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Fertitta Entertainment Agrees to Acquire Caesars Entertainment in $17.6B Deal

HOUSTON, LAS VEGAS AND RENO, NEV. — Fertitta Entertainment Inc., a private holding company controlled by the NBA’s Houston Rockets governor (i.e. owner) Tilman Fertitta, has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire casino and gaming giant Caesars Entertainment (NASDAQ: CZR) for $17.6 billion. Fertitta Entertainment plans to finance the acquisition through a combination of equity, assumed Caesars’ outstanding debt (approximately $11.9 billion) and new committed debt financing arranged by a consortium of 10 banks. Under terms of the agreement, Caesars shareholders will receive $31 in cash for each outstanding share, which represents a 49 percent premium to the company’s unaffected stock price on Feb. 25 (the last trading day before rumors of a potential transaction were reported) — $20.77 per share. Upon completion of the transaction, shares of Caesars Entertainment common stock will no longer be listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange. Caesars operates several major Las Vegas Strip properties, such as Caesars Palace, Harrah’s, Paris Las Vegas, Planet Hollywood, Horseshoe, The LINQ Hotel, Flamingo and The Cromwell. Fertitta Entertainment owns Golden Nugget Hotels & Casinos and operates more than 450 full-service restaurants around the world, including Landry’s, Rainforest Café and Morton’s. According to the press releases issued by both companies,…

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May 29 • 7:48 AM EDT • Entertainment • rebusinessonline.com
Cardiff pair in BBC's League One team of season

Cardiff City defenders Joel Bagan and Dylan Lawlor have been named in BBC Sport's League One team of the season. Both players are graduates of the Bluebirds academy and played a key role as Brian Barry-Murphy's side secured an instant return to the Championship. Bagan, 24, scored once in 52 games in all competitions during the season and recently signed a new four-year contract with Cardiff.

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May 29 • 6:18 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
Trump: the boy who cried ‘peace’ in the Middle East

This week, as the US-Iran deal remains in a precarious state, Jonathan Freedland speaks to Ali Vaez of the International Crisis Group about why Trump keeps changing his mind on what to do to end the war

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May 29 • 6:00 AM EDT • Politics • theguardian.com
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Times/Siena Poll: 43% of Voters Dissatisfied With Both Parties

Persistent frustration over the economy and foreign policy have left many Americans feeling politically homeless, and young voters are particularly frustrated.

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May 29 • 5:01 AM EDT • Politics • nytimes.com
Ebola and hantavirus outbreaks raise questions about Trump's health agency cuts
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May 29 • 5:00 AM EDT • Health • cbsnews.com
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Google won the search war. It's using the same tactic to win in AI.

Inference costs are becoming a race to the bottom, and Google's full stack AI approach puts it in a good position to offer cheaper tokens.

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May 29 • 5:00 AM EDT • Technology • businessinsider.com
As Federal Wetlands’ Protections Falter, Washington State Scientists Turn to AI as a Conservation Tool

The new Wetland Intrinsic Potential tool provides both agricultural and conservation interests a more accurate way to find wetlands that might need preserving.

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May 29 • 4:55 AM EDT • Science • insideclimatenews.org
Tesla has far fewer autonomous vehicles on Texas roads than Waymo

In January, Tesla said that some of its robotaxis in Austin have begun operating without a human chaperone.

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May 29 • 3:01 AM EDT • Business • businessinsider.com
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Jalen Williams played in Thunder's Game 6 loss to Spurs, but did not start and scored 1 point
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May 29 • 1:11 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
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After a dominant Game 6, Victor Wembanyama's winner-take-all moment has arrived
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May 29 • 12:55 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
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Caitlin Clark becomes fastest player in WNBA history to reach 1,000 points and 500 assists as Valkyries pull off narrow win
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May 29 • 12:35 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
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George Conway: Republicans will want to remove Trump before 2029
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May 29 • 12:23 AM EDT • Politics • cnn.com
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Ireland Contracting Nightly Sports Call: May 28, 2026
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May 28 • 10:51 PM EDT • Sports • cbsnews.com
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Paul Skenes strikes out 10, including 7 of first 8 batters, but Pirates' defense falters in loss to Cubs
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May 28 • 10:46 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
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Nonprofit helps older people in Colorado address mental health by creating connections
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May 28 • 9:46 PM EDT • Health • cbsnews.com
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I’m an IVF Doctor. Business Is Booming Because Ob-Gyns Aren’t Doing Their Jobs.

Just last Monday, a woman sat across from me in my office and asked a question I have come to dread. Why had no one told her? She is 33, a therapist, married three years, and she has been to her gynecologist every year since high school. She was also on the brink of perimenopause. She had assumed that when she was ready, her body would be too. No one in two decades of annual visits had ever explained that the most consequential decisions about her capacity to bear children were being made by her ovaries on a calendar she could not see, while her doctor took her blood pressure and refilled her birth control. She is the patient I see several times a month. She is the most preventable tragedy in American medicine. I am board certified in both obstetrics and gynecology, and reproductive endocrinology. There’s a fertility crisis happening right now in America—and a furious debate about who is to blame. The alleged culprits include housing, smartphones, and capitalism. One group is getting off lightly: ob-gyns. Read [ How Perimenopause Became America’s New Health Scare ](https://www.thefp.com/p/how-perimenopause-became-americas) In July, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that the U.S. fertility rate had fallen to fewer than 1.6 children per woman—the lowest figure in our history—despite a 2025 survey of American Gen-Z women that found that nearly three-quarters intended to become mothers. American women are not opting out of building a family. They are running out of time.

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May 28 • 9:12 PM EDT • Business • thefp.com
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The business behind bringing a permanent MLB team to Sacramento
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May 28 • 8:56 PM EDT • Business • yahoo.com
The business behind bringing a permanent MLB team to Sacramento
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May 28 • 8:56 PM EDT • Business • cbsnews.com
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For A.J. Brown trade, it's Patriots or no one
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May 28 • 8:50 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
Political newcomer Ethan Agarwal challenging longtime Congressman Ro Khanna
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May 28 • 8:33 PM EDT • Politics • cbsnews.com
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Kamin Science Center's "Science of Speed" exhibit opens in August
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May 28 • 8:19 PM EDT • Science • cbsnews.com
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Kamin Science Center set to debut new Science of Speed exhibit
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May 28 • 8:09 PM EDT • Science • cbsnews.com
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Main Street Promenade opens ahead of World Cup, giving downtown Houston businesses hope for a major boost
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May 28 • 7:56 PM EDT • Business • click2houston.com
Nonprofit helps older Coloradans address mental health by creating connections
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May 28 • 7:56 PM EDT • Health • cbsnews.com
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Chicago elementary school students get lesson in compassion through adaptive sports
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May 28 • 7:09 PM EDT • Sports • cbsnews.com
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Chicago elementary school students get lesson in compassion through adaptive sports
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May 28 • 6:56 PM EDT • Sports • cbsnews.com
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"Bad actors" in the body are emboldened mentally and physically by stress, Mount Sinai study shows
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May 28 • 6:30 PM EDT • Health • cbsnews.com
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Ballot drive targets big money in Michigan politics after 560,000 signatures filed
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May 28 • 6:29 PM EDT • Politics • upnorthlive.com
Bridgeport’s Becky Pepper-Jackson wins state shot put title, fueling trans sports debate
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May 28 • 6:27 PM EDT • Sports • wchstv.com
Danville business recovering after having thousands of dollars of clothes stolen
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May 28 • 6:22 PM EDT • Business • wsls.com
Mount Sinai study examines impact of stress on mental, physical health
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May 28 • 6:20 PM EDT • Health • cbsnews.com
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Could the SEC actually govern itself? With college sports in dire straits, more options are on the table
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May 28 • 6:13 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
School proms relocated from popular Swansea restaurant due to 'health and safety concerns'
turnto10.com logo
May 28 • 6:10 PM EDT • Health • turnto10.com
Demand for mental health support groups is growing — here's how NAMI Minnesota is responding
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May 28 • 6:01 PM EDT • Health • cbsnews.com
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Minnesota DFL and GOP set to hold dueling political conventions this weekend to endorse candidates
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May 28 • 5:55 PM EDT • Politics • kare11.com
Inside Why Cowboys' George Pickens Faces Major Pressure Amid Expectations
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May 28 • 5:40 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
Scientists found the optimal robot body, and it has 20 legs ‪—‬ watch it scale walls and move through trees

A sea-urchin-like robot could offer a new blueprint for making more versatile robots, research suggests.

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May 28 • 5:01 PM EDT • Science • livescience.com
From 'Lobstah Poutine' to the 'Schwarbomb Sundae', the MLB concession battle is heating up
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May 28 • 3:26 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
Bessent: Nothing ‘untoward’ about Trump’s face on a $250 bill
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May 28 • 3:19 PM EDT • Politics • cnn.com
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NBA Draft lottery: League owners vote in favor of new 3-2-1 format aimed to prevent tanking
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May 28 • 3:14 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
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The Cosmetic Chemist is teaching us the science behind sunscreen!
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May 28 • 2:43 PM EDT • Science • cbsnews.com
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Plan for Ebola facility in Kenya draws fierce criticism – from both the CDC and Kenyan doctors

The plan to launch this week a health facility in Kenya for Americans who may have been exposed to the Ebola virus has received widespread criticism – from both Kenyan doctors and US officials working at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

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May 28 • 2:20 PM EDT • Health • cnn.com
Alvin Kamara is not attending Saints Thursday OTA practice
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May 28 • 1:04 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
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Jannik Sinner's loss at Roland Garros is one of the biggest sports betting upsets ever, by the odds
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May 28 • 12:46 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
Billionaire Tilman Fertitta buying Las Vegas Strip icon Caesars Entertainment in $18B deal
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May 28 • 11:50 AM EDT • Entertainment • nypost.com
State officials highlight fire safety, insurance protection at Small Business Month event
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May 28 • 11:27 AM EDT • Business • fox43.com
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Have the Thunder solved Victor Wembanyama?
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May 28 • 11:15 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
Guilford County Sports Hall of Fame inducts 11 new members in Class of 2026
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May 28 • 11:14 AM EDT • Sports • wfmynews2.com
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Waymo launches spacious Ojai robotaxi in major cities. We tested it.

Waymo introduced the Ojai robotaxi for spacious rides in San Francisco, Phoenix, and Los Angeles. We tested it out and brought our suitcases.

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May 28 • 11:00 AM EDT • Business • businessinsider.com
Mint and Rice Robotics Launch Joint Venture to Expand AI Companion Robot Business with HK$15M in funding

Hong Kong, May 28, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mint Incorporation Limited (“Mint” or the “Company”, together with its subsidiaries, the “Group”,...

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May 28 • 10:48 AM EDT • Business • markets.businessinsider.com
Study shows some parents are stressed about their children's mental health
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May 28 • 10:34 AM EDT • Health • 10tv.com
Tony Blair’s ‘dramatic’ intervention: helpful or harmful?

Both Wes Streeting and Andy Burnham have accused Blair of failing to focus on inequality

theweek.com logo
May 28 • 10:31 AM EDT • Politics • theweek.com
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UNC Health Championship ready to tee off in Raleigh
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May 28 • 10:14 AM EDT • Health • wral.com
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Women's College World Series scores, live updates: Texas Tech-Mississippi State opens up WCWS after Bulldogs knock OU out of 2026 NCAA softball tournament
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May 28 • 10:02 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
Launder Your Bottom Line with Money Fronts Bonuses

Give tourists and locals a bird’s-eye view of the Southern San Andreas scenery while taking your money laundering business to new heights with the Higgins Helitours front — available for Hands On Car Wash owners to claim for free at Maze Bank...

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May 28 • 9:56 AM EDT • Technology • rockstargames.com
Watch live: Phillies, Sixers, Eagles, Flyers to discuss "significant new investment" in South Philadelphia
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May 28 • 9:49 AM EDT • Sports • cbsnews.com
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WATCH LIVE: Vance delivers U.S. Air Force Academy commencement address
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May 28 • 9:28 AM EDT • Politics • pbs.org
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's lawyers reportedly send cease and desist to Underdog Sports over foul-baiting board game
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May 28 • 9:18 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
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Students invited to explore medicine at Dr. Webb Health Career Day
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May 28 • 9:13 AM EDT • Health • news4sanantonio.com
Are hurricanes getting stronger? What the science — and AI — say about the future of storm forecasting
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May 28 • 9:00 AM EDT • Science • news4jax.com
Johnstown Peer Empowerment Network offers support during Mental Health Awareness Month
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May 28 • 8:52 AM EDT • Health • wjactv.com
French Open: Jannik Sinner upset by Juan Manuel Cerundolo after being granted controversial cramping timeout
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May 28 • 8:49 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
Anthony Gordon to Barcelona: Why forward is in such high demand after scoring just six Premier League goals last season
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May 28 • 8:45 AM EDT • Sports • skysports.com
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iOS 27's New Siri App and 'Search or Ask' Feature Leaked in Screenshots

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman today shared a series of re-created screenshots that reveal iOS 27's all-new Siri app and "Search or Ask" functionality. The images are renders that were created based on information obtained by Bloomberg. With the Siri app, iPhone, iPad, and Mac users will be able to interact with Apple's assistant in both text and voice modes. The app will allow for back-and-forth conversations, complete with messaging history that can be set to expire.

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May 28 • 8:28 AM EDT • Technology • macrumors.com
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.”

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May 28 • 8:00 AM EDT • Science • sciencebusiness.net
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.”

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May 28 • 8:00 AM EDT • Science • sciencebusiness.net
Manchester United transfer news: Marcus Rashford could still re-join Barcelona despite Anthony Gordon deal but Julian Alvarez a factor
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Sterling slipped for a third straight day against both the euro and the dollar, as investors focused on Middle East tensions and lingering domestic political ​concerns.

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May 28 • 5:02 AM EDT • Business • france24.com
Here’s how a new law will change Minnesota’s cannabis and hemp industries

Cannabis and hemp supply chains will merge, businesses making hemp-derived products will have an easier time transitioning into the cannabis market, hemp-derived THC drinks can now be sold in sizes similar to liquor bottles, and more.

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May 28 • 5:00 AM EDT • Business • mprnews.org
Former CA lieutenant governor on Gavin Newsom: ‘The poor guy wants to be president so bad’
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Shohei Ohtani throws 6 hitless innings, hits leadoff home run to push Dodgers past Rockies
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Aurora report calls for mental health crisis review after deadly police shooting
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Dodgers send Enrique Hernández back to IL due to oblique tear, lose Teoscar Hernández to apparent hamstring injury
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NY Times: CIA official accused of stealing $40M in gold bars
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Black and white or in color: 'Spider Noir' now streaming on Prime Video

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May 27 • 9:33 PM EDT • Entertainment • spectrumlocalnews.com
Black and white or in color: 'Spider Noir' now streaming on Prime Video

All eight episodes of “Spider Noir” are now streaming on Prime Video in both color and black and white.

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Arvin High School students explore ocean science through pilot conservation program
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As Orange County evacuations end, families return home, businesses reopen, and kids are back in school
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Veteran's suicide on Memorial Day spurs awareness for mental health from Detroit outreach group

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Americans on health insurance: "I pay a lot of money for and it covers very little"
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Opinion: The science behind Alaska’s predator control programs

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Wrongful death lawsuit filed against Miami plastic surgery business for the deaths of two patients
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