• Russia is on the offensive, but not contributing all it can into the assault, reflecting Russia's plans.
• Putin's strategy focuses on attrition and limiting Ukraine's counteroffensive capabilities.
• ISW experts warn that delays in Western aid could lead to Ukraine's collapse and Russian victory.

Russian forces are making a push along an axis between Chasiv Yar and Avdiivka but not throwing their full weight into it. War analysts say that the tactics appear to reflect Russian President Putin's theory of victory in Ukraine, revealed earlier this month.

"Russian forces have committed only limited forces to this operation so far, which suggests that Russian forces continue to prioritize gradual advances through consistent grinding assaults over operationally significant gains through rapid maneuver," analysts at the Institute of the Study of War assess.

Speaking at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on June 7, Putin said that speed is unnecessary, explaining that Russian forces can gradually "squeeze" the Ukrainians out of territories Moscow seeks to control.

Putin theorized that the gradual progress Russian forces make will allow them to achieve the Kremlin's aims, as it prevents Ukraine from conducting effective counteroffensive tactics.

Slow, steady, grinding operations in the Toretsk direction are a goal for Russian forces, as they believe it will block Ukraine from gathering critical resources, as well as personnel, and drain what it already has. And that, ISW experts said, may be more important than seizing territory.

Analysts from the Washington-based ISW predict that Russia's approach to this conflict, which aims to "win a war of attrition against Ukrainian forces," could take anywhere from months to years to accomplish. At the forum this month, Putin said he was confident the plans to make gradual gains will come to fruition.

ISW analysts advise that Western partner nations supply Ukraine's military with the resources it needs to "liberate significant swaths of occupied Ukraine and challenge Putin's belief that he can gradually subsume Ukraine."

Ukraine has overcome some of the dangerous shortfalls it faced earlier in the years as partners step up support, but the pace at which Ukraine is currently receiving aid is limited and enforces Putin's strategy, which is focused on outlasting Ukraine.

ISW experts noted that the end of Western assistance for Ukraine could lead to a total collapse of its front line and an all-out, complete victory for Russia.

"Ukraine should contest the initiative as soon as possible because Russian forces are reaping a variety of benefits from holding the initiative, including their ability to pursue a strategy of attritional warfare," the analysts concluded.

• Joe Biden and Donald Trump faced off in the first 2024 presidential debate.
• Biden's poor performance sparked panic among Democrats, and Trump lied throughout.
• Photographers across the US captured viewers' reactions to the debate ranging from dread to alarm.

Across the US, many viewers of the first 2024 presidential debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump appeared to find the spectacle difficult to watch.

As Biden's convoluted answers and poor performance sparked panic among Democrats, Trump dodged questions in favor of offering lies and misleading statements about his own political record. At one point, the candidates argued about who was a better golfer.

Photographers across the US captured Americans' reactions to the debate, ranging from shock and disappointment to frustration and alarm.

At a debate watch party at Broadway Bowl in South Portland, Maine, Karen Sellinger appeared exasperated as Trump spoke.

Rosemarie DeAngelus, another Broadway Bowl attendee, told the Associated Press that Biden "just didn't have the spark that we needed tonight."

A patron draped in an American flag at a pub in San Francisco seemingly struggled to keep his composure.

Viewers at home weren't the only ones struggling to make sense of the debate. Prominent Democrats, including former senior Obama White House advisor David Axelrod and Biden's former White House communications director Kate Bedingfield, also lamented Biden's performance on CNN.

Sean Cannon, who watched the debate at the Old Louisville Tavern in Kentucky, hid his face in his hands as the candidates traded barbs.

Cannon told BI this photo was taken as Trump and Biden argued over their golfing skills.

"I think that's what was actually happening, because it felt like I was beginning to dissociate a little with how ridiculous the entire moment was," Cannon said.

Another viewer at the Old Louisville Tavern, Amy McKinley, took a similar position while wearing a red "Make lying wrong again" baseball cap.

CNN fact-checker Daniel Dale estimated that Trump said at least 30 false or misleading statements during the debate, while Biden said nine.

A viewer at a watch party in Washington, DC, placed her hand over her mouth during the debate.

Shaw's Tavern, a gastropub located just under 2 miles from the White House, hosted the watch party.

At a Young Republicans' watch party in New York, audience members displayed a range of reactions.

Despite numerous false statements, Trump is widely regarded to have won the presidential debate against Biden, who appeared frail and disoriented.

Watchers appeared nervous at an event hosted by the Miami Freedom Project in Florida.

Trump won Florida in both the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections.

A poor debate performance doesn't necessarily spell doom for a presidential campaign, but it doesn't help, either.

In 2012, Barack Obama's first presidential debate with Mitt Romney proved disastrous with the incumbent president appearing unprepared and annoyed during the event, CNN reported. Obama still went on to defeat Romney and win a second term.

However, the 2024 debate was viewed as Biden's chance to come out strong and assuage voters' concerns about his age and fitness, but his poor performance failed to do so, reigniting speculation about potential replacements if Biden drops out of the race.

The first debate between Biden and Trump since 2020 was filled with awkward stumbles, insults, and lies. Here are the highlights.

• House Democrats don't want to talk about Joe Biden's bad debate performance.
• A lot of that is because of political self-preservation.
• Democrats who have publicly made an issue of Biden's age before have suffered greatly as a result.

Rep. Tom Suozzi really didn't want to be there.

As the New York Democrat waited for an elevator to whisk him up to the second floor of the Capitol, Suozzi was cornered by a gaggle of reporters who wanted not just his appraisal of President Joe Biden's disastrous debate performance the previous night, but whether the congressman thought the 81-year-old president should continue to be his party's nominee. "That's beyond my pay grade," Suozzi replied. "That's not up to me."

The congressman had caught a lucky break: The elevator doors behind him were opening up, and reporters can't follow lawmakers into elevators without their consent. I was on board, headed down to the basement. Suozzi slowly backed in, apparently unaware of the direction of the elevator. "We're headed down," I told him as the doors closed on us.

"I just needed to get the fuck out of there," said Suozzi. "I'll take the stairs."

Friday morning votes are typically a sleepy affair, but this wasn't a normal Friday morning. Because Biden's campaign had pushed for the earliest general election debate on record, Congress happened to be in session, and Democratic lawmakers were being forced to answer for a performance that had clearly sent many of them into panic mode.

Roughly half of House Democrats did the prudent thing: They kept their mouths shut and avoided saying anything, either by directly declining to answer questions or insisting that they really needed to keep talking to an aide walking with them. One House Democrat, who I won't name because I can't prove it, seemed to be pretending to be on a call, dangling his iPhone slightly below his ear while sipping a coffee.

Others took the Kamala Harris route, frankly acknowledging Biden's weak performance while broadly standing behind Biden. "I don't think it was his best performance," Rep. Zoe Lofgren of California said bluntly. "Being a debater is different than being president."

Just a few were willing to express in public what they're surely feeling in private — that Biden's poor showing against former President Donald Trump is prompting a lot of "soul searching," in the words of Rep. Jared Huffman of California.

"I think there's a lot of processing that I and many of my colleagues are doing, but it wasn't a good night," said Huffman, adding that he does not want Biden to do another debate and that he was also still "processing" whether he believes Biden should be the party's nominee.

"I don't know. I don't know what happens next. I truly don't," said Rep. Greg Landsman of Ohio when asked if he's entertaining the idea of Biden not being the nominee. "You know, I think the President and his team are gonna huddle up and have a conversation, and we'll see what happens."

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters on Friday that he stands behind Biden, and other senior Democrats — including former Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Jim Clyburn, the man who arguably delivered Biden the nomination in 2020 — broadly did the same. Rep. Robert Garcia, a Biden campaign surrogate who traveled to the debate on Thursday, was left insisting to a large circle of skeptical reporters that Biden simply "had a raspy voice."

Despite the best efforts of the Capitol Hill press corps, no one publicly declared that Biden needed to go, despite widespread reports that they're harboring deep concerns behind closed doors.

That's because they've seen what happens to people who have made an issue out of Biden's age before.

Rep. Dean Phillips waged an entire primary challenge to Biden based on the premise that he's too old to carry on and that his colleagues know it. The Minnesota congressman ended up being marginalized by the party, and his political career may be effectively over at the end of his term. In 2019, former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro directly attacked Biden's age and memory at a Democratic primary debate. He's been essentially locked out of the top echelons of the party ever since.

"The first Democratic politician to call for Biden to step down, it's going to end in their career," Democratic strategist Paul Begala said on CNN on Friday morning. "They may be right in the eyes of a lot of Democrats, but if you're the first one through the door, you're going to get shot. And look, I think they all know that."

Democrats who want to see Biden step aside are essentially facing a collective action problem. If they were to band together and declare that Biden needs to step aside, they may be able to have an impact. But any individual lawmaker who feels that way may be confronting political oblivion if they do it on their own.

Plus, political incentives and partisanship may simply drive them back into Biden's corner. To admit that the president needs to step aside as the party's nominee would be to cave to long-running GOP attacks on the president.

On Friday morning, Republican Rep. Chip Roy of Texas capitalized on the moment, announcing that he would put forward a resolution calling on Biden's cabinet to invoke the 25th amendment and remove him from office.

It's the exact sort of thing that may send Democrats running back into Biden's arms.

• A Tesla driver said Autopilot mistook train tracks for a road outside Sacramento.
• Local police shared a post on Facebook urging Tesla drivers to stay "vigilant" when using Autopilot.
• It's the second recent incident where Autopilot steered a Tesla toward train tracks.

A Tesla owner says he ended up in the middle of an active train track after Autopilot mistook it for a road, a California police department said in a warning to other drivers.

The alleged incident happened outside Sacramento. Police didn't share the driver's name or the condition of the car.

Woodland Police Department in California issued the warning on Wednesday in a Facebook post reminding Tesla drivers to stay "vigilant while using Tesla's Autopilot feature."

In the warning, police said the driver had given them a statement that his car had driven onto the tracks when Autopilot was engaged. The police said they hadn't verified what happened and that they were still investigating.

The post included a list of reminders for Tesla drivers using Autopilot, including to stay alert and keep their hands on the wheel. The police also said to regularly check surroundings in self-driving mode and noted that Autopilot is "not a replacement for attentive driving."

Woodland Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI.

The reported California incident is the second in two months with drivers saying a Tesla in Autopilot mistakingly drove onto railway tracks. The last incident occurred on May 8 and almost resulted in a freight train crash, the driver said, according to a report from NBC.

A video of the incident showed the vehicle driving down a foggy road toward a moving freight train and swerving right before it collided. The driver told NBC he took responsibility and said he had become complacent with the technology, the report said.

Tesla describes Autopilot as a set of advanced driver-assistance features meant "to make driving safer and less stressful," according to its website. It notes that none of the features make the vehicle "fully autonomous or replace" the driver.

For years, Elon Musk has been saying that self-driving cars are imminent and once said Tesla Autopilot is 10 times less likely to crash than the average car.

But the transition hasn't been as seamless as Musk has suggested. Tesla recalled over 2 million vehicles in December due to concerns over Autopilot. And the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration identified in an April report more than 200 front-end crashes when Autopilot was engaged, 13 of which it said were fatal.

Tesla did not return a request for comment.

• Medical professionals are turning body bags into cooling baths to treat heat-related illnesses.
• Immersing patients in cold water quickly reduces body temperature and can prevent serious damage.
• Fire trucks and ambulances in Phoenix now carry these immersion bags as standard equipment.

This summer, medical professionals will use body bags to save lives. They're turning them into portable cooling baths to treat people with heat-related illnesses.

Last year was the hottest summer on record, with places like Phoenix reaching over 110 degrees for 31 consecutive days. There were 2,302 heat-related deaths in the US, alone, and temperatures this year could be even worse, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

To treat heat-related illnesses, emergency medical professionals in Phoneix started using modified body bags called "immersion bags," The New York Times reported. They've been working so well that they're now standard equipment for the city's fire trucks and ambulances, according to The Guardian.

Quickly submerging a heat stroke patient in icy water is one of the most effective ways to quickly bring down the body temperature.

When a person's core temperature reaches 104 degrees Fahrenheit or above, the body has difficulty cooling itself down. This can cause permanent damage to the brain, heart, and other organs.

"The sooner you can get the body cooled closer to baseline, the quicker you can resolve the symptoms as well as prevent some of the more severe complications," Sam Shen, a professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Stanford University, told Business Insider.

Because time is so critical, medical responders will typically "cool first, transport second," meaning they will try to drop the patient's temperature to below 102.2 °F before moving them to the hospital, according to national EMS guidelines.

Since finding a suitably sized tub outdoors is difficult, some first responders have started using these leak-proof body bags as a makeshift ice bath instead.

First responders across the country are using ice-filled body bags

Several years ago, Shen had an 87-year-old patient with heat stroke. Grant Lipman, who was Shen's colleague at the time, had a background in wilderness medicine. He suggested placing the woman in a body bag filled with ice.

"It was a kind of improvised solution but based on a known technique," Shen said.

It worked well and was novel enough that Shen, Lipman, and other colleagues wrote up the treatment in a 2020 paper. Just a year later, medical professionals in Washington used the method during a heat wave.

That same year, doctors from the University of Kansas School of Medicine also started training EMS professionals to use water from fire hydrants in cooling bags. In a study, they profiled five patients who received the ice bath treatment. In one case, it only took eight minutes to effectively drop the person's body temperature.

During the last couple of years, emergency responders and doctors in Arizona, California, and Texas have also used body bag cooling baths for patients with severe heat-related symptoms.

Patients are closely monitored inside the bag

In the past, some medical professionals feared that dropping body temperature too quickly could lead to other complications, like stroke. That's why patients need careful monitoring during the treatment.

The treatment involves putting the person in the bag and submerging them up to their armpits in an ice-water slurry. Professionals monitor their vital signs and body temperature then remove them and dry them off once they're out of the danger zone. It typically takes less than 15 minutes.

Shen said there are a few reasons why the body bags make an ideal container for an ice bath in the field. "It's inexpensive. It's accessible," he said. And the medical professional can still see and touch the person in the bag. "It's just a convenient way to still monitor the patient while they're immersed in the water solution."

Some actors spend years working toward career milestones like landing a leading role in a movie or earning an Oscar nomination.

June Squibb spent three decades.

The 94-year-old star of the action comedy "Thelma" has been honing her craft since 1959, when she made her Broadway debut in "Gypsy." It wasn't until 1990, after three decades of working as a stage actor, that she made her film debut at 61. Another two decades after that, Squibb became one of the oldest people ever nominated for an Oscar for her performance in the 2013 Alexander Payne film "Nebraska" at 84.

The fact that it took 10 more years after that for Squibb to become a bona fide leading lady as the title character in "Thelma" doesn't bother her — she was never explicitly working toward these milestones in the first place.

"I mean, I knew she was the leading role," Squibb told Business Insider. "But it doesn't mean that much, really. It doesn't change how I prepare, or what I do when I'm working. It's all the same."

The film, which is written and directed by Josh Margolin — and loosely based on his own grandmother, Thelma Post — follows an older woman who falls for a phone scam and mails away $10,000. When her family and the police fail to help her get it back, Thelma takes matters into her own hands, zipping across Los Angeles on her friend's two-seater scooter on a journey for revenge.

The film is a fitting vehicle for Squibb's versatility as an actor, allowing her to showcase both vulnerability and unhinged glee in a role that's not often written for nonagenarian characters. With reviews already praising her star turn and suggesting she should have been leading movies for much longer, Squibb is happy to oblige.

"I guess there will be a point where I will just sort of feel that I don't want to do it anymore," Squibb told BI of planning to continue acting. "I haven't reached that. I do want to do it."

For the latest interview in Business Insider's "Role Play" series, Squibb reflected on her collaborations with Payne, how a guest spot on "Glee" led to one of her closest friendships, and why she doesn't have any regrets about her film career.

On fighting to audition for 'Nebraska'

You got your first Academy Award nomination for Alexander Payne's "Nebraska," and that's been called your breakout role. But you had been working in film for almost 25 years at that point. Did it ever feel bizarre to have people call that role a "breakout" when you'd done so much before?

[Before "Nebraska"] I did a film called "In and Out." I had a very small role in it but it was very funny, and I got the biggest laugh in the film. All at once, a lot of people knew who I was.

But I think the biggest thing [before "Nebraska"] was "About Schmidt." I have to thank Alexander Payne because both ['"Nebraska" and "About Schmidt"] I did with him, and they have made a tremendous difference. And I think "About Schmidt," I don't know — it made me legitimate. It somehow threw me into being a legitimate film actress.

What was it like playing opposite Jack Nicholson in "About Schmidt?"

Jack was a gentleman and never made me feel lesser than him. Everything that we did together was on a level of peer, period. It really was. And I give that credit to him.

I didn't always even know what I was doing, and he could have come in and made that difficult, but he did not. In fact, it was just the other way. There was such respect from him through the whole period.

"Nebraska" has such a strong ensemble cast, but you steal every scene you're in as Kate, who seems like such a treat to dig into as an actor. After working with Payne on "About Schmidt," what did your audition process look like for "Nebraska?"

Strangely enough, both times — "About Schmidt" and "Nebraska" — they didn't want to see me, believe it or not!

The first time they felt, I think, they were trying to get people from LA because they knew they were shooting in Omaha, but my agents were insistent that they at least let me do a tape for them or something. So finally they did, and Alexander told me when he got it, he said, "I knew that you were the role. I knew you were it."

And then we came to "Nebraska," and again, [my agents] see Kate and they start pushing. And the casting director, who knows me very well, says, "Oh, Alexander loves June, but we just don't think she's right for this." He had in his mind that sweet little lady from "About Schmidt," and that's what he thought. After much nattering from agents, they said, "Oh, put it on tape." So they sent me the script, and I put one or two scenes on tape.

And again, Alexander said to me, "My God, June, I had no idea you could do this." He said, "You were Kate."

So neither one! Isn't that funny? Because we have a great relationship, and I've worked twice with him, and they've made tremendous differences in my career, but neither one was a set thing. People feel that after "About Schmidt" he probably asked me to do "Nebraska." No, he didn't. He thought I couldn't — thought I wasn't right for it.

On becoming besties with Chris Colfer through 'Glee' and working with Adam Sandler

You've done a lot of television, but there's one guest spot I have to ask about: "Glee." You played a retired Broadway legend and belted out Madonna and "Cats" with Chris Colfer. What was it like returning to your theater roots on television?

It was wonderful because I met Chris, and we are now close friends. He's like a member of my family. And it was funny, because he wrote that episode, and they wanted me for it. And I'm so glad that I said yes to it, because it opened my whole relationship with him from that time on.

I loved doing it. I had never sung much on film. I had certainly sung an awful lot onstage, but there's a difference — it's so technical… So that was interesting to me. And it was fun. All the young people, oh God, we were dancing and singing all over the place.

You wear some very memorable T-shirts in "Hubie Halloween." Tell me a bit about working with Adam Sandler on that film.

He is such a leader. He is a real leader. He takes responsibility for everybody on his film set, and that's admirable. I mean, because there has to be a leader. It's usually the director.

But with him, because of his position, he became the leader, and everybody had such a good time. I think that surprised me in a way. I mean, not that you don't enjoy your time shooting, but this was almost like a party all the time. And I think he knows everybody so well. That was the first time I had worked with him, but most everybody else had worked with him before and knew him very well.

On family dinners with Will Forte and the future of her career

You've had so many fun and notable costars over the years. Who was the most fun to hang out with on set, or on the awards circuit?

Oh, Will Forte, with "Nebraska." He is such fun. He's so bright, so clever, and we got along beautifully. After we finished shooting, we would have dinner together about every month.

We would gather up whoever we were talking to from the crew or the cast, and I would bring my son, and he would bring his girlfriend of the time. But it was just such fun. I loved him. I still love him. I saw him not terribly long ago. He has two little girls now, so it's grown. His wife and two little girls, we had brunch together.

Has there ever been a moment that you remember turning down a role, or regretting doing so?

No. I don't turn something down lightly, so it takes me some time. But once I've done it, I feel I've done the right thing.

On the flip side, was there ever something you were going for and didn't get that still sticks with you?

I don't think in film. I don't think I've ever had my heart set on something in film that I didn't get, or that I wasn't handed. Stage, yes. Because I went through a lot of time onstage where I felt there was a role I should have done, or should have been able to do.

As you look toward the rest of your career, do you plan to keep working for as long as you want to?

I guess I am. I don't know the answer to that. I sometimes wonder, and I have said to my agent, "How much longer am I going to be doing this?" And they say, "Well, people still want you to work. People still want you to do things."

There's one or two things in the future now. I don't know that I will do them, but I don't know that I won't either.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

"Thelma" is in theaters now.

• A US Marine Corps attack helicopter fired a new missile towards a moving sea target in the Pacific.
• It marked a first for the AGM-179 Joint Air-to-Ground Missile.
• The JAGM faced earlier testing challenges, but it is considered key to boosting the lethality of US attack helicopters.

A US Marine Corps attack helicopter fired off a new missile in the Pacific earlier this week, striking a moving target vessel and marking a first for the weapon.

The test is a notable moment in the development of the precision missile, which faced struggles in its initial testing.

The 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit announced the strike exercise on Friday, revealing that two days earlier, an AH-1Z Viper "fired a live AGM-179 Joint Air-to-Ground Missile (JAGM), striking a towed moving training vessel during a training mission at sea." The training occurred in the Philippine Sea, off the coast of Okinawa.

A video shared by the unit showed the test, beginning with preparations and the crew loading ammunition onto the attack helicopter.

Then, the AH-1Z flies off from Okinawa Air Base toward the Philippine Sea, where it fires the JAGM at a moving sea vessel. The JAGM then hits the target, destroying it on impact.

During this week's exercise, the crew of the AH-1Z also fired other weapons, including a hail of bullets from the door gun, at other moving targets, such as something that looked like a fast boat, before returning to base.

According to the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, "this EXPO strike launched the first live JAGM from an AH-1Z in the Indo-Pacific region, and employed a variety of munitions against a high-speed towed target."

The JAGM is a precision-guided munition able to be used against both stationary and moving land and sea targets. Determined to be an upgrade from other missiles, like Hellfire and Maverick, the weapon's initial development and testing was slightly troubled, including a year-long delay for full-rate production approval and several failed operational tests.

It achieved initial operating capability with the Marines in 2022.

The Marines' initial tests in 2019 went south when two missiles fired didn't reach their targets. And the Army's first trials with the JAGM featured a host of problems, including munitions missing their targets and failing to detonate. Across the board, both the Marines and the Army have said that they were able to resolve these issues in subsequent testing.

The JAGM features a dual-mode seeker and guidance system providing precision strike and "fire and forget" capabilities, meaning the launcher doesn't need to intervene or dictate the missile's flight towards its target once it's been fired. The JAGM can also strike multiple targets and features better precision strike capabilities in varied weather conditions.

When the Marines achieved initial operating capability with the weapon, Col. Vasilios Pappas, the Marine Corps H-1 Light/Attack Helicopter program manager, said that "incorporating systems such as JAGM on the AH-1Z is essential in keeping the platform at the forefront of warfighting capabilities."

• Some people are experiencing "tipping fatigue" as more businesses request tips for more products and services.
• But customers are pushing back, even as some workers say they're relying on tips more than ever.
• Is it OK to simply not tip in some cases — even when you're asked to? Here's what experts say.

Tipping culture appears to be spreading everywhere you look — and some customers are sick of it, wondering when it's OK to simply not tip.

After all, these days, when you make a purchase at a coffee shop, convenience store, or even a self-checkout kiosk, you might be prompted on the checkout screen for a tip.

While some customers might be ignoring these prompts in a bout of tipping fatigue, others might just be wondering what the unspoken rules are these days.

Their frustration is clear: Roughly 59% of US adults have a negative view of tipping (a decrease from 66% in 2023) and more than one in three think tipping culture has gotten out of control, according to a Bankrate survey from June.

"People are being asked to tip in contexts where they have not traditionally been asked to tip, and they're being asked to tip larger amounts in those occupations where they are used to leaving tips — and it's that felt social pressure that's irritating people," said tipping expert Michael Lynn, who is a professor of consumer behavior and marketing at the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration.

Business Insider talked to tipping and etiquette experts to figure out exactly when you can forgo a tip without making a faux pas.

'Take it as a suggestion, not an obligation'

During the pandemic, people began tipping more generously, which set a new precedent for how much some workers expected to earn from tips. Now, as the world adjusts to a post-pandemic normal, some businesses have continued relying on tips to bolster their workers' wages. 

The ubiquity of checkout stations with tip prompts also comes from the growing number of businesses that have adopted consumer-facing point-of-sale systems, like Toast or Square, over the past several years. 

Thomas Farley, a New York-based etiquette expert known as Mister Manners told Business Insider that those factors don't necessarily translate into the expectation that customers should also tip more. 

"Just because the screen in these point-of-purchase or over-the-counter-type transactions provides you with that suggestion, you should take it as merely that: a suggestion and not an obligation," Farley said. 

You can skip the tip at self-checkout kiosks …

We know to tip for the service we receive, but what if we're providing the service ourselves?

"The thing that really just blows my mind is that people are being asked to tip for self-service kiosk and checkout lines," Lynn said. "That's the one that surprises me the most because it's not clear who's receiving those tips."

If you're ringing up your own items, don't worry about tipping, he says.

… and skip tipping for takeout and counter service, like coffee

If you're picking up your own food, you can likely skip the tip, too. (Food delivery, of course, is different when it comes to tips.)

"If you don't want to leave a tip for your takeout order, it's just sitting there on the counter and you grab it, you've already paid for it and you're out, you're just going to grab it and go," said etiquette expert Avery Johnson of The Southern Academy of Etiquette. Still, she notes you can tip 10% or more on carryout if you had special requests, like extras, for example.

Lynn also skips the tip on takeout — and in counter-service situations, like getting a cold brew and a pastry at a coffee shop. 

Don't feel pressured to tip for a sweatshirt you just bought

Tip prompts that pop up when you're making retail purchases are where the rules of tipping etiquette might get a little blurry, Farley said.

Say you landed tickets to see the biggest concert of the year, and you want to buy a $100 sweatshirt to commemorate the experience. You pay a visit to the stand selling concert merch where the salesperson needs to pull down the sweatshirt you picked from a rack with a pole. When you go to check out, the screen prompts you for a tip on the transaction. 

Customers who have never tipped for this type of transaction before might wonder if they should fork out a few more dollars here. 

Farley said that even in these types of scenarios, customers aren't expected to tip. "It's challenging to have a transaction, especially if somebody smiles, and they're pleasant, and, you know, they, provide nice service, but there is still no obligation to do so," he said.

… or a tipping on meal for which you already paid gratuity 

Farley said the most unexpected tip request he's ever received was at a sit-down restaurant where the menu had already indicated that a standard gratuity fee of 20% would be included in the bill. 

When the server handed Farley the final bill, though, he was hit with a prompt for another 20% tip by the card reader.

"I was very confused," Farley said. When he asked the waiter why there was a second charge, he said the server told him the 20% gratuity charge was for the whole staff to split, but 20% prompt on the card reader was specifically for his service that night. 

"The service was not 40% service, the service was 20% service, but I was stuck into paying 40%," Farley said. 

If you're worried you might find yourself in this situation, Farley said you can ask the restaurant to waive the initial gratuity fee. "If you feel strongly about it, and you feel that burden shouldn't be on you, restaurant owners that I've encountered, and have read interviews with, will say that for any consumers that push back and request that that charge be removed, they will comply."

Otherwise, he suggested "do your homework" on a restaurant's tipping policy, so you can avoid a potentially awkward encounter. 

• Rupert Murdoch has cut the price of his three-floor New York City apartment to $28.5 million.
• The media mogul, 93, listed the property for $62 million in 2022.
• Photos show inside the penthouse, which has 360-degree views of Manhattan.

Rupert Murdoch, the 93-year-old billionaire media mogul, has spent years trying to find a buyer for his nearly 7,000-square-foot penthouse in New York City, steps away from the Flatiron building and Madison Square Park.

Now, in his latest bid to shift the property, he's selling it for $28.5 million, more than half its original listing price.

The former chair of the Fox Corporation and News Corp., who married his fifth wife, Elena Zhukova, earlier this month at his private vineyard in Bel-Air, California, briefly listed the three-floor apartment for $72 million in 2015. But in 2022, he apparently listed it in earnest, asking for $62 million.

In the months since, the listing price has steadily dropped. After briefly being taken off the market in December 2023, the mega-apartment was re-listed in April for $38.5 million, nearly half its original price tag. Two months later, it's been slashed a further $10 million.

The apparently unsellable apartment may very well be a thorn in Murdoch's newlywed bliss — although, not a huge thorn perhaps, given Forbes' estimates the Murdochs have a net worth of $19.7 billion.

Here's a sneak peek at the $28.5 million penthouse apartment he just can't seem to sell.

Rupert Murdoch bought the five-bedroom, six-bathroom penthouse before it was even finished.

After calling it quits with his third wife, Wendi Deng, in 2013, Murdoch was on the lookout for a new bachelor pad.

In their divorce settlement, Deng, who was married to Murdoch for 14 years, kept the Fifth Avenue triplex the couple bought for $44 million in 2005, New York Magazine reported.

Murdoch decided to purchase two apartments at One Madison Square, a luxury condominium at the start of Madison Avenue, built in 2011. He purchased the building's three-floor penthouse and a slightly smaller unit on 57th floor in 2014.

According to Curbed, Murdoch initially lived in the smaller apartment — if you can call 3,300 square feet small — as the penthouse wasn't completed at the time of the sale.

The penthouse sprawls across three floors, connected by a winding staircase.

The apartment was constructed by architect Jose Ramirez, who specializes in luxury interior design, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Per the listing, the first level has a somewhat open-plan layout, comprised of a double-height "Great Room" connected to a 586-square-foot terrace overlooking Manhattan, a dining room, kitchen, library, and bathroom.

A spiral staircase and elevator connect the first floor to the second, which houses two bedrooms with en suites and staff quarters.

Another staircase and elevator go up to the third floor, which has two more bedrooms with en suites and an expansive primary suite.

Shortly after purchasing it, Murdoch seemingly had second thoughts and briefly listed the penthouse for $72 million.

Less than a year after buying the penthouse pre-completion, Murdoch briefly put it back on the market for a whopping $72 million, The Wall Street Journal reported in 2015.

Around the same time, Murdoch bought a $25 million townhouse in the West Village.

Murdoch changed his mind again five months later, taking the penthouse off the market and, instead, putting the townhouse back on, Curbed reported.

Murdoch might be calling it quits with his penthouse, but he isn't over NYC yet.

Murdoch indicated he was ready to sell the penthouse when he relisted it in 2022, leading some publications, like Curbed, to question if the Australian nonagenarian was done with the Big Apple, where he's had a base since the 1970s when he bought The New York Post.

If Murdoch had been looking to move out of NYC, he would've had plenty of secondary homes to fall back on.

As Architectural Digest reports, the Murdoch family has a "staggering" real-estate portfolio, which includes an Australian ranch, a $28.8 million California vineyard, and an apartment in the affluent Mayfair neighborhood in London.

However, suspicions Murdoch was truly calling it quits with NYC were quashed last year when The New York Times reported he bought a seven-bedroom apartment on the 27th floor of a historic building overlooking Central Park for $35.2 million.

He's also far from the only ultra-rich homeowner struggling to sell their pricey digs.

Unless he finds a buyer prepared to shell out $28.5 million for the penthouse or is willing to give it yet another price cut, Murdoch is stuck with it.

But he's not the only one who can't seem to sell a lavish property at the moment. As BI's real estate reporter Alcynna Lloyd previously reported, a number of celebrities and ultra-wealthy homeowners—particularly those with property in NYC — are finding themselves in similar positions to Murdoch.

Kenny Lee, a senior economist at StreetEasy, told Lloyd that a slowdown in demand is at the crux of the current real-estate slump. It's even led some wealthy homeowners to auction off or rent their pricey digs, options Murdoch may have to consider if he truly wants the penthouse off his hands as soon as possible.