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Armstrong Williams: How Trump changed campaigning, media and the politics of trust
Opinion: Donald Trump’s most enduring legacy may be in how he transformed campaign and political communication, writes Armstrong Williams.
Watch Remembering the Life and Work of Jonathan Clements: Masters in Business
Barry sits down with Jason Zweig and William Bernstein. They discuss "Money and Me" the last book of author and journalist Jonathan Clements. Jason and William also examine Clements's approach to personal finance and impact to financial journalism.
Two NASA Scientists Receive USGS, NASA 2025 William T. Pecora Award
Award: The William T. Pecora Award recognizes outstanding scientific contributions toward a better understanding of Earth through satellite or aerial remote
My unsung hero of science: William Adams, the Bombay bureaucrat whose vision of a solar future was dashed by colonial conservatism
William Adams was convinced that solar energy could change the world. The problem was, he needed more sun to demonstrate it.
Ward and Smith’s Co-Managing Directors Named to Business North Carolina’s 2026 Power List
Ward and Smith is proud to announce that Co-Managing Directors Brad Evans and Devon Williams have been named to Business North Carolina’s 2026 Power List,
Jalen Williams played in Thunder's Game 6 loss to Spurs, but did not start and scored 1 point
IAM Activists Build Political Power at Weeklong Training Seminar
IAM Union political activists from across North America gathered this week at the William W. Winpisinger Education and Technology Center for the IAM Political Education Seminar, a weeklong training focused on strengthening political action, legislative advocacy, member mobilization and worker power. Throughout the week, participants received hands-on training on lobbying elected officials, organizing political campaigns,
Polish scientists and students rally in campaign for 3% funding target
Polish scientists and students have been flooding social media with calls on the government to raise research and development spending as part of 3% for Science, 100% for Poland, a campaign born earlier this month out of frustration with chronic underfunding in the academic sector. On May 27, thousands took the slogan on to the streets.The EU has been trying to convince member states to raise their R&D expenditures to 3% of GDP for more than two decades, but the idea has never gained traction in capitals. Finance ministers were too busy plugging budget holes created in the aftermath of the 2008 crisis, then the Covid pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and now the war in Iran.Critics say that countries missed or ignored the target because it is voluntary, but also because research communities have rarely raised their voice to put pressure on national governments. The European Commission hopes to make the target legally binding in the upcoming European Research Area Act, an EU-wide regulation that should be announced by the end of the year. Academia in Poland has been faced with a funding crisis for years, often leaving its members with no other choice but to work abroad in order to access better resources, or leave the sector altogether in the hope of earning a decent living. The risk, in the long-term, is that brain drain stifles local innovation capacity and technological competitiveness.In just a few weeks, the movement rallied nationwide support, including from major academic bodies and trade unions such as the Conference of Rectors of Academic Schools in Poland and the Presidium of the Polish Academy of Sciences. Its public petition collected more than 23,000 signatures. On May 27, it formed the first large protest for science in Poland, gathering thousands of people in front of the parliament building in Warsaw.Ilona Uryga-Bugajska, representative of the Marie Curie Alumni Association Poland Chapter, was there. “The protest was peaceful, with no incidents reported, and the entire event took place in a respectful and calm atmosphere,” she said. Banners she saw in the crowd carried slogans such as “A little longer and I’ll be teaching in a supermarket,” “National culture, starvation salary,” “Stop the destruction of science,” “Passion will not pay the rent,” “Without action, don’t expect a better future,” and “Pull science out of the hole.” She also observed a strong presence of young researchers, who are on the frontline of Poland’s academic crisis.“Academics are usually people who prefer discussion, analysis, dialogue and compromise. We are not a group that protests easily,” said Katarzyna Marzec, professor at the Faculty of Pharmacy of the Jagiellonian University Medical College and AGH University of Krakow, who also took part. “But many of us feel that we have been pushed against the wall.”Aleksandra Rutkowska, translational neuroscientist and research group leader at the Medical University of Gdańsk, agreed. “Frustration in the scientific community is very high,” she said. “Science is often used politically as a symbol of innovation and modernity, but the everyday reality inside many institutions is much more difficult. There is a large gap between the public narrative and the actual condition of the sector.”Maria Wiktoria Górna, head of the structural biology group at the University of Warsaw and one of the organisers of the movement, told Science|Business that the campaign would continue without proven results. This might involve another strike in the autumn, she said. “Empty promises are not enough by now.”Campaign demandsAccording to Uryga-Bugajska, the organisers officially presented their demands and concerns to representatives of the government present at the event. These included Marek Gzik, deputy minister of science and higher education, and Karolina Zioło-Pużuk, secretary of state of that same ministry.The headline demand, for the government to increase national spending on R&D to 3% of GDP by 2030, should be within Poland’s economic capacity, Rutkowska said. “The real question is whether there is genuine long-term political commitment to treating science as a strategic priority rather than a slogan.”In 2024, R&D expenditure in Poland stood at 1.41% of GDP, which is slightly above the average for central and eastern Europe, with countries such as Czechia recording 1.82%, Hungary 1.31% and Romania 0.46%. However, it falls noticeably short of the EU average of 2.24%, which just a handful of countries exceed, including Germany, Belgium and Sweden.Campaigners are also asking for fair wages for scientific staff, including PhD stipends and junior academic salaries, which are widely considered uncompetitive. Starting doctoral scholarships amount to some €843 gross per month, when the statutory minimum wage stands at €1,135. By pushing early-career researchers out of Poland, growing precarity has caused a generational gap in the academic workforce, with just 25% of lecturers aged under 40. In this context, the movement fears that scientific careers could soon be accessible to a privileged minority only.Grzegorz Spólnik is a case in point. After 15 years working in mass spectrometry at the Polish Academy of Sciences, he decided to leave partly “to earn enough money to live a normal life,” he said. “At that time, my earnings were similar to those of people working in grocery shops, and the work-life balance is something that does not exist in science, or is very hard to achieve.”Now a senior field service engineer for Polish laboratory equipment supplier Bioanalytic, he would consider going back to research, “but never in the public sector, maybe some start-up or a big private company with ambitious R&D.”The campaigners want to see more support for basic research and have called for €236 million to be added to the budget of the National Science Centre (NCN) in 2027 so that the average grant application success rate does not fall below 25%.“At the protest, there was a banner I particularly liked: ‘NCN is not a lottery.’ Unfortunately, for many researchers, it increasingly feels exactly like one,” Marzec said. “Personally, I am one of the lucky ones. I work at two of the strongest institutions in the country, where the research standards are very high. I know that in many other institutions, the situation is much worse and obtaining funding for research at an early-career stage is becoming nearly impossible.”Rutkowska also considers herself fortunate. After studying abroad and holding a postdoctoral position, she returned to Poland, where her pay was supported through an NCN-funded project linked to the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions. “This also made me very aware that good research conditions in Poland often depend on external competitive funding rather than on stable support from the system itself,” she said.Long-term strategyBeyond the lack of funds for both salaries and grants, scientists believe that the issue is structural. “The biggest problem at the moment is the complete lack of a clear long-term strategy for the development of science and research from the current government,” Marzec said. “Everything ends with declarations and promises that are never truly followed by concrete actions or structural reforms.”Rutkowska agreed, citing a lack of infrastructure, continuity and long-term institutional support.“Running a research group in Poland often means functioning as an entire institution at once,” she said. “I am a principal investigator, a mentor, a recruiter, a project administrator and, when needed, still someone who returns to the lab bench to help with experiments,” she went on. “This creates a large hidden workload that takes time and energy away from actual science. At times, it feels as though scientists are no longer expecting extra help; we simply hope the system will stop creating additional obstacles that make research unnecessarily difficult.”Related articlesStrategic thinking: Germany funds joint research with Poland and FrancePoland to transfer €30M of regional funds to boost Horizon Europe participationPoland is funding fewer basic research grants as high inflation hitsIn short, “academics are expected to teach, publish papers, apply for grants and conduct high-quality research, while funding and salaries remain very limited,” said Uryga-Bugajska, who returned to her home country after 13 years in the UK.According to Marzec, another issue is the way that research institutions are evaluated. Previously, this took place every four years, with a clear differentiation between stronger and weaker institutions. “The current government, perhaps to avoid political backlash, effectively concluded that everyone is doing well, so in practice no meaningful evaluation took place,” she said.But in her view, “some form of serious assessment is necessary” to ensure the excellence and international competitiveness of Polish institutions, and to determine how to best use public resources and where institutional structures need reform. “Some institutions may need to rethink hiring practices in order to attract ambitious young researchers who are capable of obtaining competitive grants and building internationally visible research groups.” Rutkowska has already had to adapt. “When hiring PhD students, I often have to combine different funding sources creatively to make positions attractive enough for talented people to stay in science,” she said. “Many young researchers do not see a stable future in academia in Poland, and that is deeply worrying.”
Polish scientists and students rally in campaign for better conditions
Polish scientists and students have been flooding social media with calls on the government to raise research and development spending as part of 3% for Science, 100% for Poland, a campaign born earlier this month out of frustration with chronic underfunding in the academic sector. On May 27, thousands took the slogan on to the streets.The EU has been trying to convince member states to raise their R&D expenditures to 3% of GDP for more than two decades, but the idea has never gained traction in capitals. Finance ministers were too busy plugging budget holes created in the aftermath of the 2008 crisis, then the Covid pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and now the war in Iran.Critics say that countries missed or ignored the target because it is voluntary, but also because research communities have rarely raised their voice to put pressure on national governments. The European Commission hopes to make the target legally binding in the upcoming European Research Area Act, an EU-wide regulation that should be announced by the end of the year. Academia in Poland has been faced with a funding crisis for years, often leaving its members with no other choice but to work abroad in order to access better resources, or leave the sector altogether in the hope of earning a decent living. The risk, in the long-term, is that brain drain stifles local innovation capacity and technological competitiveness.In just a few weeks, the movement rallied nationwide support, including from major academic bodies and trade unions such as the Conference of Rectors of Academic Schools in Poland and the Presidium of the Polish Academy of Sciences. Its public petition collected more than 23,000 signatures. On May 27, it formed the first large protest for science in Poland, gathering thousands of people in front of the parliament building in Warsaw.Ilona Uryga-Bugajska, representative of the Marie Curie Alumni Association Poland Chapter, was there. “The protest was peaceful, with no incidents reported, and the entire event took place in a respectful and calm atmosphere,” she said. Banners she saw in the crowd carried slogans such as “A little longer and I’ll be teaching in a supermarket,” “National culture, starvation salary,” “Stop the destruction of science,” “Passion will not pay the rent,” “Without action, don’t expect a better future,” and “Pull science out of the hole.” She also observed a strong presence of young researchers, who are on the frontline of Poland’s academic crisis.“Academics are usually people who prefer discussion, analysis, dialogue and compromise. We are not a group that protests easily,” said Katarzyna Marzec, professor at the Faculty of Pharmacy of the Jagiellonian University Medical College and AGH University of Krakow, who also took part. “But many of us feel that we have been pushed against the wall.”Aleksandra Rutkowska, translational neuroscientist and research group leader at the Medical University of Gdańsk, agreed. “Frustration in the scientific community is very high,” she said. “Science is often used politically as a symbol of innovation and modernity, but the everyday reality inside many institutions is much more difficult. There is a large gap between the public narrative and the actual condition of the sector.”Maria Wiktoria Górna, head of the structural biology group at the University of Warsaw and one of the organisers of the movement, told Science|Business that the campaign would continue without proven results. This might involve another strike in the autumn, she said. “Empty promises are not enough by now.”Campaign demandsAccording to Uryga-Bugajska, the organisers officially presented their demands and concerns to representatives of the government present at the event. These included Marek Gzik, deputy minister of science and higher education, and Karolina Zioło-Pużuk, secretary of state of that same ministry.The headline demand, for the government to increase national spending on R&D to 3% of GDP by 2030, should be within Poland’s economic capacity, Rutkowska said. “The real question is whether there is genuine long-term political commitment to treating science as a strategic priority rather than a slogan.”In 2024, R&D expenditure in Poland stood at 1.41% of GDP, which is slightly above the average for central and eastern Europe, with countries such as Czechia recording 1.82%, Hungary 1.31% and Romania 0.46%. However, it falls noticeably short of the EU average of 2.24%, which just a handful of countries exceed, including Germany, Belgium and Sweden.Campaigners are also asking for fair wages for scientific staff, including PhD stipends and junior academic salaries, which are widely considered uncompetitive. Starting doctoral scholarships amount to some €843 gross per month, when the statutory minimum wage stands at €1,135. By pushing early-career researchers out of Poland, growing precarity has caused a generational gap in the academic workforce, with just 25% of lecturers aged under 40. In this context, the movement fears that scientific careers could soon be accessible to a privileged minority only.Grzegorz Spólnik is a case in point. After 15 years working in mass spectrometry at the Polish Academy of Sciences, he decided to leave partly “to earn enough money to live a normal life,” he said. “At that time, my earnings were similar to those of people working in grocery shops, and the work-life balance is something that does not exist in science, or is very hard to achieve.”Now a senior field service engineer for Polish laboratory equipment supplier Bioanalytic, he would consider going back to research, “but never in the public sector, maybe some start-up or a big private company with ambitious R&D.”The campaigners want to see more support for basic research and have called for €236 million to be added to the budget of the National Science Centre (NCN) in 2027 so that the average grant application success rate does not fall below 25%.“At the protest, there was a banner I particularly liked: ‘NCN is not a lottery.’ Unfortunately, for many researchers, it increasingly feels exactly like one,” Marzec said. “Personally, I am one of the lucky ones. I work at two of the strongest institutions in the country, where the research standards are very high. I know that in many other institutions, the situation is much worse and obtaining funding for research at an early-career stage is becoming nearly impossible.”Rutkowska also considers herself fortunate. After studying abroad and holding a postdoctoral position, she returned to Poland, where her pay was supported through an NCN-funded project linked to the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions. “This also made me very aware that good research conditions in Poland often depend on external competitive funding rather than on stable support from the system itself,” she said.Long-term strategyBeyond the lack of funds for both salaries and grants, scientists believe that the issue is structural. “The biggest problem at the moment is the complete lack of a clear long-term strategy for the development of science and research from the current government,” Marzec said. “Everything ends with declarations and promises that are never truly followed by concrete actions or structural reforms.”Rutkowska agreed, citing a lack of infrastructure, continuity and long-term institutional support.“Running a research group in Poland often means functioning as an entire institution at once,” she said. “I am a principal investigator, a mentor, a recruiter, a project administrator and, when needed, still someone who returns to the lab bench to help with experiments,” she went on. “This creates a large hidden workload that takes time and energy away from actual science. At times, it feels as though scientists are no longer expecting extra help; we simply hope the system will stop creating additional obstacles that make research unnecessarily difficult.”Related articlesStrategic thinking: Germany funds joint research with Poland and FrancePoland to transfer €30M of regional funds to boost Horizon Europe participationPoland is funding fewer basic research grants as high inflation hitsIn short, “academics are expected to teach, publish papers, apply for grants and conduct high-quality research, while funding and salaries remain very limited,” said Uryga-Bugajska, who returned to her home country after 13 years in the UK.According to Marzec, another issue is the way that research institutions are evaluated. Previously, this took place every four years, with a clear differentiation between stronger and weaker institutions. “The current government, perhaps to avoid political backlash, effectively concluded that everyone is doing well, so in practice no meaningful evaluation took place,” she said.But in her view, “some form of serious assessment is necessary” to ensure the excellence and international competitiveness of Polish institutions, and to determine how to best use public resources and where institutional structures need reform. “Some institutions may need to rethink hiring practices in order to attract ambitious young researchers who are capable of obtaining competitive grants and building internationally visible research groups.” Rutkowska has already had to adapt. “When hiring PhD students, I often have to combine different funding sources creatively to make positions attractive enough for talented people to stay in science,” she said. “Many young researchers do not see a stable future in academia in Poland, and that is deeply worrying.”
Biden's ghostwriter tapes lawsuit all about 'politics': Juan Williams
Fox News senior political analyst Juan Williams discusses why former President Joe Biden is suing the Justice Department to block the release of audio recordings on 'Special Report.'
Patriots' Kyle Williams reacts to Mike Vrabel's grueling OTAs practice
Patriots wide receiver Kyle Williams claimed Day 2 of OTAs felt like training camp.
Scientists forecast milder Chesapeake Bay dead zone in 2026
Scientists at William & Mary's Batten School & VIMS, FlowWest and the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science recently announced that the Chesapeake Bay's annual "dead zone" is expected ...
How a health clinic in South Africa is navigating Trump's cuts to HIV funding
Community health programs in South Africa have been heavily impacted by U.S. cuts to global aid. Which means there are fewer community and health workers to support low-income people with HIV and AIDS.We recently visited one of those programs, called We Care, to learn more about the experiences of the few employees who still remain.For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at considerthis@npr.org.This story was supported by the Pulitzer Center.This episode was produced by Matt Ozug, Karen Zamora and Elena Burnett, with audio engineering by Peter Ellena.It was edited by Patrick Jarenwattananon and William Troop.Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.
Milton Williams' blunt take on A.J. Brown possibly joining Patriots
Patriots defensive tackle Milton Williams thinks adding star wide receiver A.J. Brown would "definitely help" the team.
Chelsea State Bank Grows Business Lending Services
Airdate: May 21st, 2026 Baseball D2 Districts Northwest vs Western, 5-26-26 | Photo GalleryMay 26, 2026Softball D2 Districts Williamston vs Western, 5-26-26 | Photo GalleryMay 26, 20262026 Selby Track & Field Classic ResultsMay 26, 2026End of Year Report with Napoleon Superintendent Pat DillonMay 26, 2026Chelsea State Bank Grows Business Lending ServicesMay 26, 2026Walton Insurance Group…
84-year-old’s tuxedo business, passions keep him busy
“My life has been a series of accidents,” is Tom Ryersbach’s description of how he arrived in Williamsport and stayed, but listening to the interesting turns his life has taken, it seems they are more like opportunities and not accidents. Ryersbach, who will turn 85 in November, has owned and operated Levinson’s Tuxedos at the […]
Jalen Williams remains out for Game 5 of Thunder-Spurs
Williams previously missed Games 3 and 4 and most of Game 2 with his hamstring injury.
Armenia signs strategic partnership deal with US as election approaches
PM Nikol Pashinyan, who deepened ties with US, faces challenge from pro-Russia parties in upcoming parliamentary polls.
Sporticast: What’s Up With the French Open Fashion Friction?
On the 555th Sporticast episode, hosts Scott Soshnick and Eben Novy-Williams discuss some of the biggest sports business stories of the week, including some simmering tension between tennis’ biggest tournaments and fashion brands like Gucci and Louis Vuitton. Tennis players have long been attractive endorsers for luxury brands—the sport’s clientele, locations and vibes all align—and …
Williams to leave Liverpool this summer
Defender Rhys Williams will leave Liverpool when his contract expires at the end of June. The centre-half was part of Liverpool's FA Youth Cup-winning squad in 2019 and made his debut under Jurgen Klopp the following year. As injuries struck in defence, he played in 19 matches during the 2020-21 campaign to help the Reds clinch Champions League qualification with a third-placed finish in the Premier League.
'A very underwhelming campaign'
Now the curtain has come down on the 2025-26 Premier League campaign, here is my end-of-season review - with a look back to what I predicted in August. Chelsea's poor season contained one final insult when they were beaten at Sunderland on the final day, meaning they have no European football under new manager Xabi Alonso next season. Liam Rosenior lasted only three months amid acrimony - a head coach out of his depth - before Calum McFarlane stepped in to take Chelsea to the FA Cup final, which they lost to Manchester City.
Chicago Bears know Caleb Williams’ next step in quarterback growth
The NFL offseason will soon transition into mandatory minicamps, with training camps set to follow in July. Teams have stayed busy throughout free agency and the NFL Draft, while OTAs have allowed clubs like the Chicago Bears to evaluate the…
Patriotic Celebrations, Drone Show Among Busch Gardens Summer Offerings
WILLIAMSBURG — Busch Gardens Williamsburg has announced its summer lineup of shows, concerts and seasonal events, including returning festivals and new entertainment offerings. The park’s Food & Wine Festival continues through June 21, featuring international cuisine and live music on select dates, with summer entertainment running alongside seasonal offerings. The summer concert season at Busch […]
Senegal parliament speaker steps down as political crisis worsens
The move by speaker El Malick Ndiaye clears the way for sacked premier Ousmane Sonko to run for head of parliament.
‘Grantchester’ final season to Williamsburg Regional Library
WILLIAMSBURG — Fans of British television and PBS Masterpiece will have a chance to see the premiere episode of the final season of Grantchester ahead of its broadcast during a free community screening next month. WHRO Public Media is hosting a screening premiere event Tuesday, June 2, at the Williamsburg Regional Library with two viewing […]
Patriots facing Kyle Williams risk with signing, possible trade
New England has been making some WR depth chart moves.
Nobody told him the world was gonna meme Shrek
The writer and illustrator William Steig lived several lives before his book about a surly ogre became a Hollywood hit.
Cyprus votes amid resentment over corruption, living costs
Cyprus has begun voting in a parliamentary election that could shift the political balance amid public discontent.
William Muck: What presidential libraries reveal about American politics today
Presidential libraries show us that the standards by which we judge political leadership are always shifting.
Steve Sarkisian Shares Significant Health Update For Jonah Williams
Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian gave a timeline and injury update on two-way star Jonah Williams
Where would you rank Caleb Williams’ supporting cast?
How much of an improvement do you expect the Bears offense to make in 2026?
How a bold Williams headhunting drive shows that James Vowles means business
Team Principal James Vowles has outlined how hiring Piers Thynne from McLaren demonstrates Williams' ambitions for the future.
Spurs-Thunder injury updates: Dylan Harper, De'Aaron Fox cleared to play, Jalen Williams ruled out for Game 3
Spurs vs. Thunder score, live updates, how to watch: Jalen Williams, De'Aaron Fox, Dylan Harper questionable with series tied heading into Game 3
Thunder should beat Spurs with or without Jalen Williams
The Thunder beat the Spurs 122-113 on Wednesday night to knot the Western Conference finals at one game a piece, but in doing so it lost Jalen Williams.
APTOPIX Israel Politics
Former Prime Ministers Naftali Bennett, left, and Yair Lapid attend their party session at the Knesset, Israel's parliament, in Jerusalem, Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
UK Business Activity Hits 13-Month Low Due to Middle East War
Business activity in the United Kingdom is declining amid a “perfect storm” of economic factors, said Chris Williamson, chief business economist at
VA SEA recognized as a premier science education program
The Virginia Scientists & Educators Alliance is administered as a partnership between the Office of Outreach & Engagement at William & Mary’s Batten School & VIMS and Virginia Sea Grant.
Ward and Smith Co-Managing Director Devon Williams Named to Triangle Business Journal “40 Under 40 Leadership Award”
The Triangle Business Journal (TBJ) recently selected Devon Williams as a “40 Under 40 Leadership Award” recipient for 2026. The honor recognizes ou
'Brady Bunch' star Barry Williams says it took 15 years to make peace with fans calling him 'Greg': 'It was a threat to my identity'
'Brady Bunch' star Barry Williams says it took 15 years for him to make peace with fans calling him 'Greg' in public: 'It was a threat to my identity.'
Q&A: The path to a PhD in computational science and engineering at MIT
MIT student Emily Williams describes her experience as the first to earn a doctorate via the PhD program in MIT's Center for Computational Science and Engineering.
BUSCH GARDENS TURNS UP THE HEAT THIS SUMMER WITH ALL-NEW ENTERTAINMENT, DRONE SHOWS, THRILLING EXPERIENCES, AND FREE BEER*
/PRNewswire/ -- Summer is bigger and more thrilling than ever at Busch Gardens parks. Both Busch Gardens Tampa Bay and Busch Gardens Williamsburg today...
Israel Politics
Israeli lawmakers in the Israeli parliament, during a session considering a bill to dissolve the government in Jerusalem, Wednesday, May 20,2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
How political parties took control of the EU Parliament’s bureaucracy — and sparked a staff rebellion
The Parliament’s administrative staff are supposed to be non-political, but unions say that’s not the case.
Robin Williams’ son Zak Williams slated to speak at mental health summit in Fort Wayne
The 2014 death of Zak’s father prompted him to explore treatment for his own mental health struggles.
Electric Entertainment acquires exclusive North American rights to feature film All There Is
Directed by Emmy Award-winner Kit Williamson, the award-winning coming-of-age feature stars Jason Priestley, Mena Suvari, Elsie Fisher, and breakout actress Laurel Marsden.
Commanders' rookie WR has a message for Jayden Daniels
Antonio Williams wants Jayden Daniels to know he's ready to be that guy.
Reimagining mental health: Stanford Medicine experts chosen to lead precision task force
Stanford Medicine’s Leanne Williams was chosen to lead the Precision Mental Health Commission to redefine and streamline how psychiatric conditions are diagnosed and treated. She’s pushing for a data-driven approach that begins with brain imaging.
Patriots assistant coach participating in NFL accelerator program
Terrell Williams will be among 16 coaches participating in the revived program.
Williamston High School students showcase math, science projects
The school’s Math and Science Academy held its research and technology showcase on Sunday.
Senate parliamentarian deals blow to $1B security proposal for White House
A proposal to fund $1 billion in security additions for the White House campus and the president’s new ballroom fails to meet procedural rules.
🚨 BREAKING: Chelsea confirm appointment of Xabi Alonso
Chelsea have confirmed the appointment of Xabi Alonso as their new head coach, having parted ways with Liam Rosenior at the end of April.The announcement comes less than 24 hours after the London club...
Senate parliamentarian nixes Trump’s ballroom fund in budget bill
The Senate official said the GOP bill needs to be reworked in order to comply with jurisdictional issues.
Senate parliamentarian deals blow to $1 billion security proposal for White House
A proposal to fund $1 billion in security additions for the White House campus and the president’s new ballroom fails to meet procedural rules.
Senate parliamentarian deals blow to $1 billion security proposal for White House
A proposal to fund $1 billion in security additions for the White House campus and the president’s new ballroom fails to meet procedural rules, according to the Senate parliamentarian.
Now What? With Carbon Pricing Eroded and Pipeline Politics Advancing, Here Are the Pathways for Climate Success
At the end of a whirlwind week of news on carbon pricing and electricity strategy, capping a madcap year of pretty much non-stop, dramatic change, the word across much of Canada’s climate and energy transition community is that climate policy in this country has been shredded. Eviscerated. Hit with a sledgehammer by policy rollbacks that have pushed the country’s 2050 net zero target “well out of reach”. That means it’s never been more important to look for the rays of hope and glimmers of possibility. To glimpse the seeds of the next set of strategies to get Canada’s climate pollution under control and the country into the accelerating global dash away from fossil fuels. And then, once we’ve spotted those possibilities, get on with the hard, day-to-day slog of trying to make them a reality. Nothing takes away from the frustration and the deep disappointment so many climate and energy hawks are expressing, the sense of betrayal by the author of Value(s) and the former UN special envoy for climate action and finance. But we knew two things as the week drew to a close. We’re looking at the world as it most definitely is. And we don’t get to give up finding the pathways to confront climate change and deliver faster, deeper carbon cuts that leave no one else behind. So really, the first question we all have to ask ourselves is: What’s next? Subscribe All the Oxygen in the Room The outpouring of anger and grief over the carbon pricing deal between Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has been absolutely understandable. So much of the climate community poured years, more than a decade, into dragging the current federal pricing regime across the finish line, then defending it from a deluge of three-syllable rhymes after the Trudeau government proved utterly incapable of delivering its own message. The policy foisted on us by neo-classical economists took up all the oxygen in the room, burned through years of climate response time that we won’t get back, while cornering climate hawks into the position that the best response to the crisis of our lifetimes is a new tax…in an era of historic anti-tax sentiment. I mean, really—what could possibly have gone wrong? Against that history, let’s appreciate columnist Max Fawcett’s point that even a modest carbon pricing agreement with a government as off-the-wall libertarian/conspiracist as Danielle Smith’s—those adjectives are mine, not Max’s—is a win worth savouring (as long as Smith keeps her promises for a change). But part of living in the world as it is (no, I’m not letting that go) is to be clear-headed about what we can and can’t control. And one thing we get to decide, after seeing this week’s carbon price festivities take up all the oxygen yet again, is whether we want to keep letting that happen. Particularly when success down that road depends on a factor that no one with a climate agenda can control or influence—a provincial carbon pricing mechanism that has been manipulated and eroded beyond its lowest possible denominator. Thankfully, that’s not the way it has to go. Not when we have so many other powerful, practical tools at our disposal, including the ones still available to us through this abominable Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Canada and Alberta. Tools In Our Toolbox When I started roughing out this list, I didn’t expect it to grow to nearly a dozen bullet points. It’s probably still incomplete. Some of the greatest hits in today’s climate solutions toolbox include: • No Carbon Capture, No Pipeline: On Friday, Prime Minister Mark Carney explicitly stated that there’s been no change to the MOU provision that there will be no West Coast pipeline without an industry commitment to build its massive, $16.5-billion carbon capture and storage (CCUS) hub in Northern Alberta, and vice versa. The two megaprojects were joined at the hip when the MOU was signed Nov. 27, and the implementation agreement this week affirmed that they still are. A parade of independent analysts have spent years pointing to the economic and technical flaws in CCUS, while the industry kept postponing its investment decision until it could arm-twist the government for more “clarity” (by which it meant even more lavish taxpayer subsidies) on the project. Now the industry itself is running away from the CCUS hub and insisting the pipeline should proceed without it, but Carney doesn’t seem to be budging from a central tenet of the MOU to which Smith has signed on. • No Subsidies, No Investors: Climate analysts and advocates have quite rightly been hammering away at Carney and his team, insisting that any new capacity the industry wants to build must proceed without new subsidies. The government has responded with a growing collection of funding and financing mechanisms for the very wide menu of industrial development and nation-building projects they say they want to take on, and that menu always includes fossil fuel infrastructure. But it’s hard to see how even the combined fiscal clout of the federal and supportive provincial governments will deliver the financial backing private investors would need when the business case for new fossil fuel development is evaporating before their eyes. Particularly when… • No Market, No Demand, No Investors: As our friend Markham Hislop at Energi Media (our apparently sleepless friend, given the massive volume of great material he’s been churning out) points out this morning, the biggest vulnerability in any pipeline deal is the assumption that Asian buyers will want the oil or liquefied natural ga that our fossil industry is so keen to send them. Hislop writes in part: Ottawa and Alberta are effectively betting that countries like China and India will continue increasing oil imports for decades as their economies grow and energy consumption rises. That assumption underpins the entire economic rationale for expanding oil sands production and building billions of dollars in new export infrastructure. But Asian energy systems are changing rapidly… China, India, South Korea, and other major hydrocarbon importers are now investing hundreds of billions of dollars into electricity systems built around wind, solar, batteries, nuclear, hydro, and expanded transmission infrastructure. Domestic “energy sovereignty” is increasingly replacing the old energy-security model based on stable oil and gas imports. Those investments are expected to sharply slow oil demand growth and eventually reverse it, even as overall energy consumption continues rising. There are also refining constraints. Many Asian refineries and petrochemical complexes are already optimized to process discounted heavy crude from the Middle East and Latin America. That raises serious questions about how much additional Canadian bitumen Asian markets can absorb at profitable prices. Small wonder that there’s still no private sector investor for the project, despite Smith’s government desperately beating the bushes to put together a deal. For now, Alberta is acting as proponent and covering early start-up costs for a pitch to the federal Major Projects Office, which could actually turn into the next tough hurdle for Smith and her pipeline to jump. • Canada Day Looms: How ironic that Canada’s birthday this year could become a major chokepoint for the provincial premier who’s been working so diligently to tear the country apart! The July 1 target date for Alberta’s pipeline proposal is baked into the MOU, was reaffirmed by the implementation plan, but it hadn’t dawned on me that it cuts both ways. As one very smart colleague wrote in an email yesterday, “they’ve thrown the ball into Alberta’s court to get the project proposal on the table really quickly and to have to do a whole pile of work to put together a massive, complicated project that would typically take years to assemble, and they’ve given them weeks to do it.” That makes July 1 a looming deadline that Smith won’t be able to run away from politically, especially with the separatists in her party and her caucus breathing down her neck. (See previous ref to off-the-wall.) But if Alberta comes in with a sloppy, incomplete submission, even after Carney bent over backwards to simplify the application process and the rules that govern it, it may be harder for the province or the industry to blame Ottawa and insist on the faster process they claim their investors are demanding. (Oh, wait—which investors would those be??) • We’ll See You In Court (Then We’ll See You Again): If Carney did cave, that would be just one more reason for Indigenous and other affected communities to take the government and the process to court—Just as Alberta First Nations did, successfully, in response to Smith’s half-baked separation referendum. Veterans of the Harper era have been warning that a shoddy process around fossil fuel infrastructure or other major projects will be a recipe for the very delays that process seeks to avoid. And now more than ever, with renewable energy and energy storage eating fossil fuels’ lunch in import markets around the world, a delayed pipeline or LNG terminal may be as good as a cancelled one. • Charged Up, Ready to Go: With its goal of doubling Canada’s electricity supply to meet a doubling of demand by 2050, the national electricity strategy that Carney unveiled Thursday has a lot to like. With its explicit language about speeding the shift from fuels to more efficient and affordable electricity, global investment and deployment patterns that already favour that shift, an emerging bidirectional power grid, the role of front-line options like rooftop solar and heat pumps, the emergence of electric vehicles as behind-the-meter energy storage, and the domestic jobs and manufacturing to make it all happen, the document doubles down on the essential cornerstone of a faster shift off fossil fuels. The strategy envisions a more prominent role for gas and nuclear power. But some of those provisions were already in the Clean Electricity Regulations that climate hawks are now fighting so hard to defend, inserted as a compromise in a futile attempt to mollify the industry and its political representatives in Alberta and Saskatchewan. But once again, gas will be a tougher sell when it’s more expensive and now so much more unpredictable than the clean alternatives. The new nuclear technologies are still speculative and deeply vulnerable to cost overruns. Increasingly, utilities, developers, and investors know it. Carney declared Thursday that “it doesn’t do us good to be sitting in court all the time with provinces. It doesn’t do us good to be talking past each other. What does do us good is to come together with specific projects.” There are no guarantees, but so much of the language and narrative-building in the electricity strategy suggests the lion’s share of those projects will be renewable. • The Party Has Already Started: The electricity strategy only rarely digs down to specific projects, but provinces representing three-quarters of Canada’s population are already embracing a faster transition. Hydro-Québec is working on a 10-year, $185-billion renewable energy and grid buildout by 2035. Ontario recently brought 10 provinces and territories together in a National Energy Corridor Agreement to boost interprovincial and -territorial transmission infrastructure. And the MOU implementation agreement commits Alberta to facilitate investment in renewable energy projects, a big step back from its continuing, punitive restrictions on renewables development. The electricity strategy envisions much of the financing and infrastructure that will be needed to pull those advances together into an integrated whole. • Delivering on Affordability: The MOU implementation plan has little or nothing to say about affordability (are you surprised?), but the electricity strategy does, with a top-line pledge to reduce home energy costs for seven out of 10 Canadian households by 2050, a total saving of $15 billion across the board. It’s just a start, but it puts affordability on the government’s narrative map. If they’re serious and deliberate about patching together a least-cost energy strategy, it’ll have little if any room for oil, gas, or nuclear—not with powerful evidence, for example, that electricity prices are higher when those prices are set by gas. • Smith Proves that Canada Works: By signing a deal that makes it harder to claim the federal government is blocking a new pipeline, Smith has helped prove Carney’s constant anti-separatist refrain that “Canada works”—incurring the rage, no doubt, of her own political base. Canada also needs to work for anyone who depends on a clean environment, healthy and thriving ecosystems, and safe, stable climate. But with Smith and her separatist constituents setting up as a fifth column for annexation by Donald Trump’s United States, let’s set aside any notion that 51st state status for Canada is a recipe for anything other than climate disaster (and so much else). Resisting and withstanding Trump (just 170 more sleeps until mid-term elections, which is a damn sight better than the 730 we started with) doesn’t mean a free pass for a pipeline, but we can still appreciate it that keeping Canada whole and sovereign is still Carney’s Job One. • The Words Not Spoken: Apart from a commitment to export a million barrels of “low-emission” Alberta bitumen per day (memo to Smith and Carney: You realize that that’s less than the industry is already exporting??), the MOU implementation plan says nothing about the international trade and economic sovereignty deals that Carney has been travelling the world to negotiate. It didn’t have to. Carney doesn’t need permission from Danielle Smith, her American enablers, or her separatist allies to continue building the alliances that will ratchet down our economic dependency on our unstable, unreliable neighbour to the south. But every connection he builds with countries outside North America helps align our economy and our future with a faster shift off fossil fuels. Little if any of this was on our bingo cards a year or two ago. But it’s the pathway that has opened up to us. And if it gives Canada any climate or energy gains at all in an era still dominated by Trump and his increasingly ridiculous tariffs, his loutish trade negotiations and his continuing annexation threats, we have to take the wins. Not least because they’ll be the point of departure for what we can achieve in 2027, 2029, and beyond, as Trump’s grip and this era begin to loosen and then fade. What is Carney Doing? If this line of thought is right—and it’s a possibility, not a prediction—it means that Carney’s actions and decisions are largely about buying time. Time for Trump’s power to wane. Time for Alberta’s separatist/conspiracist virus to spread, mutate, die out, or at least die back, with help from a vaccine of federal steadiness and calm (appropriate enough, for a movement populated largely by vaccine deniers) that no conspiracy theory can dismiss. And time for the government’s trade and investment agenda to deliver results—even knowing that some of those results will bring impacts that front-line communities will not and should not accept. In the immediate moment, none of this changes the way the wider climate community has to respond, from campaigners to investors to front-line practitioners. All of our voices are still essential. But those voices will be stronger and more confident if we have a clearer sense of the brutal game we’ve been pulled into, and a plausible path (or two it three) for playing it to the win we need. This conversation also underscores our biggest task for the remaining years of what was supposed to be the “decisive” decade for climate response: if we can shift the energy narrative in Canada, make it a mainstream view that the country’s preoccupation with oil and gas has us falling farther behind a changing world, we’ll see far better results in the 2030s and beyond. For many veteran climate advocates, taking on that part of the fight will begin with recognizing that most of our friends and family, neighbours and colleagues already understand that climate change is real and right in front of us: they’re looking away and staying silent because they don’t have what climate communicator Katharine Hayhoe calls “efficacy”. As Hayhoe recently pointed out in a feature interview with The Energy Mix, it amounts to science denial to keep hammering away at the dire news about global warming without also helping audiences understand what they can do about it, with multiple studies telling us why that won’t work. Far better to open those conversations with the dominant crises like energy security, food security, emergency preparedness and business continuity, affordability, and financial security that have knocked climate change far lower on the list of public priorities, and will likely keep it there. We Knew This Would Happen Climate hawks have always known this day would come. For decades, we warned that everyone had to pay attention to climate change right now, because it would be much tougher to respond once the crisis itself started affecting our daily lives. We were right, and here we are. But now, thanks to decades of hard work, communities and countries have an alternative to doubling down on fossil fuels. “In 10 years everyone will have ‘always known’ that solar and batteries were going to win,” Morgan Solar Executive Chair Mike Andrade writes on LinkedIn. With the disruption in the Strait of Hormuz roiling energy priorities around the world, Canada and the United States are among the shrinking number of countries that are still very keen on fossil fuel development. Understanding that gap is a first, essential step in spotting the opportunities ahead, and averting the deep economic as well as environmental and social risk we face if we don’t seize them. Thanks for reading The Energy Mix Weekender! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support our work. Subscribe Mitchell Beer traces his background in renewable energy and energy efficiency back to 1977, in climate change to 1997. Now he and the rest of the Energy Mix team scan 1,200 news headlines a week to pull together The Energy Mix and The Energy Mix Weekender. Chart of the Week BYD Eyes 20 Dealership Locations After Canada Greenlights Chinese EV Imports ‘Sledgehammer’ Carbon Price Deal Boosts Emissions by 230Mt, Aims for Fall 2027 Pipeline Approval ‘Worse Than Harper’: Regulatory Rollback Would Stop Canada from Assessing Project Impacts, Critics Warn Electricity Strategy Aims for Doubling by 2050, Allows ‘Flexibility’ for Gas Power Plants Opposition Mounts as O’Leary’s Data Centre Approved in Drought-Stricken Utah Diluted Carbon Price Misses ‘Reality of the World We’re In’, Could Impede Diversified Trade: Climate Institute $200B in Clean Energy Investment Will Need On-Time Delivery, Reliable Policies, Trade Association Says ‘Sovereign Pipeline’: CEO Pitches to Keep Trans Mountain in Government Hands What a Supercharged El Niño Could Mean for Canada Canada’s future is electric, and here’s how a power grid superhighway would get us there (Toronto Star) The Perilous Waters of Hecate Strait (Globe and Mail) Saudi Aramco profits jump despite conflict in Middle East (The Guardian) Farmers confront rising cost of fertilizer and fuel as spring seeding under way (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) Clarkson forecasts 24% decline in offshore oil, gas capital expenditures (Oil & Gas Journal) Pipe Dreams: How Oil and Gas Fail to Deliver Economic Development in Africa (Oil Change International) Developing countries must hold the pen to script the fossil fuel transition (Climate Home News) Iran war threatens the dream of a post-oil economy in the Gulf (Washington Post) U.S. Oil, Gas Work Force Hits Lowest Level Since 2022 (Rigzone) Why Polestar Is Doubling Down on Net Zero as Rivals Pull Back on EVs (Bloomberg) Why this Michigan utility plans to sell its hydro dams for $13 (E&E News/Politico) Levees can no longer save New Orleans (Vox)
NASCAR tire carrier saves reporter from runaway pit box before Craftsman Truck Series race
NASCAR pit crew member Donovan Williams put his body on the line to save reporter Amanda Busick from a runaway pit box at Dover International Speedway.
Latvia’s president asks opposition leader to form new government
If opposition leader Kulbergs were to form a government, the cabinet lineup would need to be approved by parliament.
Xabi Alonso to Chelsea: Former Real Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen coach agrees four-year contract to be head coach at Stamford Bridge
Xabi Alonso has been out of work since being sacked by Real Madrid earlier this year; Chelsea were looking for a permanent replacement for Liam Rosenior, who was let go after just four months in charge; Alonso had been linked with the Liverpool role but Arne Slot looks set to stay
Business Notes: Sheetz looks to open location near Williamsburg
Possible Sheetz coming, Tipsy Beans reopens and a new market is coming to Williamsburg.
Austria proves too good for Britain at ice hockey worlds
Britain marked its return to the ice hockey world championship with a 5-2 loss to Austria on Saturday. Britain answered with a couple of goals through David Clements and Liam Kirk 37 seconds apart still in the first period before Austria stretched the lead with two more goals in the second when the newcomer was restricted to only two shots on goal. Peter Schneider scored twice for Austria.
Latvia’s President Nominates Kulbergs to Form New Government
Latvia’s President Edgars Rinkevics nominated Andris Kulbergs of the United List party to form a new government after Prime Minister Evika Silina resigned on Thursday ahead of parliamentary elections in October.
How one rural health system is designing targeted AI pilots to ease care delivery pressures
Berkshire Health Systems CIO William Young says artificial intelligence must do more than impress people with new features. It has to save time, cut waste, and help a rural health system survive mounting financial and operational strain.
Chartbook 449: Voldemort on Threadneedle street. The Bank of England and the "haunted house" of English politics.
Imagine the scene: In some Harry Potter version of 21st-century London, a group of deathless UK Treasury officials gathered from across the last century huddle over warm pints and glasses of Chardonnay. Around the table there are officials from the 1920s, the 1930s, the 1970s, 2022 and today. Inevitably, in May 2026, the subject of conversation is the disintegration of the current Labour government. Despite its huge majority in parliament, it has been reduced to tatters by catastrophic local election result. These exposed the fact that rather than having a government with a clear popular majority, the UK is like most other modern societies divided into 5 segments each of which commands between 26 and 16 percent of the vote. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the leadership at Nos 10 and 11 Downing Street - where the Prime Minister and the Chancellor (Treasury Secretary) work - seem paralyzed. They are caught between mounting discontent over unfairness and the cost of living, and tough fiscal strictures that push them into making unpopular spending decisions. In the London pub, the Treasury officials from across the ages, can barely hide their satisfaction at the latest display of democratic politics caught in the vice-grip of financial logic. “Remember the mur d’argent and the banker’s ramp?” “Just like yesterday!” There are smirks around the table. Then the representative of 2026 pipes up: “One thing you have to say about the current lot (referring to the latest hapless Labour government), you don’t have to teach them about the bond market!” There is a murmur of ascent from the Treasury Mandarins. The trauma of the fiscal crisis of September-October 2022 sits deep. Back then, in the final stages of Tory decay, a ‘mini budget’ that challenged fiscal orthodoxy led to a brief but fierce panic in one of the oldest government bond markets in the world (aka gilt market). Now all you have to do is to mention the “bond market” to hush debate. [ Paul Mason@paulmasonnews In the name of public service, and as ex-economics editor of BBC Newsnight, I offer to do a zoom call, tonight, with any Labour MP who wants to understand why bond markets do not "fall into line" with governments. 1/ 3:57 PM · May 12, 2026 · 466K Views 224 Replies · 674 Reposts · 3.93K Likes ](https://x.com/paulmasonnews/status/2054229532404519082?s=20) “And the funny thing is”, the young man in the huddle continues, “they don’t even want to talk about … ”. There is a sudden hush. Significant looks are exchanged around the table. About? One of the senior figures puts down his glass with a decisive “clink”. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has entered their thoughts. Meanwhile, a few miles away in a grubby pub in Bloomsbury, two conspirators from the camp of Critical Macrofinance huddle over cans of low-alcohol IPA. They look at each other and blurt out loud: “The Bank!” “Everyone in the bloody Labour party is talking about the bond market. But why aren’t they even mentioning … the Bank of England!?” “Why is no one talking about Voldemort?” In Paul Mason’s blogpost, after much chest-thumping about basic fiscal logic, the basic point about the Bank of England is buried in the fine print at #3 in his list of suggestions as to what a radical Labour government might actually be able to do! [ Conflict & Democracy Down with the bond market! Down with gravity! It may seem unfair to focus on Labour MP Paula Barker for her off-the-cuff assertion that the bond market would have to “fall in line” with Andy Burnham, should he replace Keir Starmer as prime minister. But Burnham himself told the New Statesman that Labour had to “get beyond this thing of being in hock to the bond markets… Read more 2 days ago · 100 likes · 3 comments · Paul Mason ](https://htsf.substack.com/p/down-with-the-bond-market-down-with?utm_source=substack&utm_campaign=post_embed&utm_medium=web) Back in Bloomsbury they shake their heads and ask: “Didn’t we learn anything from the Eurozone crisis?” Meanwhile, as if summoned to the conversation by some higher force, the “pink pages” announce: “The days of ultra-cheap government borrowing have come to an end” and Martin “Whizzard” Wolf publishes the graph of the season Look at the UK in 2026, perilously positioned on the upper edge of the pack. No wonder no one in London needs any lessons about the “bond market”. But, look again. Imagine how they feel in Rome. What is London’s nightmare in 2026? The nightmare is that you end up like Italy in the early 2010s during the Eurozone crisis. Once comfortably situated in the middle of the pack, watching with horror as your ten-year yields explode to 7 percent and “spreads” become a national nightmare. One of the largest economies in Europe, a founding member of the euro, stigmatized. But the message of the Italian experience is ambiguous. After all, the stigma didn’t last. In 2026, Italy borrows at rates lower not only than the UK but the US. The US, which, as everyone knows, enjoys the “exorbitant privilege” of being the issuer of reserve, safe asets. What kind of magic is this? How did Italy, in the space of fifteen years, go from being good, to bad and back again? Which brings us back to our dissident friends in their Bloombury boozer and their memories of the Eurozone crisis. Italy never was Britain - with its ongoing fiscal deficits. Without interest payments, on primary balance, from 2000 to 2020 Italy ran a tight fiscal ship. Even in 2008 it barely went into deficit and when it was being put on the rack in the early 20210s its primary surplus matched that of austere Germany. So, what happened? How did it end up stigmatized? Of course Italian politics didn’t help. Berlusconi was at the helm and he had legal issues. But amongst friends in the Bloomsbury pub, Berlusconi is a sideshow, the name we whisper to each other is “Trichet”. From 2004 to 2011 the ECB was headed by Jean-Claude Trichet, ex of the French Treasury, more German than the Germans. After 2009 as the news of the Greek fiscal disaster broke, the European bond markets wento into panic mode and Trichet began a brutal game of cat and mouse. Between 2009 and 2011, Trichet intervened in the bond market to help, only when he thought he had compliance with austerity. When he thought they were uncooperative, he withdrew. In the summer of 2011, he even made direct suggestions to his Italian counterparts in Rome, as to how Italy should be governed. It was this cat and mouse game that drove the bond markets crazy and exposed Italy to a violent squeeze. When Mario Draghi took over the ECB at the end of 2011 and declared “whatever it takes”, the pressure on Italy, gradually eased. It is that starring role that has made Draghi into the towering figure in European politics that he remains today. So now you see why voices in London hush when it comes to the Bank of England. “The bond market” isn’t an irresistible objective force like the weather or an avalanche. It can appear like that. But that depends on the way it is being handled, or not handled by the central bank. Which is why the silence about the Bank of England in London right now is so significant. If you think this all sounds a bit fishy, coming from a left-liberal Keynesian like myself, well, let me introduce you to Robin Brooks, who, to put it mildly, plays on a different quidditch team to me. Here, from the position of a fiscal hawk is Robin’s celebratory account of the Bank of England’s role since 2022; In October 2022, at the height of the bond market blow-up in the UK, something incredible happened. Governor Andrew Bailey told British pension funds the Bank of England would end its support program for the country’s fragile gilt market, drawing a line under how much help the central bank was willing to give to exposed pension funds and - implicitly - the government. By the end of that week, Kwasi Kwarteng - the finance minister - had resigned. Prime Minister Liz Truss would soon follow. This episode is so incredible because it contrasts with what happened in the Euro zone earlier that year. Bond markets in Spain and Italy were under pressure amid high inflation and rising interest rates. In the middle of this, Mario Draghi - Italy’s Prime Minister - resigned, compounding pressure on bond markets of high-debt countries on the Euro periphery. Unlike the Bank of England, the ECB caved. It bought Italian and Spanish government bonds in an effort to cap yields and introduced a new tool that signaled to markets it might do such caps more frequently going forward. Faced with pressure on bond markets, the ECB capitulated to political pressure from high-debt countries like Italy and Spain. The Bank of England stood its ground and toppled the Truss government. This kind of thing has long-lasting consequences. It means markets price a higher probability of yield caps in the Euro zone, which keeps Italian and Spanish yields artificially low, while markets feel free to push up UK yields without fear of central bank intervention. As I flagged in yesterday’s post, this means you really can’t compare UK yields to those of other high-debt countries. The UK looks worse, but only because its central bank isn’t interfering with markets. There’s more to this than just that 2022 episode. The Bank of England has also been much more aggressive in its quantitative tightening (QT) than other central banks. If one motivation for quantitative easing (QE) is to lower bond yields - especially longer-dated ones - then it stands to reason QT pushes yields up. The left chart above shows a four-quarter moving average of UK government debt issuance (black line) in percent of GDP and which sectors absorb this issuance, including the Bank of England (blue bars). The right chart above compares the Bank of England’s accumulation or run-off of government bonds (blue line) with that of other central banks, where this blue line is the same as the blue bars in the left chart. The Bank of England was quicker and more aggressive than other central banks in downsizing its bond holdings, so UK yields will have risen more than elsewhere also for this reason, not just because of Governor Andrew Bailey’s remarks in October 2022. Back in October 2025, after a conversation in New York with friends in British politics, my sense of dysphoria was such that I raised the issue of the Bank of England openly in the FT Since 2008, the UK has slid into a deep economic and political predicament. Growth has stagnated to a degree far worse even than in the 1970s. The Tory leadership’s wager on the Brexit referendum spectacularly backfired, leaving the UK isolated from Europe and at the mercy of its special relationship with the US, many of whose political class regard the UK as a basket case. After years of austerity, the Labour party lurched to the left and then back to the centre. The Tory party has been eclipsed by the populist nationalism of Reform. Any British government should be worrying first and foremost about how to restart growth. Instead, Keir Starmer is beset by shades of the gilt market panic triggered by the Liz Truss government in 2022. The debt level is higher than in recent years, but there is no cause for panic. UK debt is at far from critical levels and of long duration. Whether you want to “take back control” or launch progressive economic policy, a democracy dogged by fear of bond market vigilantes is unhealthy. In a country that is a monetary sovereign, this climate points to one thing: a disconnect between the government and the central bank. Since 1997, the independence of the Bank of England has become a sacred cow. But independence is what you make of it. And in the wake of the gilt market crisis of September 2022, relations between the Bank of England and the UK government need a reset. In normal times, there is no doubt that an inflation-targeting independent central bank can serve a country well. But since 2008, the UK and other advanced economies have not had the luxury of such simple problems. To their credit, central bankers around the world have not stood on orthodoxy. After 2008, the US Federal Reserve rescued the global banking system and, through quantitative easing, it stabilised the Treasury market in the face of huge deficits. In Europe, things were trickier. Both the Bank of England under Mervyn King and Jean-Claude Trichet’s European Central Bank played cat and mouse with national governments. This was a high stakes wager that between 2010 and 2012 escalated bond market tension and triggered a disastrous turn to austerity. Shaken by the impact of those shocks, their successors, Mark Carney and Mario Draghi adopted a more protective stance (assuming you were not the government of Greece). Recall that Draghi’s legendary slogan, “Whatever it takes”, was uttered to face down the City of London’s bond vigilantes. In 2015, Draghi launched QE — financial repression by another name. In 2016, Carney used the authority of the Bank of England to stabilise markets following the vote for Brexit, an exemplary demonstration of how central banks can underpin democratic choice, even when those choices are wrong headed. All these were independent central bankers steeped in the best practice of the 1990s, who recognised that historic crises demanded radical action. It was the price surge of 2021-2023 that poisoned the atmosphere. Though the shock came mainly from the supply side, central banks ended up in the dock. Nowhere more so than in the UK. The Bank of England reacted with aggressive normalisation. Faced with a cost of living crisis, the governor called for workers to accept real wage cuts. In early 2022, as gas prices were at record levels and Russia’s army was poised to invade Ukraine, the Bank adopted a stringent programme of quantitative tightening, elevating interest rates. When the Truss government got itself in trouble, the Bank took almost a week to come to the rescue. Rather than enacting a charade of normality, it is time to recognise that in 2025 the UK faces a period of historic transition. To meet this challenge, what is needed is a new concordat with the Bank. This should not ignore inflationary pressures or the long-run trajectory of debt, but should affirm the priority of reviving investment-led growth. One could follow Donald Trump in demanding interest rate cuts. The Bank could shadow the ECB in its commitment to capping Eurozone yields. But the top priority should be to lay the ghost of September 2022. The Bank’s slowing of QT last month was a concession. An immediate and complete end would send the right signal. Such a concordat will not by itself restore sanity to politics, solve the housing problem or rebuild the NHS. But it would help to lift the fear of bond market crisis, which is paralysing the effort by democratic politicians to answer the fundamental questions facing the nation. Now, that call for a new concordat between government and Bank of Englands seems more urgent than ever. The problem is that in October 2025, Starmer still had some authority. Today the government is in tatters. And when you are the “under the harrow” - to echo a phrase of Montagu Norman’s from the 1920s - it is the worst possible time to consider institutional change. To make general arguments at a time of crisis can only seem like special pleading rather than a general argument for long-term change. The same, unfortunately, is also true for the other basic institutional reform that Britain urgently needs i.e. the abolition of the out-dated first past the post electoral system and its replacement by a moderated form of proportional representation. And thirdly - whilst we are saying the quiet parts out loud - Britain needs to reopen the question of EU membership. What the local election results of 2026 show is that this remains a key issue. And what they also show is that there is a clear majority that would favor a return. Until these basic features of Britain’s political economy are addressed the country will carry on its politics as though in a haunted house, governed by governments that lack actual majorities, conjuring up false constraints whilst ignoring the real ones. This one is for DG and MI. I love writing the newsletter. If you enjoy it too and fancy buying me a coffee once a month, you know what to do. Click below! Subscribe
NFL 2026 schedule: Thanksgiving week expands again, five games headline holiday slate
The NFL schedule is officially here, and five games headline an ever-growing list of Thanksgiving-related football.
Kimberly Williams-Paisley reveals the health changes she made after vocal cord scare
The “9-1-1 Nashville” star talked to Fox News Digital about her two-year battle with partial vocal cord paralysis.
University at Albany opens up campus, and science exploration, to district students
The semester may be over at the University at Albany but the campus is still buzzing with student learning – it just may not be the students you expect. Junior Falcon scientists from North Albany Middle School, Stephen and Harriet Myers Middle School and William S. Hackett Middle School presented their experiments, and findings, to professors and graduate students at UAlbany’s Emerging Technology and Entrepreneurship (ETEC) Complex on Thursday. After the science fair, the sixth and seventh-graders explored ETEC – which houses researchers, educators and entrepreneurs – and the tour was followed by a discussion with a UAlbany atmospheric science researcher and the awards ceremony. Most will likely recognize one of the science fair judges – Damian participated in the project assessments and hopefully recruited some future Great Danes!
Venus Williams Returns to French Open After Five Years
At 45, Venus Williams is heading back to Roland Garros. The 14-time Grand Slam doubles champion will team up with Hailey Baptiste in the doubles draw, entering directly on their combined rankings without needing a wildcard.
Franklin Rodeo is more than entertainment; it supports charities with its proceeds
Franklin, Tenn. (May 11, 2026) – The annual Franklin Rodeo is more than entertainment. It’s giving back to others.
Former Newsom, Becerra aide may plead guilty in corruption case
Lawyers for Dana Williamson said a court hearing on federal corruption charges could be the venue for a plea deal
Attorney General threatens 8 New Orleans leaders with removal from office in court clerk battle
The AG warned Mayor Helena Moreno, District Attorney Jason Williams and five City Council members they were at risk of violating state "usurper" statutes.
Scientists and Virginia aquaculture industry unite to prepare for ocean acidification
Research by William & Mary’s Batten School & VIMS is bringing together scientists, shellfish farmers and community planners to prepare for environmental challenges related to ocean and coastal acidification in the Chesapeake Bay.
What’s in the King’s Speech?
‘Traditionally a moment for governmental clarity’, today’s opening of Parliament took place ‘amidst profound political uncertainty’
Watch: Pomp and ceremony as King delivers speech in Parliament
King Charles III has unveiled the government's agenda in a speech to Parliament.
Britain Politics King's Speech
Britain's King Charles III salutes to members of the Guards marching after the State Opening of Parliament at Buckingham Palace in London, Wednesday, May 13, 2026.(AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Prep talk: Pitchers to watch in Southern Section softball playoffs
To win a championship, a top pitcher has come through during the Southern Section softball playoffs.
Britain Politics King's Speech
Britain's King Charles III, center, and Queen Camilla, background right, walk up the stairs at the Norman Porch the State Opening of Parliament, in London, Wednesday, May 13, 2026. (Suzanne
Britain Politics King's Speech
Britain's King Charles III and Queen Camilla arrive for State Opening of Parliament, in London, Wednesday, May 13, 2026. (Suzanne Plunkett/Pool Photo via AP)
Britain Politics King's Speech
The Imperial State Crown arrives at the Sovereign's Entrance for the State Opening of Parliament in the House of Lords, in London, Wednesday May 13, 2026. (Aaron Chown/Pool Photo via
APTOPIX Britain Politics King's Speech
Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer and wife Victoria leave 10 Downing Street to attend the State Opening of Parliament at the Houses of Parliament in London, Wednesday, May 13, 2026.(AP
Britain Politics King's Speech
General view at the Chamber of the House of Lords before the State Opening of Parliament at the Palace of Westminster in London, Wednesday, May 13, 2026.(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, Pool)
Major declaration data shows English, Div. I up, computer science down
Students in the Class of 2028 declared their majors and concentrations on April 29, solidifying the academic paths they will pursue during their remaining time at the College. Registrar’s office data shared with the Record shows a sharp rise in Division I declarations, an all-time high in the number of English majors, and a continued decline in computer science majors.
Alix Earle & Hilary Duff Land Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 2026 Covers
Sports Illustrated Swimsuit names Alix Earle, Hilary Duff, Nicole Williams English and Tiffany Haddish as its 2026 cover stars in a global issue.
TODAY Reveals Sports Illustrated’s 2026 Swimsuit Covers
Alix Earle, Tiffany Haddish, Nicole Williams English and Hilary Duff are Sports Illustrated Swimsuit’s 2026 cover models. See the exclusive reveal!
2026 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Cover Models Are Alix Earle, Tiffany Haddish, Hilary Duff, Nicole Williams English: EXCLUSIVE
TODAY exclusively revealed the covers for SI Swimsuit 2026, which features more than 30 entertainers, athletes and more stars.
Tiffany Haddish Says Her 'Sports Illustrated Swimsuit' Cover Helped Her Get 'In Tune' with Her Body (Exclusive)
Tiffany Haddish tells PEOPLE about shooting her 2026 'Sports Illustrated Swimsuit' cover. Her fellow cover stars include Hilary Duff, Alix Earle and Nicole Williams English.
Randall Park recalls taking a road trip to see a girlfriend that ended with him in the hospital: 'I never made it'
Randall Park, who's taking over William Shatner's role as Priceline's Negotiator, reveals the worst trip he ever took.
John Isner, Venus Williams take on expanded roles as TNT Sports reveals 2026 Roland-Garros broadcast team
TNT Sports is giving John Isner and Venus Williams significantly more to do at this year’s Roland-Garros, the network announced Thursday. Isner and Williams are both taking on expanded roles for the 2026 tournament, which kicks off May 24 across TNT, truTV, and HBO Max. Williams, a seven-time Grand Slam singles champion who spent years…
Chicago’s Only Pinball Museum Moving From Pilsen To The Loop This Summer
The Flip: Chicago’s Playable Pinball Museum will open in Block 37 in a space that's quadruple its current size. “Chicago is the home of pinball,” founder William Pietri said.
Prince William Continues Campaign to Break Stigmas Around Male Mental Health with Latest Solo Outing
Prince William traveled to Birmingham to open James’ Place, a life-saving center for men facing suicide.
Business Briefs May 11, 2025: Business news in the Berkshires and beyond
Business news from Williams College Museum of Art, Beacon Financial, Berkshire Workforce Board, Literacy Network, and more
Jalen Williams' Thunder-Lakers Game 4 status officially revealed
Jalen Williams' Oklahoma City Thunder, Los Angeles Lakers Game 4 status officially revealed.
Arizona Cardinals UDFA profile: S Wydett Williams Jr.
S Wydett Williams Jr. was one of the Cardinals' seven rookie free agent additions. Find out more about him.
Arizona Cardinals UDFA profile: DL Damonic Williams
DL Damonic Williams was one of the Cardinals' seven rookie free agent additions. Find out more about him.
Athletic Club’s Nico Williams sparks Spain World Cup fears
Athletic Club star Nico Williams has on Sunday sparked concern across the Spanish football landscape.This comes after the winger was forced into a premature departure from Athletic’s latest La Liga ...
Wachtell co-chair William Savitt on career, representing big clients
William Savitt drove a cab before clerking for Ruth Bader Ginsburg and taking on Elon Musk in court. Here's his advice for young lawyers.
Hungary's next health minister dances outside parliament after Magyar sworn in as PM
Hungarian Health Minister-designate Zsolt Hegedűs danced in front of Budapest's Parliament building after the inauguration of the country’s new national assembly and Péter Magyar as the new prime minister.
Community encouraged to support East William Street businesses during construction
As construction continues on the East William Street Project, Carson City Public Works encourages the community to visit businesses located along the corridor more now than ever. Restaurants, shops, and […]