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Investment and Statecraft: The International Politics of Sovereign Wealth Funds - Georgetown Journal of International Affairs
In 1953, Kuwait established the world’s first sovereign wealth fund to invest the country’s oil revenues and generate returns that would reduce its reliance on a single resource. Since then, over 100 separate funds have been created to preserve national wealth and ensure long-term fiscal sustainability. Today, they manage over $10 trillion in global assets. In this discussion with GJIA, political economist Kathryn Lavelle explains the increasingly novel dynamics that surround fund behavior and what the world can come to expect from their growing presence in international financial markets. GJIA: When it comes to the roles sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) play in global markets and politics, what would you say makes them unique? Kathryn Lavelle: Sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) operate on behalf of governments as investors. That in itself is a strange relationship. Within them, a core contest takes place between the state’s interests (or sovereign) part of the dynamic, and the money interests (or wealth) part of it, and these two aspects are frequently in contradiction, serving fundamentally different goals. SWFs are also quite fascinating because when you talk to the people who manage these funds, they have an interest in convincing you that the decisions are made almost exclusively on a financial basis—they really will go to great lengths to differentiate their government owners and those who make the management decisions. At the same time, these people ultimately answer to someone in power. Therefore, for most SWFs, it remains deeply unclear who is actually making the investment decisions and for what purposes. Of course, it is not always clear how other vehicles, such as hedge funds and private equity make the decisions they do, but I think what a lot of people find particularly disconcerting about SWFs is that they seem to act on behalf of people who have a different identity from their own. People who could be trying to manipulate politics and markets in a way that would have a long-term effect on their own populations. Regular investors come and go at will, and they only share an interest in profit as far as most of us understand. However, SWFs have that extra “sovereign” part right behind them that obscures their true interest. GJIA: These funds can be found in countries all across the globe, in both authoritarian states and democracies. Would you say SWFs differ in their goals and structures between regime-type? KL: It is not necessarily regime type that makes the goals and structures of SWFs different. It has to do with their economies. Let’s look at a country like China. There’s going to be a debate about exactly how to characterize the regime, but it is a country with many different kinds of sovereign wealth funds, and a particularly opaque state connection to each. At one time, some of the state-owned Chinese oil companies created specialized investment vehicles listed outside Chinese markets that excluded parts of the firms that were more associated with human rights violations. At the same time, the China Investment Corporation (CIC)—China’s largest SWF—draws a lot of concern, not necessarily because of its investment activities, but because of the dynamics of global politics. So, I wouldn’t really tie differences to regime types themselves in a wholesale way, but rather to how such funds are perceived and how they are structured. Saudi Arabia’s SWF is getting all kinds of attention for its involvement in Hollywood, and this takes me right back to when I was a student in the 1980s, when people were concerned about Japanese investment entities buying assets in Hollywood. They aren’t quite the same in financial terms, but it’s the same kind of concern about foreign investment that drives people to be suspicious, and the whole idea that “foreigners are influencing Hollywood.” This holds true across industries, and it reflects where politics are in places like the United States right now. One metric we can try to look at is transparency, where all the funds will tell you, “we are transparent.” The problem you’ll keep running into with this approach is how you value things. When trying to do comparative studies of equity markets, you’ll find that every country doesn’t use Generally Accepted Accounting Principles like we do in the United States. A fund may appear opaque politically and not want people to show what they’re invested in or what their intent with that investment is, but they could also just not be able to report it because of the way it was purchased, or the kinds of shares they purchased. There are some assets out there that really are difficult to put a monetary value on. GJIA: To what extent do domestic politics shape SWF behavior in both the investing “home” country and the recipient “host” country? KL: This depends on the type of fund present and also on the extent to which voters’ political views are able to influence the fund. For example, in a democratic home state like Norway, the SWF doesn’t invest in nuclear weapons or tobacco because of social concerns, but there is a continuing debate over whether it should invest in oil, even though that’s where most of the money comes from. The degree to which Norway will continue to make those investments, and whether they contradict the government’s overall climate goals, is an open question in Norwegian politics. Because of the way the fund’s governance is structured, it may not be easy to resolve. On the other hand, some people consider pension funds, like the State Teachers Retirement System (STRS) in Ohio, to be quasi-SWF. They have a very strict separation between the people who make up the management division and the fund owners. No teacher or professor would want to invest in things that may harm the future of their students. At the same time, a fund manager might see an opportunity in a diversified multinational corporation that offers a good return, despite it deriving part of its revenue from e-cigarettes. These contests are very apparent. Domestic politics can work in host countries too. A good example is Singapore’s SWF, Temasek, investing in Thailand’s telecommunications sector. If you study political economy, you already know that countries everywhere are uncomfortable with foreign ownership of their telecom sectors because a foreign entity could monitor or manipulate our communications with each other. In the case of Temasek, there was significant pushback from Thai citizens surrounding the deal, which went on to influence national political sentiment toward Singapore as a whole, underscoring the risks some SWFs may face with their investment choices. In this case, fund behavior led to the dissolution of the entire Thai government in 2006 and a subsequent coup d’état. GJIA: To address some of this unease, the Santiago Principles were established in 2009 to ostensibly promote trust and transparency. From your perspective, have these mechanisms actually changed fund behavior? KL: In international relations theory, we always like to have a clear set of norms and best practices—the orientation we want the proverbial ship to be going in. In that regard, the Santiago Principles at least got the discussion going about which direction SWFs should take at a time when people were very skittish about the growing size of these funds. Nobody wanted them to be out there and potentially destabilizing economies, so talks about disclosure, conditions for withdrawal, and the independence of managers were helpful when initiated. The biggest stumbling block was that there wasn’t exactly a good way to measure compliance with the Principles, let alone how to hold funds to them. If you read the Principles, they’re overall quite vague. In general, a fund doesn’t want to reveal how and why they make certain investment decisions because that information is proprietary—a fund makes money off of how and why it makes decisions—so how do you reconcile that with loosely-defined ideas of openness? Some decisions might have a political purpose. The bottom line is that trying to figure out and assign a score to compliance is not easy, and it is therefore the reason why the Santiago Principles never really got off the ground to the point where they could truly direct fund behavior. GJIA: Many emerging markets are looking to build their own SWFs from mineral and oil revenues. Historically, have funds shaped development trajectories in these countries? KL: I think the big story in international emerging markets investment is that the investment is increasingly no longer unidirectional. In the past multinational corporations of primarily Western background were the main form of foreign direct investment in a country. That has changed dramatically, to the point where you have companies from so-called “developing countries” taking over companies in the United States. Therefore, the landscape of international investment has changed, and I think SWFs are certainly a possibility to be the next step in the game. Historically, you didn’t need an entire financial vehicle to reinvest commodity revenues in your country, but as emerging markets get more financially sophisticated, their capacity to operate such funds has increased. SWFs would allow treasuries to move from relying on holding foreign exchange assets like cash or government bonds to having broader financial markets and targeted growth areas, while easing pressure on welfare expenditures. GJIA: With their increasing financial weight, do you see the presence of SWFs being a factor in the political choices leaders will have to make with regard to domestic and foreign policy? KL: It will depend on just how big the funds get. One of the reasons people are already apprehensive is because of their scale, and if certain SWFs in certain countries achieve a large-enough size, the presence will absolutely be cause for concern. The other factor political leaders will have to consider are their objectives. It’s not always clear how to define a SWF, or even where its activity is concentrated, but it is certainly a worry from the perspective of national security of opaque external investment. More than that, I think one of the most interesting questions going forward is whether the United States, the home to the world’s largest financial markets, will develop its own fund, for which the Trump administration announced a plan. There have also been several proposals in Congress. Were it to come into being, it would have tremendous weight. At the same time, one of the hallmarks of U.S. capitalism is a lack of government ownership of shares, so it would not be clear how such a fund would be received in domestic politics, or which direction it would take. Given how politically fragmented the country is, a Democratic administration would likely be concerned about different sectors of the economy, such as healthcare, and want investment there, rather than a Republican administration, which might prefer defense industries. No investment vehicle could thrive under conditions of such instability. Moreover, it remains unclear where the money to fund a theoretical U.S. SWF would come from. It would be a fundamentally different entity depending on whether it is financed with debt, economic surplus, commodities, or the sale of state companies, as in the case of Singapore. If it is debt, or government borrowing of some form, then the fund would have to outperform whatever the cost of that debt is, which is not an easy thing to do. I think our political leaders have enough on their plate. Our system has worked well keeping political and investment functions generally separate. We have seen different forms of business rise and fall, and even the perception of different countries, all of which funds are tied to. Unless a major SWF either starts—like in the case of the United States—or collapses—an issue that concerns the Saudis, I don’t see any political tsunamis on the horizon. . . . Kathryn Lavelle is the Ellen and Dixon Long Professor of World Affairs at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. Her research explores the exchange between domestic and international and political institutions with a particular emphasis on political economy and multilateralism. Dr. Lavelle’s first book, The Politics of Equity Finance in Emerging Markets, explored the political circumstances that surround large issues of stock in the developing world. After being granted tenure at Case Western, she was awarded an American Political Science Association Congressional Fellowship and named the William A. Steiger fellow, a designation given to the most promising political scientist in her class of fellows. While in Washington during 2006-2007, she worked on the staff of the House Committee on Financial Services on issues related to domestic and international monetary policy. Dr. Lavelle holds a PhD in political science from Northwestern University; an M.A. in government and foreign affairs from the University of Virginia; and a bachelor’s degree in international economics from Georgetown University. She is a permanent member of the New York Council on Foreign Relations. This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity and length. Interview conducted by Sid Mehrotra. Image Credit: Jason Leung, Unsplash Content Licenses, via Unsplash
Politics and Agriculture - AG INFORMATION NETWORK OF THE WEST
Washington Post Columnist, Megan McCardle wonders what ever happened to trying to understand what the problems are and coming up with a compromise.
Trump has a new problem in Minneapolis — a GOP-appointed judge
The Trump administration on Monday bowed to increasing pressure to change up its immigration crackdown in Minneapolis, after a second person was killed by federal agents. The White House replaced Greg Bovino with Tom Homan on the ground and signaled a more cooperative tone with local Democrats.
Employer Health Insurance Isn't Fitting the Bill. We Need a New Way Forward.
America has a health insurance problem – and it’s only getting worse. These days, most Americans get their health insurance through employer-sponsored health plans. However, that system is becoming increasingly costly, with premiums up 25% in the last five years. And it’s not just individual ...
Boeing just turned a rare profit. Its problems may be coming to an end
Boeing just announced the end of years of deep financial losses, a turnaround for a company after nearly seven years of bad news.
‘It’s a hospitality-wide problem‘: night-time traders react to business rates relief plan
Gyms, pharmacies, restaurants and cafes and convenience store owners question why only pubs and live music venues should get help
Tesla FSD test reveals glaring problem with camera-only approach
My front camera had problems with condensation, especially in direct, low sunlight. Tesla cleaned it, but this could be a challenge for full autonomy.
Immigration enforcement drives health concerns in CT
CT residents who fear they or a loved one could be deported say they are facing mounting mental and physical health problems.
UC San Diego’s Mobile Health Units Deliver Care and Bring Cutting-Edge Research to Local Communities
From screening children for vision problems and adults for cardiovascular disease to groundbreaking research on the effects of cannabis on driving performance, UC San Diego’s mobile health units promote well-being across the region.
How to get Doom running on a pair of earbuds
No display? No problem for the UART-to-web-server "Doombuds" project.
'This is a problem!' Children's entertainment performer takes Meta to court; story gains worldwide attention
She calls herself the little lady in Cleveland, but finds herself in a big fight against the social media giant that runs Facebook and Instagram. News 5 was in the courtroom.
Is personality replacing sports journalism?
DePaul students and staff weigh in on ‘infotainers’ in sports and the problems with modern sports coverage.
Napoli sporting director confirms interest in standout Sevilla star
It is no secret that Sevilla continue to struggle with financial problems, with these issues having been present for years. Despite selling the likes of Jules Kounde, Loic Bade and Dodi Lukebakio for ...
Alzheimer’s may trick the brain into erasing its own memories
Alzheimer’s may destroy memory by flipping a single molecular switch that tells neurons to prune their own connections. Researchers found that both amyloid beta and inflammation converge on the same receptor, triggering synapse loss. Surprisingly, neurons aren’t passive victims—they actively respond to these signals. Targeting this receptor could offer a new way to protect memory beyond current amyloid-focused drugs.
Opinion | The major problem with clickbait science news
Taiwan’s silicon shield, the scientific process and house burping, in readers’ eyes.
Old Problems doom Northwestern against UCLA
Pauley Pavilion proved to be too much for the Wildcats to handle.
Cybersecurity’s New Business Case: Fraud
Government security leaders are struggling. Cyber investments are lagging. Resources are being cut. The problem is getting worse. Let’s explore solutions.
The invisible skin struggle women face as they transition into mid-life
Midlife skin problems leave women feeling "too young for wrinkles, too old for pimples." Discover proven acne solutions and treatments from a leading expert.
Google says it's working to fix Gmail issue that's led to flooded inboxes and increased spam warnings
Gmail users have reported problems with their automatic filters that typically separate promotional emails from the main inbox.
5 of the most problematic things ICE is doing
President Donald Trump and his administration have adopted a rather confusing posture on their highly controversial immigration raids.
The hidden health impact of growing up with ADHD traits
A large, decades-long study suggests that signs of ADHD in childhood may have consequences that extend well beyond school and behavior. Researchers followed nearly 11,000 people from childhood into midlife and found that those with strong ADHD traits at age 10 were more likely to experience multiple physical health problems and health-related disability by their mid-40s.
Stingray-inspired robot cracks the mystery of how rays swim
‘Nature seems to have already solved the problem.’
The Problem With That ‘Great Healthcare Plan’
This month, as Americans who rely on Affordable Care Act plans opened their first bills of 2026 and experienced sticker shock, President Donald Trump began pitching them on an alternative: his “Great Healthcare Plan,” which would shift government support away from subsidizing insurance coverage toward putting money directly into accounts that consumers can use to pay for care.
Childhood ADHD Linked To Health Problems In Middle Age
By Dennis Thompson HealthDay ReporterFRIDAY, Jan. 23, 2026 (HealthDay News) — Childhood ADHD can set a person up to have poor health in middle age, a new study says. People with ADHD traits at age 10 are likely to have chronic illness and disability at age 46, researchers reported Jan. 21 in JAMA ...
Sure, Phil Collins has health problems. But maybe that 24/7 nurse could come out on tour with him?
Phil Collins is talking about health woes as part of a BBC podcast series marking his 75th birthday. Maybe his 24/7 nurse will join him in the recording studio one day?
Can the right diet really cure all our health problems?
Yes, food can be medicine — just not the way RFK Jr. means it.
A World Cup boycott over Trump? Football’s hypotheticals cannot be dismissed any more
Unprecedented times call for previously unthinkable conversations when it comes to the US-shaped problem
Patriots’ First AFC Championship Injury Report Features Uncomfortable Trend
The New England Patriots typically don’t have any problem handing out off days, particularly on Wednesday. Harold Landry III (knee) and Marte Mapu (hip) missed practice prior to the AFC Championship. Christian Elliss (hip), Thayer Munford Jr. (knee), Morgan Moses (rest) and Hunter Henry (rest) were not seen during the media access portion, either — […]
Irony alert: Hallucinated citations found in papers from NeurIPS, the prestigious AI conference
Research from startup GPTZero points to the impossible problem prestigious conferences face in the age of AI slop.
Childhood ADHD linked to midlife physical health problems
People who have ADHD traits at age 10 are more likely than those without such traits to have physical health problems and to report physical health-related disability at age 46, according to a study led ...
Significant sexual safety problem for women working in elite UK sport, says survey
In a survey of 260 members of the Women’s Sports Collective, 88% said they had been target of sexual misconduct during the past five years
'Frank always one defeat away from a crisis'
Despite Tottenham's result on Tuesday - and credit to them because they pulled off a performance for their manager - if they lose to Burnley at the weekend then Thomas Frank is right back under the cosh. That will be the problem moving forward for the Spurs boss - he is always one defeat away from a crisis. And I think the Tottenham board is aware of that.
Comprehensive energy permitting reform benefits Colorado, the mountain west
By Ron Dickson Thank you, U.S. Reps. Gabe Evans and Jeff Hurd, for your participation in the Congressional Problem Solvers Caucus and your support of comprehensive energy permitting reform. We also appreciate U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper’s continued efforts to enhance our national electricity grid. The energy demands of the mountain west are rapidly growing. Data […]
Trotter's Trends: Midseason riers and fallers; building the All-Bench All-Stars
An inside look at the problems the Blue Devils have solved, why Georgetown has regressed and 10 off-the-bench gamechangers
Affordability is scrambling energy politics in Massachusetts
Everyone agrees that the state has an energy bill crisis. But there is little consensus on why — or how to fix the increasingly acute problem.
The truth about health patches: can they really treat stress, spots and lost libido?
For three weeks, I wore stickers on my skin supposed to address all sorts of conditions. Are they a panacea, problem or performance?
AI Has A Brand Problem And Entertainment Is The Fix
AI is reshaping brand strategy. As agentic AI scales content marketing, brands must build entertainment fields, creating loyalty and gravity beyond transactions.
iPhone 18 Pro may hide Face ID under the display, but one big question remains
A report says iPhone 18 Pro could get under-display Face ID and a more efficient screen, but the Dynamic Island’s fate is still unclear.
Study finds early measure of overall health may predict future memory problems in older adults
New research suggests that a person's overall physical and mental abilities, known as intrinsic capacity, may help predict future cognitive decline.
Trump Has an Offramp on Greenland. He Doesn’t Seem to Want It.
The strategic importance of Greenland is growing, and NATO has underinvested in Arctic security. But President Trump, intent on ownership, is rebuffing deals with Europe to solve the problem.
7th Day Of NYC Nurses Strike Highlights Ongoing Healthcare Problems
On January 12, around 15,000 nurses walked off their Mount Sinai, Montefiore and NewYork-Presbyterian health system jobs in the largest nurses strike in NYC history.
Conservatives Cheered When Elon Took Over X. Now It’s Tearing Them Apart.
MAGA has a major social media problem.
Governor Needs To Step Into Proposed Hawaiʻi Health Care Consolidation
The proposed deeper integration between Hawaiʻi Pacific Health and HMSA would only intensify the problem with lack of access to providers and care. Gov. Josh Green must act now.
Is RFK Jr.'s Administration for a Healthy America — AHA — in the works or not?
The Administration for a Healthy America is RFK Jr.'s plan to tackle chronic disease, addiction and other persistent problems. But so far it's not being set up like previous new agencies.
Big problems in a big world : The NPR Politics Podcast
Between pledging support for protesters in Iran, calling once again for the U.S. annexation of Greenland, and meeting with Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, it's been a busy week for President Trump on the global stage. We look at why the White House wants to be involved in so many geopolitical issues despite the president's campaign pledges to be less invested in global affairs, and what outcomes the Trump administration wants in each location.This episode: voting correspondent Miles Parks, White House correspondent Franco Ordoñez, and national security correspondent Greg Myre.This podcast was produced and edited by Casey Morell & Bria Suggs. Our executive producer is Muthoni Muturi.Listen to every episode of the NPR Politics Podcast sponsor-free, unlock access to bonus episodes with more from the NPR Politics team, and support public media when you sign up for The NPR Politics Podcast+ at plus.npr.org/politics.
Google is finally tackling Android’s Do Not Disturb problem
System-wide DND syncing in development
Doctor on challenges in public health and impact: "The biggest problem is the confusion"
Drug use disorders a growing public health concern in the Americas, PAHO study finds
Washington, D.C., 14 January 2026 (PAHO) – Drug use disorders are a major and growing public health problem in the Americas. Drug use is among the top 10 risk factors contributing to all-cause mortality and disability in the Region, according to findings published in the Pan American Journal of Public Health.In 2021, an estimated 17.7 million people in the Americas were living with a drug use disorder, resulting in nearly 78,000 deaths directly attributable to these disorders, representing a mortality rate four times higher than the global average.
Social media time does not increase teenagers’ mental health problems
UK study comes as ministers consider Australia’s ban on social media use for under-16s
Scientists uncover a hidden type of diabetes in newborns
Researchers have discovered a rare new type of diabetes that affects babies early in life. The condition is caused by changes in a single gene that prevent insulin-producing cells from working properly. When these cells fail, blood sugar rises and diabetes develops, often alongside neurological problems. The findings help explain a long-standing medical mystery and deepen understanding of diabetes overall.
Signal's Founder Turns His Attention to AI's Privacy Problem
Confer, an open source chatbot, encrypts both prompts and responses so companies and advertisers can’t access user data.
Research institutions tout the value of scholarship that crosses disciplines – but academia pushes interdisciplinary researchers out
Researchers who focus on one specialty are more likely to rise through the academic ranks, even though wicked societal problems require crosscutting work to solve.
Research institutions tout the value of scholarship that crosses disciplines – but academia pushes interdisciplinary researchers out
Researchers who focus on one specialty are more likely to rise through the academic ranks, even though wicked societal problems require crosscutting work to solve.
Illinois lending for social equity cannabis businesses tops $62 million
Forgivable loans an acknowledgment of problems many license holders face in raising cash from traditional sources.
Going barefoot depends on personal health and well-being
Is it OK to go without shoes? I’ve heard conflicting information. I wear supportive shoes for exercise and in public, but I prefer bare feet at home. I stand about six hours a day, and I just find it much more comfortable without shoes. I am 65 and healthy, with no history of foot problems.
Gossip: Everton keen on White
Everton are eyeing a move for Arsenal's English defender Ben White, 28, to solve their problematic right-back issue. (Football Insider)
Perfectionism and competitive sport increase the risk of exercise addiction, study finds
Physical exercise is one of the main recommendations for maintaining good health. However, when practiced compulsively and without control, it can become a problem: exercise addiction.
The sludge in your shower drain? That could be scientists’ next big find : Short Wave
Microbes are little alchemists that perform all manner of chemical reactions. A team of microbiologists co-founded a non-profit to try to harness those abilities to solve some of the world’s big problems — from carbon capture to helping coral reefs to cleaning up waste. Recently, the team turned their attention to the microbes living in people’s homes — on and in shower heads, drip pans, and hot water heaters. These rather extreme environments may have pressured microorganisms into surviving in ways that could be advantageous to humans. Science reporter Ari Daniel takes us on a treasure hunt in miniature.This episode was produced by Hannah Chinn. It was edited by Rebecca Ramirez. Tyler Jones checked the facts. The audio engineer was Robert Rodriguez.Interested in learning more about the weird and wonderful world of microbes? Email us your question at shortwave@npr.org.Listen to every episode of Short Wave sponsor-free and support our work at NPR by signing up for Short Wave+ at plus.npr.org/shortwave.
The sludge in your shower drain? That could be scientists’ next big find : Short Wave
Microbes are little alchemists that perform all manner of chemical reactions. A team of microbiologists co-founded a non-profit to try to harness those abilities to solve some of the world’s big problems — from carbon capture to helping coral reefs to cleaning up waste. Recently, the team turned their attention to the microbes living in people’s homes — on and in shower heads, drip pans, and hot water heaters. These rather extreme environments may have pressured microorganisms into surviving in ways that could be advantageous to humans. Science reporter Ari Daniel takes us on a treasure hunt in miniature.This episode was produced by Hannah Chinn. It was edited by Rebecca Ramirez. Tyler Jones checked the facts. The audio engineer was Robert Rodriguez.Interested in learning more about the weird and wonderful world of microbes? Email us your question at shortwave@npr.org.Listen to every episode of Short Wave sponsor-free and support our work at NPR by signing up for Short Wave+ at plus.npr.org/shortwave.
Cowboys' familiar penalty problems persisted in Schottenheimer's first season
Penalties were a problem for the Cowboys, with familiar faces and common calls adding to a league-worst total. But there were weird anomalies, too.
K–12 science labs have a hazardous chemical problem. Teachers are looking for support
As US teachers discover more and more legacy chemicals in schools, funding for cleanup is hard to find. Educators, nonprofits, and local governments are stepping in to help
WA budget woes dominate as Ferguson, lawmakers begin 2026 session
In addition to Washington state's self-inflicted problems, lawmakers are facing a frequently hostile Trump administration and attempts to slash federal funding.
No campaign? No problem. Inside California political elites’ shadowy spending
A Sacramento Bee review of over 100 campaign accounts reveals how lawmakers use their war chests to shore up connections and live large.
Scientists are inventing treatments for devastating diseases. There’s just one problem.
Gene therapy treatments for rare diseases are being developed, but getting them out of the lab has proved challenging.
When will Minecraft realms be back up? Frustrated users report 'bedrock couldn't load' error
According to DownDetector, the outage began around 12 p.m. EDT, with most reports citing problems connecting to servers and accessing gameplay.
Letters to Sports: Time for Mick Cronin to fix UCLA's problems
Readers of the Los Angeles Times Sports section give their thoughts on the state of UCLA basketball, USC football, the Lakers, Angels and Dodgers.
Our President Doesn't Understand Science, Or How Science Works
Support CleanTechnica's work through a Substack subscription or on Stripe. This is a problem across our society, a major problem. Perhaps it’s a significant problem in every society, but at least some other societies more implicitly trust people who understand science to be leaders in society. In the US, the ... [continued]
Black business owners say proposed restrictions will harm Buchanan community
Hundreds gathered at City Hall Thursday to talk about a potential zoning ordinance impacting the Buchanan Arts District. Metro Planning Commissioners called it the classic zoning problem — trying to figure out how commercial and residential properties can coexist. The ordinance would limit the hours of operation and impose noise restrictions on future businesses in the area. It was born out of a new “Commercial Compatibility” zoning overlay created by the Metro Council earlier this fall. (Overlays add an additional set of rules to the existing restrictions in place, as a way of managing development). That overlay was sponsored by […]
New Jersey health officials report state's 1st pediatric flu death of the season
The New Jersey Department of Health says the child is under 5 years old and was from the northern part of the state, and had no underlying health problems.
Using AI, Mathematicians Find Hidden Glitches in Fluid Equations
A $1 million prize awaits anyone who can show where the math of fluid flow breaks down. With specially trained AI systems, researchers have found a slew of new candidates in simpler versions of the problem.
Vikings’ Biggest Offseason Problem Could Be a Nothingburger
When 2025 free agency kicked off for the Minnesota Vikings, the club had around $60 million in cap space, prepared […]
Arsenal's cutback problem explained: Why Gunners' attack is faltering
Arsenal are successively executing one of the most dangerous attacking moves in soccer more than any other team, but with little to show for it
Your next primary care doctor could be online only, accessed through an AI tool
The shortage of primary care doctors is a national problem. To cope, a large health system in Massachusetts is using an AI tool to screen patients and refer them to other care.
Your next primary care doctor could be online only, accessed through an AI tool
The shortage of primary care doctors is a national problem. To cope, a large health system in Massachusetts is using an AI tool to screen patients and refer them to other care.
Boise State has a guard problem
Through 16 games, the Boise State Broncos have maintained their status quo on the defensive end of the floor. They have the No. 26-ranked defensive effciency with the nation’s second-highest defensive rebound rate (77.1). While they don’t typically force a ton of turnovers, Leon Rice’s squads have typically been among the sound units defensively in […]
NASA cancels spacewalk and considers early crew return from ISS due to medical issues
NASA is considering the early return of Crew-11 from the International Space Station after an unidentified astronaut experienced a medical problem.
The problem with blaming everything on inflammation
What your favorite TikTok influencer gets right — and wrong — about this widespread concern.
Trump’s controversial ballroom could actually solve a decades-long problem— and takes first formal steps for construction
President Donald Trump’s sprawling new East Wing ballroom project has attracted widespread controversy — but promises to solve a problem identified by first families and their social secretaries on both sides of the aisle for decades.
In Lodge Grass, Montana, a Crow community works to rebuild from meth's destruction
Meth is a problem most everywhere, but particularly in Indian Country. In one small town on the Crow Indian Reservation in Montana, new buildings serve as symbols of a town trying to rebuild after being devastated by addiction.
Seven takeaways from a new audit show major shortfalls in state monitoring of behavioral health grants
An audit found extensive problems with behavioral health grants and deeper concerns at the Department of Human Services.
CES 2026: The Tone Outdoors T1 solved the biggest problem with leaf blowers
Whisper Aero's new spinoff used aerospace engineering to reduce the annoyance of cleaning your yard.
The problem with the Fox broadcast
Analyzing the flaws of modern baseball broadcasts and making baseball more cinematic
No Mahomes, no problems? Bills have a new (but familiar) adversary standing in way of title
Game Preview: Washington at #5 Purdue
Washington 9-5 (1-2) heads into Mackey Arena to take on the #5 Purdue Boilermakers 13-1 (3-0) Wednesday night. Matt Painter didn’t take long to get to the crux of the problem trying to defend Danny Sprinkle’s Washington Huskies: Washington will and wants to get to the rim at all times. Washington is one of the […]
The NHL-best Avalanche have a power play problem
In today's edition: Ravens fire Harbaugh, the NHL's best team has a problem, the legend of Trinidad Chambliss, NBA power rankings, Wemby being Wemby, and more.
The good (and bad) of DoorDash's fake viral story
It had all the makings of a story that would rile people up. And it did. The only problem? It wasn't real.
Trump’s credibility problem on Venezuela
In 2008, Donald Trump took to CNN to bemoan the dangers of a president lying the United States into war.
Thune’s 3 key ingredients for a health care deal
Congress is back to trying to solve its health care problem.
Audit finds widespread problems in DHS oversight of behavioral health grants
It comes as Minnesota is under scrutiny for fraud in social services programs.
Computer Science Colloquiums Series: Balanced Allocations: The Power of Choice Versus Noise
AbstractIn the balanced allocation problem we wish to allocate m balls (jobs) into n bins (servers) by allowing each ball to choose from some bins sampled uniformly at random. The goal is to maintain a small gap between the maximum load and average load.
Walz steps away as state’s health care problems worsen
Prosecutors have exposed a lack of public program oversight. Why aren't insurers facing consequences for the health care harm they've caused?
Most Cape Cod renters are 'housing burdened.' It's a problem that needs to be solved.
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Philosophy to the Rescue of Science
The pessimistic meta-induction—the argument that since past scientific theories have been shown to be false, we should expect that today’s will turn out false, too—makes the New York Times. . Elay Shech, professor of philosophy at Auburn University, takes up the topic in the context of current political disputes about science and our government’s seemingly increasing disregard of expertise: Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the secretary of health and human services, made a version of this argument in August when defending his decision to halt hundreds of millions of dollars in mRNA vaccine development despite the objections of vaccine scientists. He said that “science is always evolving” and the experts could not always be trusted. Shech accepts that “many widely accepted [scientific] theories have been discarded” but that the question, “why should we trust the ones we have now?” is misleading. Why? It implies that the only possible attitudes toward science are naïve faith and wholesale pessimism. It assumes that science is a single global entity that rises or falls all at once, when in reality, science is an array of local domains of inquiry, each with its own standards of evidence and degrees of reliability. In place of skepticism, Shech recommends “disciplined trust.” The first step in the direction of disciplined trust is recognizing that “there is no single scientific method used in all of science.” Shech writes: Newton’s deduction from observed phenomena is very different from Darwin’s inference to the best explanation, which in turn differs radically from Einstein’s thought experiments with light beams, trains and elevators. What people call “the scientific method” is really many distinct ways of investigating the world—different strategies for representing, experimenting and classifying. Since different areas of science employ different methods and rely on different kinds of evidence, to make a case for skepticism “you need to look at the evidence and methods in a specific area of inquiry.” And that case will not be “a sweeping claim about all of science” but rather about that particular area of inquiry with, for example, what might turn out to be “well-understood methodological problems.” Shech’s piece is “Science Keeps Changing, So Why Should We Trust It?” (NYT gift link). Discussion welcome (readers are advised to keep in..
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