: protecting American manufacturing through tariffs on China.

Notably, Biden's tariff hike on Chinese EVs coincides with his goal for electric vehicles to make up half of new US sales by 2030.

Only 0.4% of Chinese EV exports by value from January to April went to the US, according to Bloomberg, and major Chinese EV companies like BYD do not sell cars in the US.

In effect, the Biden administration's 100% tariff is a preventative measure to shut Chinese EVs out of the US market.

According to Martin Wolf, the FT's chief economics commentator, the use of industrial policy — like tariffs — has risen significantly in past years, highlighting a new era of government intervention in trade.

According to Bloomberg, 37% of China's EV exports by value from January to April went to the EU.

According to Reuters, Chinese and European officials will meet in Brussels this week to discuss trade further, deciding whether to follow the US course of stiff tariffs or chart a more lenient path.

While tariff debates in the West ensue, China's EV production continues — and there's certainly demand from the rest of the world.

• Joe Biden and Donald Trump will debate Thursday evening.
• Their face-off is the earliest major debate on record.
• There are other notable changes, including commercial breaks and no studio audience. 

President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump are set to face off later this week in the earliest major presidential debate on record.

Both men enter their first faceoff of 2024 locked into a race that remains too close to call nationally. According to Real Clear Politics' polling averages, Trump holds narrow leads in key swing states that could decide the race.

In an era where Americans watch few live events besides football, the evening offers both campaigns a chance to get their message in front of millions.

Here are the vital facts you need to know before Thursday night's debate.

When is it and how can I watch it?

The first presidential debate of the 2024 election will be Thursday, June 27 at 9 p.m. ET. CNN will host the debate, but all major broadcast and cable networks will offer simulcasts. You can also stream the debate through Max. If you can't access the debate any of those ways, CNN is also streaming it through its website here. You don't even need a cable login.

The debate will last 90 minutes.

How is this debate different?

Beyond taking place in the summer, this debate will differ from any other recent memory. Instead of a live audience, Trump and Biden will square off at CNN's studios in Atlanta. There will be moderators, but both campaigns effectively killed off the bipartisan organization that has hosted debates for years. So, CNN chose anchors Jake Tapper and Dana Bash.

At Biden team's urging, CNN has also pledged to mute the mic of the candidate who is not speaking. You might recall that in 2020, Biden asked then-President Trump, "Will you shut up man?" during their raucous first debate. The first debate was considered by just about everyone involved to be an abject disaster.

Trump is set to get the last word this time since Biden elected to choose his podium position after winning a coin toss. As a result, Trump will be the last to deliver a closing statement. There will be no opening statements.

Wait, there are going to be commercials?

Yes, there will also be two commercial breaks. This, too, is a major departure from traditional debates.

What about fact-checking?

CNN correspondent Daniel Dale rose to fame fact-checking Trump, but don't expect him, Tapper, or Bash to chime during the debate. David Chalian, CNN's political director, told The New York Times that the debate "is not the ideal arena for live fact-checking." The fact-checking will have to wait until after the debate finishes.

What's Robert F. Kennedy Jr. going to be doing?

It's not entirely clear yet. We know he won't be joining the two presidents on the stage. CNN confirmed that Kennedy failed to reach their twin thresholds of 15% in four selected national polls and qualifying for the requisite number of ballots in each state. Billionaire attorney and philanthropist Nicole Shanahan, Kennedy's running mate, has promised "a few surprises" with their own live broadcast.

Kennedy's campaign is in a critical moment. He previously announced that he raised less money in May than in any month this year, mainly due to Shanahan's decision to tap into less of her fortune. The noted vaccine skeptic is also in the thick of trying to qualify for the ballot in all 50 states.

A third-party presidential hopeful hasn't made a debate stage since 1992, so Kennedy's failure is far from unprecedented.

How is Trump approaching the debate?

After years of suggesting Biden is too feeble to do the job, Trump has been slightly complementary of the man who beat him in the 2020 election.

Republicans seem to recognize that setting the bar for Biden's performance at practically not dying on the stage is, uh, a low bar. So, instead, Trump is engaged in the very traditional game of trying to shape the media narrative before the showdown begins.

What about Biden?

Biden has spent days prepping for the debate at Camp David, the presidential retreat. History shows that incumbent presidents typically struggle in the first debate, a fact both President Obama and Trump can attest to. Biden's lawyer, Bob Bauer, is expected to reprise his role of playing the former president in mock debates. Former White House chief of staff Ron Klain, who has prepped Democrats for general election debates for decades, is taking time off from his new perch at AirBnb to help as well.

What topics can we expect?

Only Tapper, Bash, and a few select people at CNN know the exact questions. That being said, a few issues seem almost guaranteed to come up. Polls show that Americans have deep concerns about Biden's age. Some national polls have also showed support for Trump dropping slightly in the wake of him becoming the first former president to be convicted of a felony. Tapper has also grilled Republicans, who, like Trump, continue to try to raise doubts about the 2020 election. The former president never directly conceded the race.

Trump's comeback campaign is also surging due to views about the US economy. Traditional metrics show Biden has much to be proud of, but while inflation has cooled, voters are still angry about high prices. Voters are also deeply skeptical of Biden's immigration policies, one of the biggest areas of disagreement between the two hopefuls.

Wasn't it possible there would be no debates?

Yes, that was a very real possibility. In 2022, The Republican National Committee formally withdrew from the Commission on Presidential Debates after years of tensions with the organization that has organized general election debates since 1988. It became an open question of how debates would move forward this time.

Trump, who easily dispatched his primary opponents, began goading Biden to debate him anyplace and anytime. In late April, Biden told radio host Howard Stern he would debate Trump. Weeks later, Biden's campaign delivered the final blow to the commission, confirming that Biden would not participate in any of its scheduled debates. The president's team said the debates had become too unruly and were scheduled too late in the calendar.

Trump and Biden then quickly agreed on the CNN debate and another contest in September, operating without any help from the commission. For now, the pair hasn't agreed to a third debate. Traditionally, the commission held two formal debates and one town-hall-style debate.

What's next after the debate?

Both sides are set to campaign on Friday. Biden will be in North Carolina. Trump will be in Virginia, a state that hasn't gone for the GOP in a presidential election since 2004. Trump is optimistic he can expand the list of potential swing states.

At least one more debate is on the calendar; ABC News will host a September 10 debate. Vice President Kamala Harris and Trump's yet-to-be-named running mate are also expected to debate. As of now, they haven't settled on one network to host that debate.

• Laurene Powell Jobs is a powerful impact investor and philanthropist with a net worth of $11.3 billion.
• Powell Jobs hosts elaborate Halloween shows at her Silicon Valley home and owns a $110 million yacht.
• Here's a look at the life of the businesswoman, who is the widow of Apple cofounder Steve Jobs.

Laurene Powell Jobs, the 60-year-old billionaire, is a formidable presence in investing circles, with a net worth of $11.3 billion, according to Bloomberg's Billionaires Index.

Powell Jobs has used the fortune she inherited after the death of her husband, Apple cofounder Steve Jobs, to expand her own businesses and philanthropies.

Here's a look at the life of the businesswoman and philanthropist:

Laurene Powell Jobs was born in West Milford, New Jersey, in 1963.

Her father, a pilot, died in a plane crash when she was 3 years old. Her mother later remarried.

 

Powell Jobs double-majored in political science and economics at the University of Pennsylvania.

After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania, she worked on Wall Street for Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs.

She later headed west for her MBA, enrolling in Stanford's Graduate School of Business in 1989.

It was there that she met Steve Jobs, her future husband.

According to Walter Isaacson's biography of Jobs, Powell Jobs got dragged along to a campus event by a friend.

It turned out to be a guest lecture by Jobs.

"This was 1989," Powell Jobs told Isaacson. "He was working at NeXT, and he was not that big of a deal to me. I wasn't that enthused, but my friend was, so we went."

Powell Jobs initially mistook Jobs for another prominent tech figure, according to the biography.

"I knew that Steve Jobs was the speaker, but the face I thought of was that of Bill Gates," Powell Jobs told Isaacson. "I had them mixed up."

The pair arrived late and were told they couldn't just sit in the aisle. Powell Jobs and her friend ended up sneaking into the reserved seats at the front of the hall.

Jobs ended up sitting next to his future wife: "I looked to my right, and there was a beautiful girl there, so we started chatting while I was waiting to be introduced," he said in the biography.

Powell Jobs joked that she was sitting up front because she'd won a raffle and the prize included a dinner with Jobs.

Jobs finished the lecture and chased after his future wife, who had already walked out of the hall. He found Powell Jobs in the parking lot and asked her about the raffle. She agreed to go to dinner with him on that Saturday, and they exchanged numbers.

Jobs prepared to leave for a work dinner but returned to Powell Jobs. He asked if she'd like to go to dinner that night. She agreed, and they headed to a nearby restaurant called St Michael's Alley.

While Jobs' NeXT colleagues waited for their boss to show up, the tech founder and Powell Jobs spent four hours at the restaurant.

The couple remained together after that night.

They married in March 1991 at the Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite National Park.

Other famous guests at the hotel over the years have included the late Queen Elizabeth II and former presidents John F. Kennedy and Barack Obama.

The couple had three children: Reed, Erin, and Eve.

Eve Jobs began modeling for the beauty brand Glossier in late 2020. She is 25 years old.

Jobs also previously had a daughter, Lisa Brennan-Jobs, with his high school girlfriend, Chrisann Brennan.

When Jobs died from cancer in 2011, his wife inherited his wealth, including stakes in Apple and The Walt Disney Company. The inheritance left Powell Jobs a billionaire.

Her stake in Disney initially made her the company's largest individual shareholder, but in 2017, she reduced her ownership to 4%.

Powell Jobs spends a lot of her fortune on philanthropy.

Forbes named her the 25th most powerful woman in the world in 2023.

"In the broadest sense, we want to use our knowledge and our network and our relationships to try to effect the greatest amount of good," she told The New York Times in 2013.

But her kids may not inherit all of her wealth.

She told the New York Times in 2020 that she isn't interested in passing her fortune down to her kids. "If I live long enough, it ends with me," she said.

In 1992, she founded a health-food truck called Terravera with fellow Stanford MBA grad John Mullane.

The pair sold Basmati rice platters and burritos with black bean dressing to white-collar workers in office parks. "We just wanted to offer a convenient way for them to eat healthy food," Powell Jobs told the Chicago Tribune in 1992.

She later backed away from Terravera to focus on her volunteer work tutoring underprivileged students in East Palo Alto.

In 1997, Powell Jobs founded College Track, a nonprofit organization that helps prepare low-income students for college through tutoring and mentoring.

College Track now operates centers in three states and the District of Columbia.

Powell Jobs founded Emerson Collective in 2004, a "social change organization" named after one of her favorite authors, Ralph Waldo Emerson.

The Emerson Collective makes grants and investments that focus on immigration, environment, journalism, gun violence reduction, race and equity, and education, according to its website.

It's a private company rather than a traditional nonprofit and has funded several startups. The Washington Post has described it as a "kind of Justice League of practical progressives."

Emerson Collective projects include AltSchool, a venture-capital-backed school that aimed to transform education by personalizing student instruction with technology.

AltSchool, however, made disappointing revenues and handed over control of its four schools to another start-up in 2019, according to Forbes.

In September 2015, Powell Jobs pledged $50 million via Emerson to fund a campaign called "XQ: The Super School Project."

That venture aims to transform education by revamping how high schools approach curriculum. Powell Jobs is the chairwoman of XQ's board of directors.

Powell Jobs has also served on the board of several other organizations, including Teach for America, Conservation International, and the New America Foundation.

In addition to her work with various causes, she's also invested in sports.

In October 2017, she bought a 20% stake in Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), the company that owns the NBA's Washington Wizards, the NHL's Washington Capitals, and Washington, D.C.'s Capital One Arena.

Powell Jobs and Emerson Collective partnered with writer Leon Wieseltier to form a new magazine called Idea.

She scrapped the venture when Wieseltier's former colleagues at The New Republic came forward with allegations of sexual misconduct against him in October 2017.

In July 2017, Emerson Collective acquired a majority stake in The Atlantic, which was forced to lay off 17% its staff during the pandemic.

Powell Jobs commended the magazine for its drive to "bring about equality for all people; to illuminate and defend the American idea; to celebrate American culture and literature; and to cover our marvelous, and sometimes messy, democratic experiment."

The Emerson Collective has waded into politics.

The Collective purchased television ads attacking former President Donald Trump's decision to rescind DACA in 2017.

Powell Jobs has also put millions of dollars into political campaigns.

She backed Kamala Harris's presidential campaign before the then-California senator, now Vice President, withdrew from the race in December 2019.

Powell Jobs also backed Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign in 2016.

She donated $2 million to Clinton's Super PAC through the Emerson Collective and hosted a $200,000-a-plate fundraiser that raised over $4 million, CNN reported.

She also supported Joe Biden's presidential campaign.

She donated more than $600,000 to efforts to elect Biden.

Powell Jobs is also active in her state's politics.

She was one of the Silicon Valley power players who showed support for California Gov. Gavin Newsom in March 2021 amid a Republican-led recall effort.

Powell Jobs is most passionate about education and immigration policy.

She met with then-President Donald Trump to discuss the topics in March 2017.

Powell Jobs also has considerable real estate.

In 2018, she bought a $16.5 million home in San Francisco that boasts six bedrooms, 6.5 bathrooms, and incredible views of the city.

Over the years, she's owned three other homes in the Bay Area, including a 5,768-square-foot house she shared with her late husband. She puts on elaborate Halloween shows in front of the houses each year that attract as many as 3,000 people. In 2019, the event was called "Fog Town" and featured a jack-o'-lantern tower and professional lighting, actors, and special effects.

 

She recently added to her real estate portfolio, snapping up a Malibu oceanfront estate for $94 million in June 2024.

It's the fourth property she's bought in Malibu in roughly 10 years, according to the Los Angeles Times.

When she and her family are looking to get away, they sail off on the yacht her late husband commissioned: the Venus.

The yacht cost at least $110 million to build and was commissioned by Jobs but completed after he died.

It's been spotted in places like Göcek, Turkey; Milos, Greece; and Brijuni, Croatia.

Besides sailing, some of Powell Jobs' other hobbies include art collecting and beekeeping.

Despite her luxurious lifestyle and widespread influence, Powell Jobs says her kids may not inherit much.

"I'm very aware of the fact that we're all just passing through here," Powell Jobs told The Washington Post in 2018. "I feel like I'm hitting my stride now … It is my goal to effectively deploy resources. If there's nothing left when I die, that's just fine."

In an interview with The New York Times in 2020, she shared similar sentiments.

"I'm not interested in legacy wealth buildings, and my children know that," Powell Jobs told The Times. "Steve wasn't interested in that. If I live long enough, it ends with me." 

• BuzzFeed is trying to sell "Hot Ones," its hit video show.
• A deal would help BuzzFeed pay off some — but not all — of its $119 million debt obligation.
• This comes as Vivek Ramaswamy continues to scoop up BuzzFeed shares. He now owns 9% of the company.

BuzzFeed news item #1: BuzzFeed has been trying to sell Hot Ones, its hit viral video show, but has yet to make a deal.

BuzzFeed news item #2: Last week Vivek Ramaswamy, the failed presidential candidate who has been amassing a stake in the digital publisher, met with BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti to explain his plans for the company.

Those two stories, which ran Monday morning in different publications, are most definitely related. If BuzzFeed is successful at selling First We Feast, the company that owns Hot Ones, then it will be in a better position to deal with Ramaswamy. And if it doesn't make a deal, then it's going to have a lot of problems, period.

The main connective tissue is that BuzzFeed has $119 million in debt hanging over its head, and in early December, anyone who owns that debt could force BuzzFeed to pay it back. And BuzzFeed doesn't have anywhere near that amount of money on hand.

So BuzzFeed is hoping to use the money it makes selling First We Feast/Hot Ones to pay down some of that debt. It's hard to believe someone won't end up buying it — it's a video brand that makes money and has tons of buzz (see this New York Times profile of Conan O'Brien, which spends a bit of time explaining what O'Brien's recent appearance on that show has done for his career).

But even if that sale does happen, it's very unlikely to generate enough cash for BuzzFeed to pay off its debt entirely. So the company will also likely need to find a new investor (difficult in today's climate) or renegotiate the debt (ditto), or both to get itself out of this self-inflicted jam.

Hovering over all of this is Ramaswamy, who has been steadily acquiring BuzzFeed shares and now owns 9% of the company.

As we've discussed before, Ramaswamy's equity stake doesn't really mean much, since BuzzFeed has a two-tier stock structure that gives CEO Peretti control of the company. Ramaswamy insists otherwise, noting the looming debt — but has yet to explain how that debt will give him leverage. (Generally in a bankruptcy, if things come to that, the people who control the debt have the power, not the people who have the equity.)

In the meantime, Ramaswamy used his Zoom call with Peretti last week to unveil the three directors he wants installed on BuzzFeed's board. All of them come from the conservative/Joe Rogan media spectrum: Chris Balfe, a media operator best known for his work with Glenn Beck, podcaster Patrick Bet-David, and Clay Travis, the media personality who founded OutKick Sports and sold it to Fox in 2021.

Here's BuzzFeed's on-the-record response, which you can interpret as a "thanks but no thanks": "As a shareholder of 8% with a vote of less than 3% we appreciate Vivek Ramaswamy's recommendations, and they will be sent to governance as per the formal process that he is no doubt aware of."

Next up on the formal calendar: Ramaswamy has called on BuzzFeed to add his slate of directors to the board by July 15. But the moves BuzzFeed is making behind the scenes — trying to find tens of millions of dollars — are the crucial ones for the company's future.

• In 2021, I explored the ruins of a Miami zoo that was abandoned after hurricanes ravaged the area.
• Nature has taken over Crandon Park Zoo since then. Crocodiles and other wildlife thrive there now.
• Some eerie abandoned cage structures from the zoo remain, and I got a look inside. 

On a corner of a South Florida beach, animals were once confined at the Crandon Park Zoo, according to the Miami Herald. The zoo was established in 1947, according to CBS Miami, and remained open until 1980, when animals were moved to a larger area after hurricanes drowned some of them.

In 1991, the zoo ruins reopened as gardens with the goal "not to destroy everything," Kevin Asher, a planner for the county, told the Miami Herald.

I visited the park in October 2021 to see what remained of the abandoned zoo, and I found a natural wildlife sanctuary.

The first thing I noticed at the abandoned zoo was a sign on the entrance warning visitors that crocodiles live there.

According to Atlas Obscura, the ruins are also home to wild alligators, iguanas, and peacocks.

The walkways through the park made me feel as if I were in a zoo — one where the animals were free.

Parts of the park were paved while other parts felt like the wild. Some of the lands were once a coconut plantation, according to the Miami Herald.

In one shaded area, I spotted what appeared to be an abandoned animal cage embedded in the rocks.

I thought it looked like it could have been a unique, immersive attraction and wondered what animals may have lived there decades ago. 

Some of the abandoned structures were fenced off and covered in graffiti.

I peered over high, chain-linked fences and spotted remnants of vandalized structures.

But one large structure remained accessible.

It appeared to once house multiple cages.

Around the back of it, I noticed caged doors that looked as if they were used to feed the animals inside.

I was able to see inside a few of the animals' quarters, which were now empty aside from some leaves, branches, and overgrown vines. The doors were still locked.

The view inside the structures was somewhat haunting and made me think about the animals that might have gotten stuck inside as hurricane waters filled their enclosures.

I tried to imagine what kind of animals could live in these spaces. Based on their size, maybe monkeys, I thought.

I left the park thinking that it was probably a better home for the wildlife that took it over.

After my visit, the zoo celebrated its 75-year anniversary of serving the community in November 2022, CBS Miami reported.

• Casual restaurants like Applebee's and Chili's are winning customers, some from fast-food joints.
• Diners are finding that a sit-down meal at the chains doesn't cost much more than a McDonald's.
• The latest round of discounts at both kinds of restaurants is making it easier to find a cheap meal.

McDonald's will start offering a $5 meal on Tuesday. Burger King is offering a similar deal for the same price, and other fast-food chains are peddling promotions, too, in an attempt to lure back inflation-weary diners.

But fast-casual restaurants, or those that offer sit-down service but still focus on value, have been offering similar deals over the last few months — some big enough to make taking a seat in a restaurant for dinner as cheap as swinging by the nearest drive-thru.

This spring, for instance, Chili's advertised its "3 for Me" offer, which included an appetizer, burger, fries, and a drink for $10.99 in some areas. That's less than the price of full meals on the regular menu at McDonald's and Burger King.

The deals show that fast food isn't cheap anymore. As a result, some customers are looking for alternatives when they eat out — and casual chains like Chili's and Applebee's are capitalizing on the situation.

Some of the more budget-friendly sit-down restaurant chains have adopted a strategy of "very deep discounting" lately, Ricardo Cardenas, the CEO of Darden Restaurants, the company that owns chains including Olive Garden and Yard House, said on an earnings call on Thursday.

While Darden's restaurants didn't benefit from the tactic, Cardenas said it's making some of the company's rivals more competitive against fast-food players.

Food prices, both at restaurants and the grocery store, have risen over the last few years, straining consumers' budgets. Fast-food price hikes have been driven by higher ingredient costs as well as restaurant owners protecting their profit margins as labor costs rise.

The deal wars are poised to last through at least this year, John Peyton, CEO of Dine Brands, which owns chains including Applebee's and IHOP, said in late February during an earnings call.

Peyton confirmed that the company is offering more limited-time offers, or LTOs, this year to get customers ordering.

"We expect that the consumer will remain cautious in 2024, and we're planning for it with a compelling calendar of LTOs and value-driven promotions across our brands," Peyton said.

Do you work for Chili's, Applebee's, Olive Garden, or another major restaurant chain and have a story idea to share? Reach out to this reporter at abitter@businessinsider.com

• Sam's Club has grown its Gen Z membership by 68% in the past two years, CEO Chris Nicholas said.
• While the main attraction is low prices, the real difference for the club is its tech, he said.
• That could spell trouble for Costco, which lags far behind when it comes to digital innovation.

Long a mainstay for boomers and Gen X shoppers, warehouse clubs increasingly have a new set of fans: Gen Z.

"That generation believes it's cool to save money and we agree with them," Sam's Club CEO Chris Nicholas told CNBC last week.

Nicholas said the Walmart-owned company has grown its Gen Z membership by 68% in the past two years as younger shoppers discover the value of buying in bulk (and earn enough money to do so).

But while several warehouse competitors like Costco and BJ's also offer low prices, the real difference for Sam's Club is its tech, the CEO said.

In particular, Nicholas highlighted that a third of shoppers use the club's scan-and-go app and the high customer satisfaction ratings from the newfangled AI-powered gateways, which let them just roll out of the store without a person checking their receipt.

"That's not something typical of the club model, but it's something that we offer and it's something that's really resonating with our members," Nicholas told Jefferies analyst Corey Tarlow last week.

It will be quite a while before millennial and Gen Z shoppers supplant older generations when it comes to spending power, but Sam's Club's success with younger members could spell trouble for Costco.

The current king of wholesale famously lags behind Sam's Club when it comes to tech, in part because its unmatched physical retail operation has made digital innovation somewhat superfluous.

But times and trends change, and shoppers seem to be looking for something more than rock-bottom pricing alone.

"We want great items at great value, and we want to give them convenience," he added. "That's kind of like heresy in the club model, but we can do it."

Indeed, part of Costco's success with growing sales is a function of making it mildly inconvenient to shop there — putting discounted flatscreen TVs by the front entrance and the toilet paper and bottled water in the farthest back corner of the building — so that you end up buying a lot more than you planned for.

Costco's e-commerce operation is a whole other story, but suffice it to say that it's not the seamlessly integrated experience that Sam's Club is offering.

Nicholas said half of Sam's Club members use the company's digital channels, and that number is growing as customer satisfaction scores continue to climb: "It drives engagement, it drives renewal rates, it drives people to tell their friends, 'You've gotta come to Sam's Club and you've gotta sign up for a membership.'"

• The US Army tested its Precision Strike Missile against a moving sea target in the Pacific recently.
• The next-generation missile will soon replace ATACMS, as well as fill other capability gaps.
• This month's test is a significant step in the PrSM program's progress, the Army said.

The US Army tested its new strike missile against a moving sea target in the Pacific earlier this month.

The recent strike marked a "significant milestone" in the development of the new Precision Strike Missile, the Army said. The PrSM, a next-generation long-range precision strike weapon, will eventually replace the older MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, or ATACMS.

The US Army announced the exercise last Friday, saying soldiers conducted it in Palau on June 16. The exercise involved the US Army's prototype Autonomous Multi-Domain Launcher and two Precision Strike Missiles, which were "able to engage a moving maritime target in conjunction with other Joint assets."

The test occurred during a sinking exercise, or SINKEX, as part of Valiant Shield 2024. The joint force sunk the decommissioned hulk of the ex-USS Cleveland, an Austin-class amphibious transport dock. The Army, however, did not specify the target in its release.

The use of the PrSM in this exercise is the first known use of the missile against a moving sea target, as well as the first employment of the Autonomous Multi-Domain Launcher and the new missiles outside of the US.

The PrSM, developed by Lockheed Martin, has been in the works for years and is intended to provide the Army extended long-range support and deep-strike capabilities. Lockheed says the missile can be used to strike targets between roughly 40 miles away and over 300 miles away, giving it a far greater reach than the older ATACMS.

The Army has said that the new PrSMs will "significantly" extend the "range and lethality" of the US military's long-range precision munitions.

The ballistic missile is capable of performing in all weather conditions, and it is expected to replace both the unitary and cluster variants of the ATACMS. Additionally, because the PrSM is smaller, a launch pod can carry two missiles instead of one.

Future variants of the PrSM "will concentrate on increasing the range and engagement of time-sensitive, moving, hardened, and fleeting targets," according to a Pentagon test and evaluation office document on the program.

Previous tests of the PrSM program have been promising. Back in November 2023, the Army successfully fired a baseline variant of the missile, called Increment 1, from a M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) in a successful demonstration of target engagement.

Following that demonstration test, the Army received its initial delivery of the missiles in December 2023.

Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology Doug Bush said in a statement at the time that "the rapid development and delivery of this capability is a prime example of the Army's aggressive use of new acquisition authorities from Congress that allow us to move at much greater speed to get improved equipment to soldiers."

Then, in January 2024, the Army said it flight tested the seeker that'll allow the PrSM to strike warships and moving targets.

In an early January reflection statement outlining its 2023 accomplishments, the Army said that it "successfully" flight tested Land-Based Anti-Ship Missile (LBASM) multi-mode seeker technology that can be integrated into the PrSM." The Increment II PrSM is intended to provide anti-ship options.

Given recent events involving the Houthis and concerns about great power competition in the Indo-Pacific region, anti-ship capabilities have become especially important. China in particular has built up a variety of anti-ship ballistic and cruise missiles. And the US is increasingly realized it needs to develop its own arsenal of anti-ship capabilities.