Author: openjargon

• Biden doesn't want swing voters to forget Donald Trump is a convicted felon.
• The Biden campaign is spending $50 million on a media blitz that includes a biting attack ad on Trump. 
• The ad highlights Trump's conviction while painting Biden as "fighting for your family."

Joe Biden isn't wasting any time using Donald Trump's felony conviction to his advantage — and he's spending big bucks to do it.

The Biden campaign announced on Monday that it's shelling out $50 million for an advertising blitz against Trump, including a TV ad that will begin running in all battleground states.

And all that money is just for the remainder of June alone — a crucial few weeks ahead of the first presidential debate on June 27.

The 30-second "Character Matters" TV ad zeroes in on Trump's legal troubles: his 34 felony convictions and losses in court that found he was liable for sexual assault and committed financial fraud.

In contrast, the ad says, Joe Biden has been at work "lowering healthcare costs and making big corporations pay their fair share."

"This election is between a convicted criminal who's only out for himself, and a president who's fighting for your family," the ad concludes.

"Trump approaches the first debate as a convicted felon who continues to prove that he will do anything and harm anyone if it means more power and vengeance for Donald Trump," the campaign's Communications Director, Michael Tyler, said in a statement.

"That's why he was convicted, that's why he encouraged a violent mob to storm the Capitol on January 6, and it's why his entire campaign is an exercise in revenge and retribution; because that man is blind to the people a president should be serving and will do absolutely anything for his own personal gain and for his own power," Tyler continued.

Trump and his campaign have painted his legal woes as part of political persecution, alleging without evidence that Biden himself has orchestrated a conspiracy against his rival.

Biden is in charge of the federal government; Trump's legal losses have all occurred in state-run courts.

The Biden campaign's media blitz also includes a seven-figure investment targeting Black, Hispanic, and Asian American voters.

That includes separate ads highlighting the importance of the Affordable Care Act on Asian American and Hawaiian Pacific Islander voters, emphasizing Biden's fight against corporate greed to Spanish speakers, and underscoring the positive impact Biden has had on Black communities, the campaign said in its statement.

The campaign is seeking to reverse recent polling that shows Trump with a narrow but durable lead nationally and in key swing states. Even states that have trended reliably Democratic like Virginia are showing a virtual tie, according to recent polling.

Meanwhile, Biden's approval rating has fallen to record lows as progressive young voters hammer his support for Israel's war in Gaza.

• With the olympics this summer, Paris is bound to be a zoo, but luckily there's always Montreal.
• I live in the European-feeling Canadian town, and I love the French culture around every corner.
• If you're looking for charm, history, and food, Montreal is the perfect summer destination.

Paris may be on your travel bucket list, but it's bound to be packed with tourists as the 2024 Summer Olympics unfold in the City of Lights in July.

Fortunately, there's another option if you don't want to spend your whole trip waiting in long lines and paying surge prices on the metro.

Montreal — the second-largest city in Canada — features much of the European charm you'll find in Paris from its long history of French influence.

The city comes alive in the summertime after suffering through freezing-cold winters. Its residents, suddenly full of "joie de vivre," take full advantage of the plentiful parks, pedestrian-only streets, festivals, and patios.

It's also the city I'm lucky to call home, so here are eight reasons you should travel to Montreal instead of Paris this summer.

If you’re looking for a historic, European feel, you’ll find it in Old Montreal.

Lined with cobblestone streets and historic brick architecture, the Old Montreal section of the city feels like you're walking through 18th-century Paris.

Quebec, the province Montreal is located in, is a unique corner of Canada where the majority of locals speak French or some version of what we call Franglais (a combination of French and English). Because of this, most of the street signs and banners in Old Montreal are in French.

It's certainly one of the most touristy parts of the city — but for good reason. The area is home to some of the best restaurants, art galleries, shops, cafés, and bars.

The historic district also runs along the St. Laurence River.

Strolling along the beautiful boardwalk on the St. Laurence River, you'll find a marina filled with boats, a selection of food trucks, the longest urban zipline in Canada, and a Ferris wheel.

There's also the Montreal Science Centre, a science museum sure to delight all ages.

Forget Notre-Dame in Paris — Montreal has its own.

Just like Paris, we have plenty of historic cathedrals to admire, including a particularly spectacular one named Notre-Dame Basilica of Montreal.

Although undoubtedly more famous, the Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris is still under construction after a fire in 2019, so if you went to Europe, you wouldn't be able to go inside it anyway.

If museums are what you’re after, Montreal also has plenty of those.

Whether you're interested in art, history, archeology, or science, Montreal has a host of acclaimed museums that can satisfy your thirst for knowledge.

Some of its best include the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, the Biodome, and the Pointe-à-Callière Museum.

The latter is a history museum in Old Montreal that features many exhibitions about the people who founded the city in 1642.

Montreal can easily satisfy your craving for a croissant or a baguette.

One of the best parts of visiting Paris is eating wonderful French pastries and treats, like croissants and fresh baguettes.

Luckily, my city is filled to the brim with adorable, independent cafés that claim to sell the best baked goods in the city.

If you visit, you'll find that choosing the best isn't an easy task because many of them really are that good.

You’ll find plenty of foodies dining al fresco.

As soon as the weather is remotely tolerable, Montrealers emerge outdoors, eager to soak up the sun.

Like Paris' famous outdoor cafés, our patios (called terrasses) appear on the streets and sidewalks almost overnight.

Residents eagerly fill them, drinking wine or beer and eating foods inspired by cuisines all over the world.

Like Paris, Montreal is also one of the world’s fashion capitals.

The city is known for its particularly well-dressed dwellers, with many residents sporting unique looks that are artistic, vintage, and high-fashion.

That's partly thanks to the many boutiques scattered throughout Montreal. Whether you're looking for something secondhand or locally made, you're sure to find it.

There's no shortage of greenspaces and public seating options.

As many North American cities adopt "hostile architecture" that discourages gathering in public spaces, Montreal has parks filled with benches for sitting and reading. There are also plenty of grassy, shaded areas for Parisian-style picnics.

And we can't forget Mount Royal — the mountain for which the city is named. Located just west of downtown, the massive mountain is home to a large park, historic monuments, a lake, a lookout with a stunning view of the city skyline, and walking trails.

On Sundays, locals and visitors gather on the eastern slope for Tam-Tams, a weekly summer festival where people play hand drums.

• My family of four lives in Queens, NY, where day camps are expensive. 
• I'm an educator, so get most of the summer off and plan activities for my kids. 
• We are moving with family to Illinois so my kids can attend summer camp there. 

I've always wanted my kids to experience the joy of summer camp — hiking, singing, and weaving colorful friendship bracelets. But even day camp is exorbitant in New York, where I live. Thankfully, I'm an educator who doesn't work full-time during the summer, so we usually pursue an economical option, the DIY "Mama Camp."

My daughters — now 11 and 5 — make our own schedules and go to museums, libraries, and parks, sprinkler-hopping across the neighborhood. "Let's make our own camp T-shirts, just for the three of us!" my daughter once suggested after observing that kids in "real" summer camp all wear matching shirts.

My kids never complained about Mama Camp — but I still wanted them to see what camp was like with other kids. Last summer, I took on some extra freelance work and registered my kids for part-time and drop-in camps near our home in Queens. The camps were mostly indoors, with excursions to playgrounds — and the same sprinklers they'd splashed in with me — and an occasional field trip that cost $25 extra per day. In total, my kids attended 11 days of camp over the 70 days of the summer. They didn't enjoy it much, and the bill came out to over $2,000.

I'm moving my family to Illinois for the summer

"So what should I do this year?" I asked my sister, who lives in a small town in rural Illinois, 90 minutes from Chicago, with her husband and 7-year-old daughter. "You have all the great options."

I didn't want to take my chances on winning a place in a free public school camp through a lottery system, especially since it would mean taking a spot away from a working parent with a full-time schedule with more urgent childcare needs than mine.

"What's your kiddo doing this year?" I asked my sister.

My niece was sampling a wide variety of Parks Department camps — from filmmaking to STEAM to gymnastics to nature exploration, trying something new each week. In New York, such special-interest camps carry the price tag of a semester of college and require an hour of subway commuting for those of us who don't live in midtown Manhattan. But in Illinois, a five to minute drive could take you to a butterfly farm program, a graphic novel workshop, a cabaret camp — you name it.

For half-day programs in my sister's town, the rates are $100 a week, and non-residents pay $130. Anyone living outside town, whether 10 minutes away or halfway across the country, pays the slightly elevated fee. For a full-day program, the price increases to about $200 (residents) or $230 (nonresidents) a week.

I had to keep asking my sister to repeat the prices. "Are you sure it isn't $130 per day?"

"Per week."

There's nothing in New York available for that amount of money. I have paid $60 per hour for my kids to make slime or throw quarters into arcade machines, just to escape our tiny apartment on a rainy afternoon. $130 does not get you anywhere in New York.

"Maybe we should move in with you so we could afford camp!" I joked.

My sister was serious. "Why not? We have space for you to move in!"

Even with the cost of airfare, we are saving money

Two weeks should be enough of an experiment with "real" camp. For two weeks, I'll have some structure to my kids' days so I can catch up on rest (after a long school year), work 10 hours per week as an online graduate school instructor, and read and write for pleasure. If had the financial need to work full-time remotely all summer, moving in with my sister for two full months might be a smart option. I'm surprised I don't hear about more families combining households to juggle childcare, a trend I heard about during the pandemic.

My sister kindly walked me through the process of applying to her camp for two weeks as a non-resident. Her expertise was valuable since the camp brochure was over 30 pages long, and I depended on her insider knowledge of the area and the pros and cons of each program.

Even with the cost of airfare, we will save money. I would have wanted to visit my sister anyway, but now I'm combining the family trip with camp. This may be the last chance for my older daughter to try camp; she's almost 12. She's excited about honing her artistic skills in a comic book class. My younger daughter is doing camp at the butterfly farm, which is perfect since she's our social butterfly. This year, "Mama Camp" will allow some time for Mama to play too.

Warning: Spoilers ahead for season two, episode one of "House of the Dragon."

One of the "House of the Dragon" season two premiere's most emotionally cutting moments could have been even more heart-wrenching, according to director Alan Taylor.

Season two picks up shortly after the season one finale of the show, in which Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D'Arcy) sends her sons Jacaerys (Harry Collett) and Lucerys (Elliot Grihault) to secure the support of houses Stark, Arryn, and Baratheon. Lucerys, however, runs into his uncle Aemond Targaryen (Ewan Mitchell) at Storm's End, House Baratheon's seat. During a scuffle in the skies between Vhagar, Aemond's dragon, and Arrax, Lucerys' dragon, Vhagar takes a bite of Arrax and Lucerys and sends their remains tumbling to the sea below.

In the season two premiere, Rhaenyra sets off to find concrete proof of her son's death. She and her dragon Syrax find Arrax's remains on a beach, and she weeps.

Taylor told Business Insider on the red carpet at the season two premiere in New York City that despite the high emotions on screen, he actually had to pull back a bit.

"There are things on the cutting room floor that I wish were still in there," Taylor said. "Her immediate reaction to realizing what's happened to her son was so visceral, and I think if anything, it got tamed down a bit."

Taylor is a "Game of Thrones" veteran, and directed episodes across multiple seasons of the show. But this is the first time he's directed an episode of "House of the Dragon" — and, in turn, his first time working with D'Arcy and the rest of the cast. The experience was striking.

"I knew they were good at what they did before I joined the show, and then the first time I went into a close-up on them, it just blew my mind," Taylor told BI. "I realized if you're ever in trouble, just come in close."

"House of the Dragon" season two airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and is streaming on Max.

• I tracked all the ads I saw in a day and counted over 130.
• Some ad settings can be adjusted, but control over frequency remains limited across many platforms.
• I didn't mind most ads because they either catered to my interests or were easy to tune out.

Ads have become so embedded in everyday activities and media consumption that you may not even notice how often you run into them.

When my editor asked me to track all the ads I saw in a day, I wasn't sure how it would go. Prior to this experiment, I hadn't paid close attention to how often an ad or sponsored content floated before my eyes.

While the words "sponsored" may show up on a video or image you scroll past on social media, the font is often small and if the content is successfully targeting you, you may not even notice.

I missed a few ads during this process, especially on sites where I was focused on getting the answer I was searching for. But based on what I did catch, I spotted over 130 ads in a single day.

Let's dive in.

Your settings can (sometimes) make a difference

The type of ads you receive may be adjustable in your settings. But for most platforms, you won't be able to control how many you see.

To personalize Google ads, for example, you can go to "My Ad Center" and opt to turn personalized ads on or off in the top-right corner. If you turn them on, Google will use the information it collects about you to give you more personalized ads. That means your activity on Google sites and apps will be saved in your Google Account and information from your account, like your age, will also be used.

I decided to keep personalized ads off for Google because that's how I usually have it. This resulted in me sometimes missing ads on my screen. I'm so used to seeing random photos and brand names in the corners and sides of my screen that my eyes glazed over some of them. It drew a sharp contrast to my experience with social media ads, which are fully personalized to my activity on and off-site and often pull my attention.

When it comes to social media, you don't have as much of a choice — although some do let you pay to remove or decrease ads. Facebook now offers a paid version in the EU for people who prefer an ad-free experience, YouTube lets you pay for Premium to remove them, and Elon Musk's X says paying for X Premium+ means no ads in your For You or Following feeds.

But TikTok, for example, says on its website that "you will always see ads based on what you do on TikTok." But you can provide feedback on an ad if you're not interested in it. Other social media sites have similar ad policies.

With TikTok, Instagram, and most apps that you download on your phone, you can turn off ad-tracking across companies and websites in your privacy settings.

My social media feeds were filled with ads

I spent about two and a half hours on Instagram on the day of this experiment — and I saw about 75 ads.

I probably never went through more than four posts at a time without being interrupted by an ad. But most of the ads were similar to content I regularly engage with in my explore feed or online.

I find ads with multiple products and links particularly effective because it's easy to engage with them and find out pricing or other details. I also loved seeing sponsored food content because it gave me ideas of where to go out to eat.

None of the ads resulted in me purchasing any items, but if I continue to see interesting ads in my price range for weeks at a time, it may eventually influence my buying patterns.

For TikTok, the ads were even less noticeable because the app is so casual. For example, I would start watching a woman wipe down her counters and then see Mr. Clean at the end of the video before noticing the "sponsored" label at the bottom. I also found some of the TikTok ads interesting or helpful.

I didn't engage at all with internet ads

I tracked about 40 ads online, but since they weren't personalized to my interests I sometimes didn't notice them. I saw a range of ads from USPS to T-Mobile, to random shows on streaming services that I had no interest in.

Sometimes, they were images, and other times, they were full videos. I also saw a couple of ads on YouTube videos but usually skipped after a few seconds, so I didn't fully engage with those either.

Miscellaneous ads

I use the language-learning app Duolingo every day and those are the only ads I truly dread. The ads are animated with sound and I sometimes put my phone down and walk away because of how painful it feels to watch.

I also saw about 10 ads in real life on the subway on my way to and from work. By the end of the day, I noticed these less, but in general, they tend to stick out more than non-targeted ads on the internet.

I also receive several push notifications and ads over text every day. I counted about seven on the day of this experiment, including a push notification from Urban Outfitters about a flash sale, a text from CorePower Yoga for discounted class packs, and a push notification from Amazon about trending sunscreen.

Most of the ads don't bother me

My biggest takeaway from this experiment was that I really didn't mind the ads. In fact, sometimes I liked them.

I love online shopping and browsing — and I like that apps like Instagram curate content to my interests. I've discovered new brands on Instagram that I ended up ordering from because of ads. Even if it doesn't lead to a purchase, I enjoy seeing items that fall in my line of interest and inspire me to look at similar products.

The push notifications and the texts were probably the most annoying of all the ads I received, and I find myself deleting them on a daily basis.

I also don't follow too many influencers, but I immediately scrolled past content if I saw it labeled with "creator earns commission" or if it included a discount code in the caption because I'm not interested in paid content from someone I follow for enjoyment.

As far as Duolingo's ads go, yes, I find them annoying — but I also wouldn't pay $12.99 per month to get rid of them.

It's clear that we're seeing more and more ads on our phones and TV screens — Netflix and Amazon recently introduced ads to their streaming services, although both offer ad-free options for an extra cost.

Luckily, I'm on my roommate's plan for Netflix, and my family has an Amazon and Spotify subscription, so I don't have to deal with these. I sometimes watch Hulu shows and the ads are annoying, but I usually walk away if an ad comes on.

For me, watching or listening to an ad is the most frustrating, and I would definitely be bothered if I was constantly interrupted by them. When I was growing up, I found radio commercials unbearable, and I might have paid for an ad-free option if I still had to go through those several-minute interruptions.

But the honest answer is I'm used to ads by now, and even find some genuinely interesting. We're living in an advertising world — and if I have to deal with sponsored content for clothing brands I like while scrolling on social media — then so be it.

• More recent college graduates are struggling to find jobs, and it could set them back for years. 
• The unemployment of recent graduates has been higher than the overall unemployment rate since 2021.
• Some graduates could eventually question whether their college degrees were worth it. 

When Lohanny Santos couldn't find a job, she started handing out resumes in person.

"This is not what I expected," the Gen Zer, who has a degree in communication and media studies, said in a January TikTok video.

Santos isn't alone. New college graduates are having a harder time finding work, and as a result, some of them could see their careers and earnings take a hit for years.

Every month since January 2021, the unemployment rate of "recent college graduates" between the ages of 22 and 27 has been higher than the overall US unemployment rate, according to New York Fed data. Meaning that recent college graduates have been more likely to be unemployed than the broader population.

This isn't normal. Between 1990 and 2013, the recent grad jobless rate was never higher than the overall unemployment rate.

Last November, the recent graduate unemployment rate was 5% compared to the 3.7% overall rate — the most the recent grad rate has exceeded the overall rate in the over three decades of NY Fed data. Excluding 2020 and 2021 — when the pandemic took a toll on the job market — the 5% jobless rate for recent graduates was the highest since March 2015. As of the most recent March data, the jobless rate for recent grads was 4.7%, compared to the 3.7% rate for all workers.

Internships aren't leading to job offers, start dates are being pushed back as much as a year, and applicants are competing for a limited number of jobs. Hiring cutbacks in popular industries like tech, finance, and consulting are working against new graduates. For instance, Meta — among the top employers for Rice University's graduates in 2022 — didn't hire any graduates last year, Bloomberg reported.

However, the hiring slowdown is bigger than these three industries. As of March, hiring on LinkedIn was down compared to the prior year in each of the 20 industries measured, including education, construction, and healthcare. A National Association of Colleges and Employers survey of 226 employers across several industries conducted this past spring found that employers collectively planned to hire nearly 6% fewer new college graduates than they did the previous year.

This bumpy start to new grads' careers could have a lasting impact on their earnings.

For one, some of them could end up taking jobs in lower-paying fields outside their area of study. Per the NY Fed, about 41% of recent graduates were "underemployed" as of March — meaning they had jobs that typically don't require a college degree. What's more, a report published in February by the data research firms Burning Glass Institute and the Strada Education Foundation found that nearly three-quarters of people who don't land college-level jobs in their first year after graduating end up stuck in a job they're overqualified for 10 years later.

Additionally, researchers have found that young people who graduate into challenging job markets can see their earnings negatively impacted for at least a decade — the struggles of millennials who started their careers during the Great Recession have been well documented. While Gen Zers aren't graduating during a recession, some of them could face similar hurdles to the generation before them.

The slowing job market is hitting recent graduates the hardest

While layoffs remain low, and the US continues to add hundreds of thousands of jobs each month, the labor market isn't quite as hot as it was a few years ago. Job openings have fallen from the record levels reached in 2022, businesses are hiring less, and as a result, workers aren't switching jobs at the same rate they did during the Great Resignation.

"It's the new normal where employers are slower to fire, slower to hire, and workers are slower to switch jobs," Julia Pollak, the chief economist for ZipRecruiter, previously told Business Insider.

This new normal has worked out OK for some Americans, but it's been particularly tough on new college graduates.

In an economy where hiring and job-switching are slowing, a lot of workers are effectively stuck in place. The young workers who might have switched jobs — and effectively created a new entry-level job opening for someone else — have had a harder time doing so. At the same time, the young workers who might have gotten a promotion — and then been replaced by a new entry-level hire — aren't getting those promotions at the rate they did a year or two ago.

If you already have a job, you can keep collecting paychecks and cross your fingers that layoffs don't pick up. But if you don't, you're in a tougher spot.

The current labor market is leaving some recent grads with few paths into the workforce, and the jobs that are out there have become more competitive. It's even tougher if you want a remote role.

Americans seem to sense that it's not the best time to job hunt. A monthly New York Fed survey asks respondents to estimate the chance that, if they lost their job today, they'd be able to find a new job they would accept in the next three months. As of the recently released May data, the average probability was about 52%. While this was higher than the April and March figures, it was lower than any month between January 2015 and March 2020 — when the pandemic caused job-finding expectations to temporarily plummet.

However, in reality, it's not taking most unemployed Americans considerably longer to find work than it did a year or two ago. It's the newest members of the labor force — many of them recent college grads — who are having a harder time.

A Goldman Sachs report published in May found that "experienced" US workers who became unemployed over the past year have continued to find new jobs "at or above pre-pandemic rates." However, "new entrants" to the labor market who've entered unemployment have found jobs at considerably lower rates than they did two years ago and before the pandemic.

"The labor market remains strong overall, though with some soft spots, most notably the low hiring rate, whose impact falls most heavily on new entrants to the workforce," Goldman Sachs economist Elise Peng wrote in the report.

Job search struggles could lead some graduates to question the value of their degree

To be sure, many of the new college graduates who are struggling to find work will likely eventually find employment. When including college graduates of all ages, this group has a lower unemployment rate than the average worker, and the average college graduate still earns considerably more than workers without a degree.

While the tough job market could temporarily hurt some young graduates' earnings, there's reason to be optimistic that their finances could eventually recover. That's because some of the millennials who were impacted by the Great Recession early in their careers are now faring much better financially.

A Federal Reserve paper published in January found that, as of 2022, the inflation-adjusted household income of US millennials between the ages of 36 and 40 was 18% higher than that of the previous generation at the same age. Between the end of 2019 and 2023, millennials' wealth doubled, due in part to rising home values and stock prices.

In the years ahead, the more important question might not be whether college graduates can find jobs — but whether their college degrees are worth it. High college tuition costs have forced many students to take on student debt that can follow them for decades and stall their savings efforts. Additionally, more companies have become open to hiring candidates who don't have a college degree.

St. Louis Fed research published in 2019 found that the boost a college degree provides to one's income and wealth has declined over the past several decades.

Most new graduates may be quite a ways away from saying they regret going to college. But if the job market continues to prove frustrating, some of them may begin to wonder.

Are you a recent college graduate who's struggling to find a job? Are you willing to share your story? If so, contact this reporter at jzinkula@businessinsider.com.

• Low fertility rates are challenging military recruitment in countries like South Korea, Japan, and China.
• According to East Asia experts, it's a "big worry" because the demographic situation won't improve.
• In addition to widening their recruitment pools, countries are looking to AI as a solution.

East Asia has some of the world's lowest fertility rates, forcing countries in the region to think hard about how to maintain their military strength.

This is particularly concerning given the rise in tensions between North and South Korea, and between China and the US.

China, Japan, and South Korea have fertility rates below the global replacement rate — resulting in declining populations.

South Korea's fertility rate was 0.72 in 2023, the lowest in the world, compared to the global average of 2.2, according to The Lancet.

On its current trajectory, South Korea's population of 51 million is on track to halve by 2100.

South Korea has military conscription of at least 18 months, but Ramon Pacheco Pardo, KF-VUB Korea Chair at the Brussels School of Governance, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, told Business Insider that the draft "helps, but is not the solution."

The demographic issue is causing significant concern in military circles, he said, particularly given the constant threat from North Korea.

"I think it's a big worry, and I think it will continue to be a big worry because the demographic situation is not going to change dramatically anytime soon," he said.

Pardo said that the South Korean military is trying various strategies to boost enlistment.

These include increasing pay to make it a more viable career option, as well as increasing the number of female volunteer recruits, which is culturally unprecedented.

"There is no military service for women," he said, adding: "Some people say Korea should go down the path of Israel, I don't see this happening anytime soon."

Another strategy, according to Pardo, is utilizing technology.

South Korea is "learning quite a bit from the way Ukraine defends itself against Russia, which includes automation technologies that, in the past, they may have been skeptical about," he said.

The decline in military personnel might also be strengthening the argument for having nuclear weapons, he suggested, as a deterrent against North Korea and possibly even China.

"We need to go nuclear, among other things, because we don't have enough people to, simply put, defend the country," he said of the possible line of thinking.

Japan also has a rapidly declining fertility rate, which sank to a new low of 1.2 in 2023.

Without mandatory military conscription, Japan needs to incentivize people to join its Self-Defense Forces.

Chris Hughes, a University of Warwick professor specializing in Japanese defense policy, said that Japan's aging population is already limiting its recruitment pool.

In 2022, less than 4,000 people joined its Self-Defense Forces, missing the target by more than half, according to the Japan Times.

Hughes said that, like South Korea, Japan has been left thinking about how automation and AI can mitigate the worst effects of a shortage of an army-age population.

"They are automating quite a lot of weapon systems, like destroyers," he said. "They've been able to design more automation in them to reduce the number of crew they need."

Hughes added that AI could be used to reduce the number of people needed to run a weapon system, a command and control system, or to gather information.

"Japan is never going to have a massive population," he said. "It can't compete with China. So, therefore, it's got to compete in terms of having a very sophisticated, technically able military."

Despite these technological advancements, Japan is also making concessions to widen its recruitment pool, Hughes said.

Japan's military has relaxed long-held rules by allowing officers to have longer hair, lifted a ban on recruits having tattoos, and raised the maximum age for new recruits to 32.

China's People's Liberation Army, short on recruits, has also raised its enlistment age from 24 to 26, according to Nikkei Asia.

The news agency said that recruitment efforts in China are now being bolstered through big-budget war movies.

Despite these challenges, China's large population still allows it to maintain the world's largest standing army, with over two million active personnel.

In the meantime, many countries are continuing to try to slow the tides of demographic decline, which is impacting far more than just their military strength.

• Kate Middleton attended the King's Parade, marking her first engagement since her cancer diagnosis.
• In a statement shared to Instagram, Kate said she hopes to attend more events over the summer.
• Her return follows a challenging period for the monarchy following King Charles' cancer diagnosis.

Kate Middleton attended King Charles' birthday parade this weekend — her first royal engagement since she announced her cancer diagnosis in March.

In a statement shared to Instagram on Friday, Kate said her cancer treatment was ongoing and likely to last "for a few more months," though she hoped to join more engagements over the summer.

"I'm looking forward to attending The King's Birthday Parade this weekend with my family and hope to join a few public engagements over the summer, but equally knowing I am not out of the woods yet," Kate said.

The princess' tentative return to royal duties comes after a difficult period for the royal family, from the "Katespiracy" theories to the "slimmed down" monarchy seemingly threatening the family's future.

Kate's return signals a 'show of unity'

Kate's return was every bit as glamorous as you might expect.

The royal, wearing a white and black Jenny Packham dress and matching fascinator, traveled in a carriage before greeting the crowds from the palace balcony with Prince William, King Charles, Queen Camilla, and the children.

Richard Fitzwilliams, a royal commentator, told Business Insider that Kate's appearance was "a timely and extremely beneficial show of unity for the monarchy after a very difficult few months."

Photos from the event show Kate standing next to her father-in-law, King Charles, who spoke about his experience with cancer earlier this year. Fitzwilliams said the pair's decision to stand together was likely intentional as a "courageous and mutually supportive gesture."

"The images will go worldwide, and will be extremely positive and be beneficial for the institution," he said. "The late Queen used to say 'I must be seen to be believed,' and it was most important that we saw Catherine on this occasion."

Kate's return comes after a period of uncertainty over the monarchy's future. Royal commentators previously told BI that cracks in the king's "slimmed down" monarchy were on show following Charles and Kate's absences.

Royal biographer Phil Dampier said the monarchy "could, with the wrong unforeseen circumstances, collapse quite quickly," if something were to happen to both the king and Prince William, who is first in line to the throne.

The royal family carried out a collective 4,000 engagements in 2014, including Prince Harry's trip to Brazil and the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh's engagements in France and Italy. According to one estimate by The Guardian, this year, the family is expected to carry out "little more than half" of the engagements it did a decade ago.

A source of reassurance

Earlier this year, the family also had to deal with swirling conspiracy theories about Kate's whereabouts during her absence from public duties. The speculation came to a head after Kate apologized for editing a Mother's Day photo that had been recalled by major photo agencies over concerns it had been manipulated.

Jack Royston, a royal commentator and podcast host, told BI that any lurking conspiracy theories would have been "blown out of the water" by Kate's return.

"And for the public, the message will be that they can stop worrying about Kate," Royston said. "She's made it clear she isn't completely out of the woods or back at work full time, but we may well see her again over the summer."

Meanwhile, Robert Hardman, author of "Charles III: The Inside Story," told BI that seeing Kate in public will be a source of reassurance amid uncertain times.

"Her presence has shown how big her absence is. When she wasn't around, everyone was worried," Hardman said. "The royal family has a strange position in our society, where everyone, to an extent, feels like it's an extension of our own families."

"It will have cheered people up to see Catherine with her children playing an enthusiastic, central part of one of the year's biggest events," he said.

"It's a sign of her dedication to the institution."

Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

• Tesla launched a $450 lightning-shaped bottle of mezcal, its priciest alcohol yet.
• The hand-blown bottle, inspired by Oaxaca pottery, features a sleek, black finish.
• Previous Tesla alcohol releases include Cyberbeer, GigaBier, and a $250 Tesla Tequila.

Tesla announced its most expensive alcohol yet earlier this month: a $450 lightning-shaped bottle of mezcal.

Announced on June 6, Tesla Mezcal has since sold out, according to the listing.

Tesla's director of product design, Javier Verdura, designed the hand-blown glass bottle, which has a sleek, black finish and draws inspiration from centuries-old pottery traditions in Oaxaca, Mexico, Tesla said on its website.

The liquor has a citrusy scent with notes of lime and green apple, and a smoky finish, according to the listing. It also has some sweeter flavors with finishes of tuberose, jasmine, and chamomile, the website says.

Believe it or not, this is the third limited-release alcohol product that the carmaker has produced — and they've all been pricey.

Last year, Tesla sold a set of two 11-ounce Cyberbeers with two ceramic Cybersteins for $150. The set was designed to mimic the look of a Cybertruck, which had yet to be released at the time.

Earlier in 2023, the EV giant launched a limited edition "GigaBier," to celebrate the opening of Tesla's Gigafactory in Berlin. The Pilsner-style lager cost about $98 for a pack of three.

The EV-maker also released a $250 gold bottle of Tesla Tequila in a lightning-bolt shaped bottle, similarly designed to the latest model. The 750ml bottle came out in 2020, two years after Musk joked about "Teslaquilla" in a tweet.

Tesla Tequila sold out within hours and Tesla released a second batch in March 2021, which also sold out almost immediately. After it sold out, resellers listed empty bottles of the Tesla Tequila for thousands of dollars online.

Tesla Mezcal comes to about $498 after taxes and each customer is limited to two sets. Tesla didn't respond to BI about how many Mezcals have been sold so far.

Now that it's sold out, at least one customer who ordered the liquor is trying to profit off it, listing the empty bottle on eBay for $5,000.

• Lauren Hoselton scored over 20 NIL sponsorship deals as a student-athlete at Ole Miss.
• She's now a VP at the Grove Collective and helps college athletes at her alma mater get NIL deals.
• This article is part of "Trends to Bet Your Career On," a series about trending professional opportunities.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Lauren Hoselton, a former track-and-field athlete from the University of Mississippi and the founder of Total NIL. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

I am a former track-and-field athlete for the University of Mississippi. In 2021, when new name, image, and likeness rules were implemented for student-athletes, I knew brands wouldn't knock on my door to pay me to show up for a birthday party. Those opportunities usually go to star football and basketball players. So I told myself to get creative and use my entrepreneurial mindset to make money off NIL.

Ole Miss was amazing at helping athletes with opportunities, but NIL was so new that the school didn't really know how much it could do or what it could do. I secured my first NIL deal when our social-enhancement coordinator contacted students about an opportunity with Graduate Hotels. I think I was one of the few people at the school to apply. I got the deal and was paid for my work, including for hosting events like a coffee happy hour at one of the hotel's cafés and when people used my referral code.

From there, I continued to hustle and use platforms such as LinkedIn and the marketplace Opendorse to get NIL deals. I pitched myself to managers in my college town to secure as many brand deals as possible. That year, I secured over 20 sponsorships with brands such as the streaming platform Peacock and the restaurant chain Smoothie King.

NIL also made me think about social media differently. I used to use platforms like Instagram to post cute pictures or for fun. But NIL shifted my mindset to think like a content creator. I became very strategic about what I posted on social media. I tell everyone now, even if you feel silly, make the TikToks. The more engagement you have, the more money you can ask brands for.

Since graduating about two years ago, I've used my experience as a walk-on college athlete to help other student-athletes nationwide navigate brand and sponsorship deals. NIL opened doors for me to go into business for myself and helped me land a full-time job shortly after college.

Building a career in NIL after college

I'm now the vice president of marketing and athlete management at the Grove Collective, an NIL program independent of Ole Miss that raises money from donors and facilitates NIL deals for student-athletes at the university. In my role, I assist about 200 athletes with marketing, social media, and brand partnerships. On a normal day, I look over contracts and help athletes create content and negotiate with brands.

The Grove Collective has raised over $10 million and helped athletes secure deals with Delta Air Lines, the camouflage brand Realtree, and the private-jet-charter company Wheels Up.

After college, I didn't initially think I would work in NIL. I was interviewing for a job in medical sales when NIL opportunities started to come my way. Ole Miss asked me to talk to its incoming freshmen and transfers about the space and how I navigated it. From there, I created a brand called Lauren Hoselton Consulting and began speaking with student-athletes and coaches at other schools.

After I built my consulting business, the University of South Florida wanted to partner with me and I thought, "I have to turn this into something legit." With the help of an extremely successful mentor of mine, we created Total NIL. I still run this business, separate from my work at Grove.

My experience as a student-athlete has helped me do my job better. I know what it's like to be so busy that you can't work a full-time job. I also know what it's like to be injured and have a lot of things thrown your way.

I want to help student-athletes who face challenges like these. This money changes the lives of these kids. I helped one student-athlete pay for his family's health insurance. They'd never had it before. This is why I do what I do.