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Beijing Summit Highlights U.S.-China Business Ties — Like Them Or Not
"Both sides need each other,” China business expert and author Ker Gibbs says.
Lemonade Day offers children chance to learn business skills and money management
Children will sell lemonade and other self-made items around Dickinson County
Lincoln police arrest man suspected in 6 business burglaries
The Lincoln Police Department has identified and arrested the man allegedly responsible for six burglaries across the city.
Health officials monitoring growing number of people for hantavirus
The 4th Linux kernel flaw this month can lead to stolen SSH host keys
The good news is there's already a patch. The bad news is that the fix isn't available for all Linux distributions yet. Here's what you can do in the meantime.
Connecticut health officials warn of hepatitis A outbreak linked to shellfish
The Connecticut Department of Public Health warned residents about a hepatitis A outbreak in New York that has been linked to shellfish.
US moves to end job protections for hundreds of health department workers
President Donald Trump's administration on Friday moved to strip U.S. Department of Health and Human Services workers of civil service job protections, according to an email reviewed by Reuters.
Jefferson Health had a $252.6 million operating loss in the nine months ended March 31
The loss included $94.6 million in restructuring charges related to layoffs last fall and other moves designed to improve the nonprofit’s future financial performance.
USA TODAY Sports Super 25 girls flag football rankings entering mid-May
After another week of play, who are the best flag football teams in the country?
What It Takes To Build A Lasting Family Business. Plus: Catch Hiring Managers’ Attention In 11 Seconds
Welcome to this week’s ForbesWomen newsletter, which every Thursday brings news about the world’s top female entrepreneurs, leaders and investors straight to your inbox.
New Wings exhibit traces Paul McCartney’s reinvention as husband, father and bandleader
A new exhibit at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland features the largest public display ever assembled of Paul McCartney’s personal artifacts | Talk 1370
Cincinnati business owner raises money for best friend’s funeral after crash
Cincinnati business owner set up his food stand to raise money to help cover his best friend’s funeral costs.
A look at loneliness and teen mental health
East Tennessee business to lay off more than 120 employees, move to North Carolina
The workers will be laid off effective July 13, the WARN Notice said.
HOMETOWN ENTERTAINMENT: Jacoozy among the On the Rise Contenders at FloydFest 26-Daydream
The jam-rock band from North Carolina is set to perform at FloydFest on July 24.
Check out UNR graduation photos — science, nursing, speech pathology
Check out photos of the 2026 graduation ceremonies for the College of Science, Orvis School of Nursing and the School of Medicine (Speech Pathology).
Thousands of Latinos could lose health coverage in Florida. Here's why
More than 4 million Latinos are projected to lose their health insurance over the next ten years in the U.S., according to a new report.
See renderings of renovated Cox Science Center & Aquarium in West Palm
The Cox Science Center & Aquarium will expand after its renovation is complete. Here's a sneak peak of what the renovation will look like.
Bam! Pow! Krakoom! The everlasting allure of the American comic book
They are ridiculous | Talk 1370
The Battery Atlanta inspires SEC programs to create entertainment districts
In this NIL age of college sports, The Battery Atlanta is a model of a revenue stream that also benefits the community.
How this South Jersey multi-sport athlete made her way onto the U.S. Special Olympics roster
Florida city offers businesses year of free rent. How it works
Hialeah is offering businesses one year of free rent — if they're willing to move into a city-owned building.
Uganda confirms outbreak of Ebola virus disease
Uganda on Friday confirmed an outbreak of the highly infectious Ebola virus disease, the health ministry said, adding that the outbreak involves the Bundibugyo strain.
Entertainment: Book of Mormon Sales begin, Hoku Finalists
"The Book of Mormon" returns to the Blaisdell Concert Hall later this year after a sold out Honolulu run nearly a decade ago.
Tech-Ignored: How AI Innovation Is Widening The Digital Health Divide
AI in healthcare is booming but the digital health divide is widening. How underserved communities are being tech-ignored.
Stephen Colbert reveals his final guests on 'The Late Show'
Stephen Colbert's final week on "The Late Show" is coming into focus, with CBS revealing the schedule for the show's last stretch of episodes.
ReHouse Architectural Salvage going out of business after 24 years
Retiring owner: ‘I feel terrible about it. But it’s a tough business and hard work.’
Jane Schoenbrun's queer slasher movie 'Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma' jolts Cannes
A bold, bloody queer slasher film starring Hannah Einbinder and Gillian Anderson gave the Cannes Film Festival a gonzo jolt | Talk 1370
Scientists Are Counting The Diseases Climate Change Causes
A new report from the American Academy of Microbiology examines how attribution science is measuring the infectious disease burden caused by climate change.
Google tests 5 GB cap for users who skip phone numbers
New accounts may get only 5 GB instead of 15
US plans to indict Cuba’s Raúl Castro, DOJ official says
The development comes amid heightened tensions between Washington and Havana.
Vermont high school sports scores, results, stats for Friday, May 15
Vermont high school sports scores and results as reported to the Burlington Free Press sports department.
Willkommen, bienvenue, welcome to a Eurovision Song Contest that embraces linguistic diversity
English has long dominated pop music, but it no longer reigns supreme at the Eurovision Song Contest | Talk 1370
Opinion: Anchorage must stop treating small businesses like major developments
If city leaders want more local businesses, they should start by making low-impact projects faster, clearer and less financially punishing.
Dallas weighs City Hall’s future as potential Mavericks sports, entertainment site
There were 418 submissions from residents, developers, architects, business leaders and others who responded to the city’s call for concepts favored repairing or restoring the Dallas City Hall.
NBA Draft Combine winners: Awards for top performers, including Cameron Boozer and the biggest riser
Democratic Rep. Steve Cohen drops reelection bid after redistricting in Tennessee
"I cannot condone piracy, but I get why people do" - Subnautica 2 lead designer airs frustration at 'flagrant' pirates
This comes as Subnautica 2 makes a massive splash on Steam and Xbox, boasting over two million copies sold.
Nevada health officials monitoring possible hantavirus cases
Health officials with the state of Nevada say they are monitoring possible Hantavirus cases linked to an outbreak aboard a cruise ship.
Cape Coral sitcom: Dixie Roadhouse shoot for 'Jimmy on the Rocks'
The pilot episode of new TV show "Jimmy on the Rocks" was shot in June 2025 at Cape Coral's Dixie Roadhouse. It's been screening at film festivals.
Where to watch Washington Mystics vs Indiana Fever on May 15: TV channel, start time and streaming
Here's how to watch Friday's Indiana Fever vs Washington Mystics game, including start times, TV channels, scores and how to stream.
Michigan Matters: Power Panel Dissects Huge Political Year
NYC Council trying to ease storefront gate transparency law's impact on business
Marathon "overwhelming" for newcomers, director admits as plans for PvE and PvP-lite modes revealed
Game director Joe Ziegler has written a lengthy article about the future of Marathon.
Another ‘Crimson Desert’ Patch Adds Even More Mounts, New Combat Moves
Pearl Abyss has unleashed yet another Crimson Desert patch, continuing its blinding pace of additions. Here's what's in this one.
BioWare had a plan to reboot Star Wars: The Old Republic and make it more KOTOR like, but EA's board of directors shut it down
It was to be called The New Republic and make the Star Wars MMO feel much more like KOTOR. Key figures were on board with it. But the idea crashed on the rocks
WSFA welcomes Sports Reporter Maya Kitchens
Our sports department is back to full strength! Welcome to the team, Maya!
Starmer, Burnham, Farage, Polanski: they make a week in politics feel like an eternity in Hades
It’s your life in their hands, but what kind of life is that? No wonder a wearied, confused public has mobilised into tribes – or just tuned out, says Guardian columnist Marina Hyde
Detroit’s Business of Food Summit brings chefs, food leaders together
The 2026 Business of Food Summit in Detroit is free to attend and features discussion panels and networking with food industry leaders.
Deion: Shedeur Sanders ‘went through hell’ during NFL Draft process, rookie season with Browns
‘Marathon’ Is Pulling The PvE Trigger In Season 2, A Sign Of Things To Come
Marathon is adding a pure PvE mode as a trial in season 2, with PvP coming down the road, indicating a potential transformation for the game.
Andrew Abbott leaned into some science to get his season back on track
Andrew Abbott has been working closely with the Reds biomechanics team
Health agency names two schools affected by Berkshire meningitis outbreak
Students from Reading Blue Coat school, and Highdown secondary school and Sixth Form Centre receiving treatment
Food, fun & entertainment: Grapevine Main Street Fest has fun for the entire family this weekend
Slimy lettuce, moldy jalapeños found during Reno health inspections
Four Reno restaurants were cited in late April for health code violations including improperly thawed tuna, slimy lettuce and visibly expired steaks.
Sports Daily Live: Chiefs release full schedule
What can we expect from the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2026 season? We take a game-by-game look at the schedule.
Stefan Vedovelli Claims College Sports Communicators Academic All-District® Recognition
Junior Honored for Dedication to His Studies
Birding linked to better brain health
Health Rounds: Common ADHD medicines help treat cancer-related fatigue
We also report on findings that help explain why the flu can be particularly dangerous for pregnant women and that open the door to potential future treatments.
BT revives talks for international business sale, Sky News reports
UK's BT is reviving talks over a possible sale or partnership of its struggling international business a year after halting negotiations, Sky News reported.
VIDEO: Bill in the works to lower cost of youth sports
Many families are paying about $5,000 per child to get them involved in competitive sports outside of school, according to Sen. Chris Murphy.
Two orphan manatees begin rehab at Bradenton's Bishop Museum of Science
IN BRIEF: Special blessing for new Epiphany Cathedral church bells; SPD supports Special Olympics; new Venice Middle School principal; Pinewood Derby.
California bill pushing to keep games playable after server shutdowns passes key hurdle, paving way for full assembly vote
A Stop Killing Games-backed California bill pushing to keep games playable after server shutdowns has passed an appropriations committee vote.
Exclusive: At Samsung, the global AI boom spurred a looming strike and deep divisions
A looming 18-day strike at South Korean chip giant Samsung that has triggered worries within the government, rattled foreign investors and threatened global supply chains rests on one crucial question: who should share in the spoils of the AI boom?
How a Jim Caviezel film got mixed up in a Brazilian political scandal
American actor Jim Caviezel's upcoming feature "Dark Horse," a biopic about former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, has been billed by a movie industry publication as a thriller about the far-right firebrand's battle "against a corrupt establishment."
How new Florida law will change high school sports rosters overnight
Florida Senate Bill 538 requires non-traditional student-athletes to play sports at a high school in the county in which they reside.
Packers' 2026 schedule includes seven national TV games, six at night
As schedules go, the 2026 version for the Packers has some elements not seen before.
Your kid's more likely to eat vegetables if you stick to an easy healthy habit during pregnancy
America's most powerful CEOs don't have much to show from their China trip so far
With red-carpet treatment, selfies and culinary diplomacy, America's richest and most powerful executives - from Tesla's Elon Musk to Nvidia's Jensen Huang - sought to rekindle business ties with China this week at a leadership summit in Beijing.
Brad Raffensperger can’t outrun 2020 election. Neither can Georgia politics.
It's been six years since Donald Trump lost Georgia. But that election is still driving campaigns in both major political parties.
Notre Dame says jump. ACC asks how high. Inside college football's most dysfunctional relationship
The Fighting Irish can insult, blame and posture — safe in the knowledge the ACC will never push back.
NMU Athletics announces the 2026 NMU Sports Hall of Fame class
MARQUETTE, Mich. – The Northern Michigan University Department of Athletics proudly announces the newest inductees to the NMU Sports Hall of Fame. The 2026 class includes Bernie Anderson (wrestling/football/coach), Rachel Helm (swim & dive), Shayla Manitowabi-Huebner (track & field), Kirsten (Silvester) Namesnik (swim & dive), Al Mitchell (boxing/coach), Mark Rosen (volleyball/coach), and the 1979 women's field hockey team.
Subnautica 2 already has huge concurrent player counts and has swum to one million sales already
Within its first 24 hours live, Subnautica 2 has made a dominating start on Steam, though console figures remain a mystery.
Senator proposes bill to lower youth sports costs
Many families are paying about $5,000 per child to get them involved in competitive sports outside of school, according to Sen. Chris Murphy.
Britain's pound, stocks and bonds fall on political uncertainty, global inflation angst
British government bonds, stocks and sterling fell on Friday, as domestic political uncertainty clashed with global worries about an inflationary shock, leaving UK assets in the mire.
This Pennsylvania fundraising walk is bringing thousands of dollars to free mental health programs
Africa's top health body confirms new Ebola outbreak in remote Congo province
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
Sports quiz of the week: FA Cup final, NFL, Giro and Women’s Six Nations
Have you been following the big stories in football, rugby, tennis, boxing, cycling, golf and the NFL?
Africa CDC says Ebola outbreak confirmed in Congo's Ituri province
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said on Friday that there was a confirmed outbreak of Ebola virus disease in Congo's Ituri province.
Hantavirus outbreak tests post-COVID health communications playbook
A rodent-borne virus with a scary name. A mid-ocean cruise ship in quarantine. Several people dead and more falling sick.
Can flailing Trump hold on to the Senate in the midterms?
Democrats think they can flip the Senate blue in November, and they’re hoping a group of interesting characters will help them do it. This week, Jonathan Freedland is joined by Jonathan Martin of Politico to discuss the chances of such an upset and what it would mean for the president to lose the upper chamber