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What smart people are saying about Apple's slew of AI announcements
Tech industry leaders are weighing in on Apple's AI updates across its ecosystem, including on Siri, call assistance, and photo editing tools.
iOS 27 gives AirPods custom EQ and heart rate sync
Each new iOS update comes with new features for existing iPods, but this year’s announcements were a little light …...
WWDC 2026: Everything announced on Siri AI, iOS 27, Apple Intelligence and more
Apple's WWDC 2026 event kicked off this morning at 10 a.m. PT at Apple Park, starting a week full of expected announcements around Siri, iOS 27, Apple
Round Up: Every Switch 1 & 2 Announcement From Summer Game Fest's Weekend Showcases
Stacked showcases
Jameson Taillon Injury Update: Cubs Make Announcement During Giants Game
Chicago Cubs SP Jameson Taillon exited Sunday's game against the San Francisco Giants.
21 Game Pass Titles Get New Announcements At The Xbox Showcase 2026
Talk about a stacked lineup!
Tons of new Final Fantasy 7 Revelation details
A truckload of Final Fantasy 7 Revelation details have come in following this week’s announcement. After two entries in the Final Fantasy 7 remake series, Square Enix will finally end the trilogy next year. Denfaminico Gamer caught up with Naoki Hamaguchi after the reveal at Summer Game Fest and managed to get a bunch of new information. Hamaguchi touched on...
Xbox Games Showcase 2026 live report - all the news and announcements as Asha Sharma presents for the first time
Will we see The Elder Scrolls 6? Will we see Arkane's game based on Marvel's Blade? What has Microsoft got that will convince us? Find out this evening.
Best Look at Foldable iPhone Design Revealed, May Only Come in White
Sonny Dickson today shared detailed images of a foldable iPhone dummy unit with what appears to be a finalized design, providing the best look yet at the device's look, with the suggestion that the device may only be available in white. Dummy units are non-functional units intended primarily for display purposes and accessory manufacturers, who need a high level of physical accuracy to mass produce cases and other accessories ahead of a device's announcement.
Ro Laren Returns In ‘Star Trek: Shadow Frontier’ Horror Game Featuring Michelle Forbes
Watch the announcement trailer.
You can choose to resurrect Bosch in Street Fighter 6's World Tour mode, kind of like the Season 4 DLC announcement that happened today
Bosch is one of the four cast members revealed in the recent Season 4 DLC character announcements for Street Fighter 6, and this was foreshadowed by the fact that you can choose to resurrect him as part of Ingrid's ...
Capcom Shines Bright With Massive Reveals at Summer Game Fest 2026
'Resident Evil Veronica' announcement, 'Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendance', and who to look out for in 'Street Fighter 6' Year 4.
Mighty Cuphead Adventure announced, new Cuphead game on the way
At Summer Game Fest 2026 today, Studio MDHR revealed that it’s working on a brand new Cuphead game and Mighty Cuphead Adventure is set to be released. Mighty Cuphead Adventure is an 8-bit action platformer being made by a small team at Studio MDHR. The announcement notes that “this game goes beyond just taking inspiration from the classics of the...
Every Xbox and PC game shown during Summer Game Fest 2026 — announcements, reveals, trailers, gameplay, and more
Xbox and PC players, here's an overview of everything Summer Game Fest 2026 had in store for you.
Montana governor to Washington companies: We want your business
(The Center Square) - The Governor of Montana tells The Center Square he hopes to lure more out of state business expansion into his state, following this week’s announcement that
Alien hunters update guidance on sharing news of possible intelligent life
Experts stress need for transparency while aiming to prevent premature announcements and protect scientists
Brand new direct-feed Elden Ring Nintendo Switch 2 footage released
After much anticipation, Elden Ring Tarnished Edition received its release date on Nintendo Switch 2 yesterday, and now we have some direct-feed footage to follow up on that. What’s interesting is how little we’ve seen of the port so far. We got the announcement trailer for the reveal of Nintendo Switch 2 exactly one year ago, but that was it....
Summer Game Fest 2026 live report - all the news and announcements from Geoff Keighley's E3 but not E3 showcase
The big one, in every sense of the word. It's the main showcase of the summer gaming festivities and the longest one. We're covering it live.
New Mexico Wellness Wire: Grocery money, abuse reporting and more Health Care Authority news
The Health Care Authority made announcements this week set to affect summertime food access and care for people with disabilities.
NSF renews support for MIT-led AI and physics institute, expanding a new model for discovery
The MIT-led Institute for Artificial Intelligence and Fundamental Interactions (IAIFI) has received renewed support from the National Science Foundation for an additional five years.
Destiny 2 Ending New Content Is "Unthinkable," Warframe Dev Says
Bungie recently announced that it is ending ongoing content releases for Destiny 2 on June 9, with the Sony-owned studio shifting to new projects. The end-of-service announcement was upsetting to many, including Warframe creative director Rebecca Ford. She said on the OnlyFrames podcast that there is “no world where it makes sense.” “Obviously, that news...
Amid talk of Trump at NBA Finals, Silver cites power of sports
There has been no announcement that President Donald Trump plans to attend an NBA Finals game at New York's Madison Square Garden next week, though Commissioner Adam Silver hinted at Trump's intentions Wednesday.
Amid talk of Trump attending NBA Finals game in New York, Silver says sports can be unifying
SAN ANTONIO (AP) — There has been no announcement that President Donald Trump plans to attend an NBA Finals game at New York's Madison Square Garden next week, though Commissioner Adam Silver hinted at Trump's intentions Wednesday when he said sports remain something that unifies even in divided ...
Coming to XBOX Game Pass: Starseeker: Astroneer Expeditions, Beastro, Undisputed, and More
We’re just a few days away from the XBOX Games Showcase followed by the Gears of War: E-Day Direct – but while we’re waiting for the show, let’s get to what other games you can play first, or at least pre-install.
Roma considering loan for Vaz and Dovbyk
Tony D’Amico’s arrival as Roma’s new Sporting Director is now a matter of hours. The official announcement is expected between today and tomorrow, and he will immediately have to address several...
Elections to top science bodies test Croatia’s gender equality in research
Croatia’s track-record on gender equality in science has been both questioned and lauded in recent months, following both bad and good news on the topic. On the one hand, a senior awards committee was announced without a single woman researcher included. On the other, the national science academy welcomed its first cohort of fellows with more women than men.Members of the committee, which gives national awards recognising scientific achievement, are proposed by the ministry of science and endorsed by the parliament. The current line-up does include a woman, but she is culture minister Nina Obuljen Koržinek rather than a researcher. Even then, she didn’t make it into the photograph released to announce the appointments on April 16. “The image speaks a thousand words,” says Tanja Rudež, a science journalist for Jutarnji List newspaper. “I am surprised that none of these men, all well-known scientists, saw a problem with the fact that there was not a single successful female scientist on the committee,” she told Science|Business.Ivan Đikić, a prominent Croatian biochemist based at Goethe University Medical School, commented on LinkedIn that the news illustrated a “sad truth” about the state of science in Croatia.“It [. . .] reveals a system where women, despite contributing a substantial share of high-quality, internationally competitive science, are systematically excluded from the very processes that determine recognition and influence,” he wrote. Some 60% of researchers in Croatia are women, according to the Croatian Bureau of Statistics, and they perform well in international competitions. For example, of the 12 European Research Council (ERC) grants awarded to Croatian researchers, seven went to women.“So how is it possible that decision-making bodies are still dominated by men over 60, while not a single female ERC laureate is involved in the selection process?” asked Đikić. “This is not a marginal oversight; it is a structural failure.” The ministry of science did not reply to a request for comment. The awards committee is not unusual. For example, a scientific advisory body announced by the ministry of demographics in April comprises 35 men and five women. The board of the Croatian Science Foundation, newly appointed by the parliament, is a little better, with five men and two women, but still unequal. “This is especially significant because such bodies do not merely distribute prestige. They shape research priorities, funding allocation and long-term scientific development,” Marija Lugarić, chair of the parliament’s committee on gender equality, told Science|Business. “Representation here matters not only symbolically, but materially.”Referring to the awards committee and the board of the science foundation, Lugarić says that while both bodies were appointed by parliament, neither met the minimum 40% gender balance threshold that Croatian law and EU guidelines expressly recommend for public bodies.Đikić wants to see EU institutions put pressure on the government to ensure basic standards of fairness, transparency and democratic governance in science policy are met. “Meaningful change will not come without pressure,” he wrote. “It must intensify both within Croatia and at the level of European institutions. Anything less undermines the credibility of Europe’s commitment to excellence and inclusion in science.”Rudež also underlined the importance of talking and writing about this topic, “because public opinion in Croatia does influence changes in the status and visibility of women in science.”The European Commission has not yet responded to a request for comment.Good news from the academyA more positive story came from the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts on 21 May, with the announcement of seven new women fellows and five men. This is the first time in the academy’s 165-year history that women have outnumbered men in a new intake.One of the new fellows, two-time ERC grantee Iva Tolić, credits the academy leadership with trying to be more modern and inclusive, representing the whole community better. “The academy is really aware that so far, before this election, there were very few women,” she told Science|Business. “So, they are actively trying to make this more equal.”Related articlesExplained: How the MSCA is close to achieving gender balanceCall for EU to leverage academic freedom in global talent raceRudež is more cautious, noting that despite the academy’s “breakthrough this year [. . .] it is still a predominantly male institution, with only 18% women.”This reflects a wider imbalance in Croatia’s research landscape. “The key levers of power in science are still in the hands of men,” she went on. “For example, all 14 rectors of private and public universities are men.”Similarly, Lugarić says a structural glass ceiling still exists in Croatian science, which is “most visible precisely where power is exercised.”She cites data from the Commission’s She Figures 2024 report, which shows that Croatia ranks second in the EU for gender equality in research and innovation overall, with an equality index of 79.6 out of 100. It is in the top five for women’s career advancement, participation in research; representation across all research sectors and for scientific publications.In stark contrast, it ranks second to last when it comes to women in decision-making positions in science. “This is not a coincidence,” Lugarić says. “It is a structural pattern.”Informal barriersThe persistent under-representation of women in the highest structures of Croatia’s academies, boards, award committees and leadership positions is not down to formal barriers, Lugarić says, but arises from more subtle obstacles such as “informal networks, persistent expectations regarding traditional gender roles and the unequal distribution of care responsibilities.”Tolić would like to see more support for young women in terms of affordable housing and child support, and higher salaries. Currently, she says, salaries in science stay low for the first 10-15 years, while housing and spaces in kindergarten are limited and expensive. “You have to work a lot, you get very little money, so it’s not great to have a family in this situation,” she says.But despite the challenges, Tolić is optimistic, saying that gender equality in research in Croatia is “definitely improving and going in the right direction.” The situation is particularly promising in biology, she adds, where most full professors, heads of department and deans of faculties are women. Lugarić, too, see the glass ceiling “very slowly, cracking,” and cites the academy election as an example that structural change is possible. Yet the situation in the national awards committee is a “stark reminder that without a conscious, systemic commitment to gender balance, progress will remain slow and uneven.”
Microsoft Build 2026: Everything Microsoft is Unveiling Today Live
We're attending Microsoft's annual Build Conference in person, covering all the Windows announcements, demos, and surprises. AI is sure to be a huge focus, and we might get some more details on the latest Surface hardware. Stay tuned for all the Build news as it happens.
Microsoft plans Linux tools and an RTX Spark desktop for Windows developers
One hardware announcement and several software highlights from Microsoft Build.
PlayStation State of Play June 2026: All the news and trailers
Stay up to date with all of Sony’s gaming announcements.
Microsoft Build 2026: the 7 biggest announcements
A Surface dev kit, an OS for AI agents, and more.
Motorola Edge (2026) for US and Canada unveiled with smaller 6.3" display
The 2024 and 2025 models had 6.6" and 6.7" displays, respectively. The new model has a 50MP 1/1.56" main camera and a 10MP 3x telephoto module.
The work you can't always see: Beer is political, part 2
Recently I published a piece about beer, politics, and the question of who speaks up and who doesn’t. I meant every word of it. I still do. And then my inbox opened up. Cleveland Prost is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe I’ve been writing about beer since 2014. For most of that time, I kept things deliberately light — taproom profiles, new releases, the people behind the pints. Gradually, over years of building this thing, you gave me something I didn’t expect: permission. Permission to go deeper. To say what I actually saw in this industry and what I actually believed about it. That trust isn’t something I take lightly. It’s why that piece existed at all, and it’s why this one does too. I’m not walking anything back. But I want to go further. In that piece, I wrote that beer has never existed outside the system. That immigration policy affects who staffs breweries and harvests ingredients. That labor policy affects taproom workers. That civil rights policy affects who feels safe walking into a taproom. That “beer does not exist in a vacuum. The idea that it does is comforting. It is also false.” I believe that as much now as I did when I wrote it. But one idea came back at me, in different forms, over and over (from reader emails, comments, and conversations): that beer itself isn’t political — that it only becomes political when someone decides to make it that way. That what we’re really seeing is a choice by individuals to inject division into something that doesn’t inherently require it. It’s a comforting idea. It’s also wrong — and I think it’s worth being precise about why. That framing assumes that breweries operate outside the conditions shaping everything else. That politics is something you choose to bring into a room that was, until then, clean and neutral. That if you stay quiet, you stay clear of it. But the room was never neutral. It was never clean. Politics is already in the room. It’s in who walks through the door comfortably and who hesitates. It’s in whether a space can be used for organizing without fear. It’s in whether helping someone quietly might carry consequences you have to think carefully about in advance. It’s in who staffed the brewery, who harvested the grain, who can afford to be a regular. The idea that you opt out of all that by staying quiet is an illusion. You only change how visible your response to it is. This is, I realize, a hard thing to hear if you came to a beer newsletter for something lighter. I wrote recently that “beer, for me, has always felt like a refuge — a third place in an increasingly fractured world.” I meant that. I still do. But a refuge is not an escape from reality. It’s a place to gather strength to face it. Here’s what I actually missed — and what I want to correct. Multiple people in the industry reached out to me. I’m not naming them and I’m not identifying their businesses, because that’s not my call. If and when they want to be loud about what they’re doing, that agency belongs to them. What I can share is the substance of what they said, because it complicated something I presented too cleanly. The overall message: *You don’t know what we all are doing.* And they’re right. I don’t. One example involved a collaboration brewed quietly to support another business facing serious challenges in a whole different region, with proceeds directed toward solidarity, community, and keeping operations afloat. No announcement. It could have been broadcast widely. The point was never publicity. Another example involved logistical support for community efforts: organizing safe transportation, providing space for meetings on otherwise closed days, facilitating gatherings under difficult conditions. All of it happening while balancing real financial pressure and genuine concern for personal safety. None of what they described is a brewer “deciding to make beer political.” It’s people responding to the conditions around them — conditions that are already shaping who feels safe, who has access, who can gather, who needs help, and who has the capacity to offer it. Politics, again, already in the room. Already shaping choices. Whether anyone announced it or not. I’ve spent decades in taprooms, at barrel releases, at festivals, in back offices and brewing floors, talking to the people who built this industry from nothing. I know how much happens that never makes it onto social media. I know the owner who quietly comp’d a tab for someone having a crisis. The brewer who drove an hour to pick up a stranger who needed a safe ride. The taproom that stayed dark on a Tuesday so a community group could use the space without it becoming A Whole Thing. None of that gets a post. Most of it never will. So when I wrote recently about silence — when I said that “silence right now doesn’t feel neutral, it feels like complicity” — I was writing about what I could see. And I was right about what I saw. The public silence of breweries that have the platform, the stability, and frankly the safety to say something and choose not to? That still troubles me. I’m not softening that. But some of what I read as silence is actually something else entirely. It’s people doing the work with their hands instead of their phones. It’s people who are genuinely afraid — not of being canceled, but of real consequences for their families, their employees, their ability to keep the doors open at all. That deserves more than a footnote. It deserves to be named clearly. Here’s the tension I want to sit with honestly: public statements matter. They matter because people can’t rally around something they can’t see. Visibility creates awareness and solidarity. It helps people find each other. It tells someone standing outside your taproom door, uncertain whether they’ll be welcomed inside, something they need to know — or whether it’s even safe for them to be in public at all. That’s not performative. I wrote recently that the craft beer movement “was built on collective defiance. It was built on rejecting consolidation. On pushing back against homogeneity.” I believe that too. And I’ll extend it: breweries should be at least as loud about their values as they are when they drop a new seasonal. Your hazy IPA gets a full rollout — the label art, the tap handle photo, the countdown post. Human dignity deserves the same energy. Be as loud about human rights as you are about your beer. There is no reason those two things should require different levels of courage from you. But visibility isn’t the only form of courage. And not everyone can be visible right now without real consequences — financial, personal, sometimes physical. There are people in this industry doing hard, unglamorous, sometimes risky work in the background, and announcing it would compromise it or paint a target on someone who’s already stretched thin. That’s not silence as complicity. That’s operational discipline under pressure. What I want to push back on — clearly, not gently — is the idea that behind-the-scenes action and public visibility are in competition with each other. The person organizing quietly in the back room and the person posting a statement of solidarity on a Tuesday morning are both doing something real. We need both. We need the quiet infrastructure and we need the visible signal. We need people to know that this industry — at its best, at its most independent, and human — gives a fuck. I closed that piece with a question: “Reactive and fearful? Or clear and values-driven?” That question still stands. But having heard from you, I’d add a corollary: the values-driven path isn’t always the loudest one. Sometimes it’s a phone call and a recipe. Sometimes it’s a room made available on a closed Tuesday. Sometimes it’s a drive across town for someone who needed a safe ride home. All of it is political. All of it was always political. You don’t get to opt out of that — you only get to decide what you do with it. I’ve spent more than a decade writing about this industry because I believe it can be exactly that. I’ve been lucky enough to build an audience that lets me say so plainly. That’s a privilege I intend to use. The work is happening. Some of it you’ll see. Some of it you won’t. Support it either way. Cleveland Prost is a reader-supported publication covering beer and brewing across New York state. To receive new posts and support this work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Cleveland Prost is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe
Star Entertainment Group closes US$390 million refinancing deal with WhiteHawk Capital
The Star Entertainment Group’s refinancing lifeline via WhiteHawk Capital Partners has officially closed, according to a Monday announcement by the US-based private
NJBIA Statement on Samsung Leaving NJ, State's Business Climate
NJBIA President and CEO Michele Siekerka released the following statement regarding today’s announcement of Samsung moving its U.S. headquarters from New
Trump administration says it will comply with court order that temporarily paused $1.8 billion compensation fund
The announcement from the Justice Department comes in response to a Friday court ruling by a federal judge in Virginia who ordered plans for the fund halted pending additional arguments later this month.
Trump halts $1.8bn ‘anti-weaponisation’ fund amid bipartisan backlash
The announcement comes after Trump met with congressional Republicans over concerns about his settlement with the IRS.
WWDC wallpaper released as free download alongside Apple Music playlist and more
Apple’s next major announcement is only a week away with WWDC 2026 set for Monday, June 8. Now Apple’s Greg...
AMD Wants You To Keep Using Your Old Hardware For A Lot Longer
With the growing cost of PC hardware and no defined end in sight, AMD is leveraging older hardware and promising extended support of existing platforms as its business strategy for the foreseeable future. AMD made a variety of announcements at Computex, but two of the most important involved hardware that many PC builders have been...
Serena Williams Announces Return to Tennis: Everything We Know
The 44-year-old broke the internet with her announcement.
Computex 2026: All the news and announcements
Nvidia RTX Spark, new old AMD chips, and more at Computex 2026.
Umar Nurmagomedov added to UFC Abu Dhabi in July
Umar Nurmagomedov will return as the co-main for UFC Abu Dhabi on July 25th, 2026. Overnight, the UFC made the big announcement: the No. 2 ranked bantamweight Nurmagomedov will face No. 9 ranked David Martinez at UFC Fight Night: Ankalaev vs. Rountree at Etihad Arena. This will be Nurmagomedov’s first fight since a dominant decision […]
L’Amy America Appoints David Low as New Director of Business Development, West
NEW YORK—L’Amy America has announced the appointment of David Low as director of business development, West, effective today, June 1, 2026. Low joins L’Amy America at a pivotal moment as it expands its portfolio with the launch of its luxury category and the addition of Billabong eyewear collections, the company said in an announcement. Low brings more than three decades of experience in eyewear sales and sales leadership, L’Amy America said, with a strong background in brand development, strategic growth and team management across the optical industry.
AMD Announces Radeon RX 9070 GRE, Ryzen AI Max PRO 400 Series
AMD is kicking off the busy Computex 2026 week with some new product announcements.
Caitlin Clark Reacts After Emotional Personal Announcement on Friday
Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark shared a heartfelt reaction after a children's hospital revealed the impact of her visit with a 10-year-old boy battling leukemia.
DuckDuckGo's 'No AI' Search Traffic Climbs as Users Reject Google's AI Overhaul
Privacy-focused search engine DuckDuckGo has seen a surge in demand for its "No AI" search option in the wake of Google's May 19th I/O announcements. Google debuted a new "intelligent" search box reimagined with AI. It features AI suggestions as an upgrade to autocomplete, support for follow-up questions, expanded Personal Intelligence for connecting Gmail and Google Photos, and Search agents.
Acer’s launching a Linux handheld for streaming your PC games
The Nitro Blaze Link is a PlayStation Portal for your PC.
Haslam Sports Group to sell stake in Columbus Crew to Nationwide
Haslam Sports Groups is selling a minority stake of the Columbus Crew to Nationwide, its co-owner for the 18th NWSL team.
"A new era of PC": Microsoft and NVIDIA tease major announcement experts predict to be the fabled N1X chip
Microsoft and NVIDIA just hinted at major announcements at Computex and Build 2026.
Microsoft teases new Surface hardware and ‘a new era of PC’
The teasers point to Computex and Build announcements next week.
MediaTek confirms Dimensity processors will power new Googlebooks, not Kompanio
With the official Googlebook announcement behind us, we finally have a clearer picture of these new AI-powered laptops. We now know which brands will be building the first Googlebooks for the fall...
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 - First Details on the Next Epic Call of Duty Campaign
Infinity Ward has just blown the doors off one of the biggest video game reveals of the year with the announcement of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 alongside its stunning reveal trailer.
A Deeper Look Inside Planet Zoo 2’s Announce Trailer
Planet Zoo 2's Game Director breaks down its announcement trailer to give us a taste of what to expect in this upcoming sequel.
Caesars—A Las Vegas Landmark—Will Be Sold For Nearly $6 Billion
Caesars agreed to the purchase in a Thursday announcement.
The Witcher 3 Songs of the Past Is an Expansion, Not DLC, CD Projekt Insists While Using IGN Interview With Idris Elba to Make the Point
In the wake of the announcement of The Witcher 3 Songs of the Past, CD Projekt staff have taken to social media to insist it should be considered an expansion, rather than DLC — even using an IGN interview with Cyberpunk star Idris Elba to hammer home the point.
Music Local app helps Tallahassee residents find events in one spot
Nonprofit online platform Music Local centralizes Tallahassee show announcements to help the local music scene thrive.
First Cases for Apple's Foldable iPhone Surface Online
Accessory maker iFunSmart has begun listing the first protective cases for Apple's upcoming foldable iPhone, corroborating rumors about the device's design. Case makers routinely begin mass producing accessories ahead of a new iPhone announcement, working from dummy units or leaked CAD files to size their molds. Their designs are speculative, but they have historically proven accurate to the millimeter, since accessory makers cannot afford to be left without product on launch day.
Dragon Quest 12: Beyond Dreams reveals first trailer and details five years after announcement
After years of waiting, Dragon Quest 12 has finally resurfaced. Square Enix shared an update in celebration of the series’ 40th anniversary today. Dragon Quest 12 was revealed five years ago today. However, since that initial announcement, Square Enix has been keeping quiet on the game – we had yet to see it since then. It was originally known as...
Ebola, chemical plants and health, hantavirus, common colds, heat and more
As they say, bugs have ears. Public health has had a relentless May. Chemical plant (near) explosions, Ebola, hantavirus, and that's before you even get to the usual suspects: common colds, heat, and ticks. Here’s an attempt to keep you up to speed and, more importantly, what it means for you and your community. But first, an announcement: World Cup The World Cup starts in 15 days (not like anyone is counting down), and we are hanging TVs in the Health Security Operations Center. It’s going to be a gorgeous, chaotic celebration of basically every culture on earth. And it’s going to take a team effort—from communities to individuals, from public health to health care—to keep people healthy. That’s where you come in. If you’re going to the games or live within 30 miles of a stadium, we would love to hear from you. Sign up for a weekly survey here. Thanks to the more than 1,280 people who have already signed up…you will be hearing from us soon!! Global disease “weather report” Hantavirus: Two more cases The global count of cruise ship passengers with hantavirus has now increased to 13 cases (11 confirmed), with three deaths. The two new cases are overseas and among people who were already quarantining: A crew member in the Netherlands. A Spanish national passenger who was quarantining at home tested positive through daily monitoring. They are now in a biocontainment unit. In the U.S., everyone remains negative. There may be more cases, given that the incubation period of hantavirus (the time from exposure to infection) is 45 days. But this week, we will reach a major milestone: the median incubation window is 18 days, and that will pass on May 29. What this means for you: Your risk from this cruise ship outbreak remains essentially nil at this point. Ebola rages on in Central Africa Big thanks to Dr. Craig Spencer, a humanitarian physician who has treated and survived Ebola, for jumping in to provide the YLE community with an update. Craig, take it from here… The combined confirmed and suspected Ebola cases in DRC are now more than 1,000. All signs are pointing to a very long and catastrophic outbreak in Central Africa: This is a vast undercount. We know this because the test positivity rate is hovering around 50%, only 20% of contacts are being traced (and in some areas, no contacts at all), and more cases keep popping up with no known connection. This all points to widespread and undetected community transmission. This is in only a week of detection. Compared to previous outbreaks, the growth is very fast, as the huge West Africa outbreak in 2016 was first detected at 49 cases and rose to 208 cases a month later. It took four months for that outbreak to reach the size of the current one in the DR Congo. The cases are spread out across 16 health zones. There are now multiple epicenters, making containment very difficult. Next door in Uganda, the case count is seven. While this number is low compared to DRC, a concerning development is that two health care workers recently tested positive with uncertain exposure histories. If they weren’t treating known Ebola cases, this means it’s spreading undetected in Uganda as well. On the ground, backlash, including the burning of health centers, has emerged, a pattern seen in nearly every outbreak and rooted in deep community distrust. It often stems from outside actors working in communities without fully understanding or addressing local priorities. Affected populations may recognize the severity of Ebola while still holding other concerns as more pressing, such as where their loved ones are buried. Community trust is essential to an effective response, but difficult to build during an active emergency. It is best established long before a crisis begins. U.S. priorities are made clear, and may backfire. The U.S. Administration has shown that its first priority is keeping Ebola out, with helping end the outbreak in the DRC a secondary concern. That's meant travel restrictions broader than anything we've imposed before — covering travelers from across the region, and reportedly some green card holders and permanent residents as well. For example, just these past two days, news broke that high-risk American travelers will be subject to a mandatory quarantine in Kenya before they are allowed to return. If an American is infected, the U.S. government plans to send them to a hospital it is standing up from scratch in Kenya. (Currently, Americans who were in the area are allowed to return but are diverted to three airports—Houston, Atlanta, and DC—for further screening.) Past administrations have used travel notices and stepped-up screening; this goes much further. At first blush, these strict precautions may sound prudent. But this approach could backfire in three ways: Restrictions this blunt give people every reason to hide where they’ve been and whom they’ve been near — making the people we most need to find harder to track, not easier. They also breed a false sense that this is someone else’s problem. But diseases are humbling. They find the small cracks in even the most impenetrable-seeming defenses. Lives lost. There is no treatment for this Ebola strain, which means survival depends heavily on the quality of the health system. We have that system in the States, but we are choosing not to use it for infected Americans. This is unbelievable and infuriating. (See a deeper dive from me here.) The only real way to lower the risk to Americans — and everyone else — is to end the outbreak in the DRC and across the region. What this means for you: If you have travel plans to this region, it’s time to cancel them. This is a high-risk situation in Central Africa, and CDC released a Level 4 Travel Advisory. There is also great uncertainty if and when the Administration will let you back in. To the general public in the U.S., your risk remains very, very low right now. U.S. disease “weather report” Ticks: past peak season? Good news, especially for people in the Northeast and Midwest: tick numbers continue to decline. Though we are at the peak of the season, this unusually early year is trending favorably. Heat-related illnesses in the North Heat risk is certainly not blanketing the entire country yet, but this week it will be moderate in the Midwest and the Southeast. What this means for you: Be sure to check the CDC HeatRisk tool. A red day isn’t the best day for that soccer game for a kid with asthma, and a stretch of orange days is a great time to check on your elderly neighbor. Common colds surging As far as respiratory viruses go, the only thing really going around right now is the common cold. It is higher this year than last year, but should peak very soon before returning this fall. Spotlight: Chemical plants Over the weekend, YLE California covered the serious situation that unfolded around a chemical plant in Orange County, California. Thankfully, the worst-case scenario (a chemical explosion) was mitigated, but only through luck. The health implications in a densely populated area could have been catastrophic. As the situation was winding down, another chemical explosion struck Washington State. This one was fatal. Health officials say the risk to surrounding residents from chemicals in the air and ground remains low, though the community deserves far greater clarity. Clean air and clean water consistently rank as Americans’ top public health concerns — yet when chemical disasters strike, communities are too often met with reassurances rather than transparency and accountability. Residents near the 2023 East Palestine, Ohio train derailment, for example, are still waiting to understand the long-term impact on their health, with few clear answers. What this means for you: Many are wondering if facilities processing potentially dangerous materials are in their neighborhoods. This interactive map allows you to enter your ZIP code and see all facilities monitored by the EPA, including any violations. Good news Ebola vaccines and treatment for the Bundibugyo species are in development. Two vaccine platforms are being explored, at least one of which may be deployable in as little as 2 months. One vaccine is being developed by Oxford, and the other uses the same biotechnology as the FDA-approved Zaire species of Ebola. (It may provide cross-protection, but it’s unclear at this point.) On the treatment side, two promising monoclonal antibody cocktails are likely to be deployed, though doses are limited and logistical hurdles remain significant challenges. Anni over at The Biotech Tea had a great explainer about the Ebola vaccine gap, if you want to read more. [ The Biotech Tea The Ebola vaccine gap, reading vessel damage, & the Makary exit 🗝️ Paid subscribers get the Biotech Term of the Week at $30/year (~$2.50/month). I try to keep it intentionally accessible, but if cost is ever a barrier, send me a message. A few people asked about expensing your subscription, so I put together a short email template… Read more 6 days ago · 10 likes · Annicka Evans, PhD ](https://www.thebiotechtea.com/p/the-ebola-vaccine-gap-reading-vessel?utm_source=substack&utm_campaign=post_embed&utm_medium=web) Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) has been officially renamed polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome (PMOS), following more than a decade of debate and input from roughly 22,000 clinicians, researchers, and patients worldwide. This is good because the old name was medically misleading, leading to patients without visible cysts being dismissed or overlooked entirely. The WHO estimates that 70% of people with the condition remain undiagnosed. A more accurate name should improve recognition, reduce stigma, and ultimately help the millions of people living with this condition get diagnosed and treated sooner. Poll Loading... Bottom line Public health situations are everywhere right now. Staying healthy takes public health professionals and systems working tirelessly behind the scenes and each of us showing up for our neighbors and communities. Love, YLE Big thanks to Ed Nirenberg for staying on top of the Ebola vaccines, Hannah Totte for all the figures, Dr. Craig Spencer for the Ebola insight, and Dr. Matt Willis for covering the chemical situation in CA. Your Local Epidemiologist (YLE) comprises a team of experts, ranging from physicians to immunologists to epidemiologists to nutritionists, working together with one goal: to “Translate” ever-evolving public health science so that people are well-equipped to make evidence-based decisions. YLE suite of newsletters reaches over 475,000 people across more than 132 countries. This newsletter is free to everyone, thanks to the generous support of fellow YLE community members. To support the effort, subscribe or upgrade below: Subscribe
Bari Weiss: Think For Yourself, Not By Yourself
When we launched The Free Press, the plan was simple: Tell the truth plainly, and let readers come to their own conclusions. I thought there would be a sizable enough group of people who would pay the cost of one coffee a month to read high-quality news and opinion journalism. But what happened next surprised even me. Yes, you came for the stories—for the investigations, essays, debates, interviews, podcasts, and arguments. But over the past few years, you also found one another. I’ve watched strangers become friends in the lobby before our debates. I’ve seen people trade numbers after live recordings of Honestly, launch businesses after Free Press dinners, fall in love after our meetups—even get married (!?), and say some version of the same sentence over and over again: I thought I was the only one. We live in the most connected age in history, and yet, millions of people feel isolated, alienated, politically homeless, and starved for real conversation. We have followers and no neighbors. Algorithms instead of interlocutors. Our social media feeds are like troughs, but what we really need is a table to gather around. The Free Press is a publication, yes, but it is also a gathering place for independent minds. So today, I’m thrilled to share our new investment in you. We are launching a new world of community experiences for our paid subscribers, designed to bring _Free Press_ers together online and in real life. Introducing Our Community Launch The Free Press Forum Our new digital home for paid subscribers, the Forum, is now live. This is where _Free Press_ers can meet, debate, recommend, organize, joke, argue, and converse like civilized people. Imagine that. This is not social media as you know it. No bots. No algorithmic rage bait. No performative nonsense. Just smart people talking to one another. Inside the Forum, you’ll find conversations on the things our readers already care about most: the issues of the day, recommendations (books, music, travel), work and networking, parenting, dating, and where to find your people—online and in real life. Jump in! Introduce yourself and join the first conversations in the Free Press Forum here. You’ll also find announcements from us (paid subscribers are first to hear!) and our writers, hosting regular Ask Me Anythings (AMAs)—live conversations where subscribers can ask questions, push back, and continue the discussion beyond the page. This Thursday, subscribers can chat with our brilliant reporter, culture vulture, and co-founder Suzy Weiss. Friday, I’ll be lending you Nellie Bowles, queen of TGIF, to answer subscriber questions live. Read more about The Forum directly from Nellie here. The Free Press Supper Club The best part of being a _Free Press_er is meeting other _Free Press_ers. So we’re inviting you all to dinner to do just that. It’s part salon, part blind date, part old-fashioned dinner party. Here’s how it works: You answer a short questionnaire. We match you with a small group of _Free Press_ers in your city. We send you to a great restaurant. You show up for supper. The rest is up to you. Your next best friend, co-founder, or future spouse may already be waiting at the table. Learn more and sign up here for our first Supper Club in 12 cities in three countries taking place on June 18. Don’t see your city? Raise your hand if you’d like a Free Press Supper Club near you. Yes, St. Louis—we hear you. The Free Press Retreats and Excursions We’re also building something new for 2027: immersive experiences for Free Press readers who want to continue the conversation trailside, poolside, or around a fire long after dessert. The Free Press Retreat will be an intimate long weekend built around big ideas, outdoor adventure, great meals, and the kinds of discussions that happen when curious people spend meaningful time together. Bring your spouse, your parents, your children—or come on your own. Free Press Excursions will take us farther afield: curated trips with Free Press writers and contributors exploring places that help explain the world we live in, from the battlefields of Gettysburg and Normandy to the Vatican in Rome. We’ll share more details this summer. If you’d like an early look when these experiences open for registration, show your interest here.**A Note to Our Subscribers** These new offerings exist because of our paying subscribers. If you’re already one: Thank you. You built this. And you keep us going. If you’ve been reading us for free and wondering whether to join, this is a very good time. For a short while only, we’re offering a rare 20 percent discount for you to join our community as a paid subscriber. You’ll unlock everything we publish, plus exclusive access to our members-only Forum, Supper Clubs, and more insider perks. Thinking for yourself shouldn’t mean thinking by yourself. See you there. —Bari
GTA 6 Was Supposed to Come Out Today, May 26 — and According to Rockstar's Official Twitter Account, It Still Does
“Grand Theft Auto VI is now set to release on May 26, 2026.” That was the announcement Rockstar Games issued on May 2, 2025, confirming a delay from the game’s original fall 2025 release window. Today is May 26, and fans are marking the occasion with memes, jokes, and plenty of hope for a fresh update.
Chrusciki Bakery to close final retail location May 31
The bakery made the announcement on social media, saying that after 40 years, a new chapter begins.
As an online petition for Destiny 3 gains traction, reports suggest Bungie staff didn't know about the end of Destiny 2 until the public announcement
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USMNT World Cup roster leak reveals Mauricio Pochettino surprises
Mauricio Pochettino's 26-man USMNT World Cup 2026 roster has reportedly leaked ahead of Tuesday's official announcement
England announced World Cup squad with Beatles-inspired video
It’s not just NFL teams that have something to strive for on social media this month. With the World Cup just a few weeks away, national teams are releasing their squads for the tournament with similarly dramatic announcements. Norway literally got their king to announce the squad. Brazil did it the old-fashioned way by announcing…
Pep Guardiola, Cristiano Ronaldo At Al-Nassr? Guardiola's Agent Confirms Contact
Al-Nassr launched an ambitious approach for Pep Guardiola prior to the manager's newly confirmed announcement that he will officially step down from Manchester City at the end of the season.
Foreigners in U.S. must apply for green cards abroad, new Trump administration rule says
The announcement from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is the latest step by the Trump administration making legal immigration more difficult for foreigners already in the U.S. and for those hoping to come here.
Ex-Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio tells PBS News he believes he's owed tens of millions from DOJ fund
The former leader of the extremist, far-right group that played a major role in the Jan. 6 insurrection says he’s “excited” about the announcement of a $1.776 billion fund for people who believe they are victims of the justice system.
Warhammer Skulls 2026 — all Xbox reveals and announcements from the show
New game announcements, updates, crossovers... there were plenty of reveals for Xbox fans during this year's Warhammer Skulls. Check out everything here.
England World Cup squad announcement: Ruthless Thomas Tuchel leaves big names out of 26-man squad
🥐 Target, Real Madrid; CR7 champion; comebacks... Friday's 5️⃣ stories
The football scene wakes up in turmoil both in the boardrooms and on international benches. The official announcement of a candidacy for the Real Madrid presidency opens a new institutional horizon at...
Everything Announced at Warhammer Skulls 2026
Check out all the game announcements, updates, trailers, and reveals from Warhammer Skulls 2026.
‘Gemini built in’ will bring Google Home AI features to more third-party speakers this year
On the back of a ton of Gemini announcements at I/O 2026, Google is today announcing “Gemini built in” as...
Warhammer Skulls 2026 Showcase Streams Live and We're Detailing All the Latest News, Reveals, and Game Updates From the Event
Warhammer Skulls is back! The showcase event for all things Warhammer video games promises to deliver big news on everything from Space Marine 2 to Darktide, and we'll be reporting live on all the announcements, reveals, and updates.
Mike Duggan drops governor bid in Michigan election shocker
In a stunning announcement, former Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan ends his bid for Michigan governor, citing a shifting political landscape.
Gemini’s new usage limits are live, and users already seem frustrated about it
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ChromeOS 148 is now rolling out: update now for the security, not the new features
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It's not just PS Plus Essential getting a price hike: Premium and Extra tiers are now more expensive too
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Bonus 228: The $1.776B Political Question
Every so often a story comes along that is so brazen, so cleanly emblematic of the moment we are living through, that staying quiet about it feels like a kind of complicity unto itself. Monday’s announcement by the Department of Justice that the Acting Attorney General has unilaterally created a $1.776 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” to compensate so-called “victims of lawfare” is one of those stories. And the reason I want to write about it here, in a newsletter ostensibly devoted to the Supreme Court and the law and politics surrounding it, is that I’m increasingly worried that we’re asking the wrong institution to save us from one of the most offensive, alarming, and anti-constitutional things we’ve seen from any president in American history. As I explain below the fold, the Anti-Weaponization Fund is not principally a legal problem awaiting a judicial fix. It is a shockingly egregious political abuse—the President suing his own government, purporting to settle with himself, and routing nearly $2 billion from the Treasury to his own supporters as a not-so-subtle (and not-so-formal) reward, if not an incentive, for political violence. And the Constitution’s answer to political abuses of this kind and magnitude is a political remedy, not a legal one. In his majority opinion in NFIB v. Sebelius (the Affordable Care Act case from 2012), Chief Justice Roberts defended the Court’s endorsement of Congress’s power to adopt the individual mandate by noting that it is “not our job to protect the people from the consequences of their political choices.” As much of a judicial supremacist as I am, that sentiment is, for better or worse, an entirely correct (and, in the long term, normatively desirable) institutional assessment. One can believe in substantial judicial power without believing that literally every political dispute in our country can and should be resolved by unelected judges. The real upshot of this latest headline (among so, so many other similar headlines) is that it is past time to reinvigorate impeachment—not because conviction is realistic in this Senate, or even because impeachment itself is feasible in this House, but because forcing every member of Congress to vote on the record whether this brazen, corrosive, and affirmatively dangerous corruption is impeachable is itself a point worth fighting for (and fighting with our friends over). Assuming the courts will save us absolves our political leaders of both responsibility and accountability for allowing this kind of mischief to continue, and it absolves all of us of our responsibility to refuse to tolerate those who would just as quickly shrug their shoulders and move on. For those who aren’t paid subscribers, we’ll be back (no later than) Monday with our continuing coverage of the Supreme Court. For those who are, please read on.
iOS 27's New AI Voice Control Feature Hints at Major Siri Upgrade Coming Soon
Every May, Apple previews new accessibility features coming to devices like the iPhone, iPad, and Mac. The announcement typically occurs a few days before Global Accessibility Awareness Day, and it offers a glimpse into what will be included in the next major releases of Apple's software platforms, such as iOS, iPadOS, and macOS. This year, one of the new capabilities shown off by Apple is natural language support for the Voice Control feature on the iPhone and iPad.
NATO's top officer doesn't expect more U.S. drawdowns beyond the 5,000 troops Trump announced
The remarks by U.S. Lt. Gen. Alex Grynkewich follow Trump's surprise announcement of the move early this month.
XREAL’s Android XR glasses will launch before the end of 2026, early access for devs
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Google AI Studio can now build Android apps, Android Studio adds iOS app porting
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The 13 biggest announcements at Google I/O 2026
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Google's Gemini Omni Can Generate 'Anything From Any Input,' Starting With Video
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Google I/O 2026 live: Gemini AI, Android 17, Android XR updates and more
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Major shareholder of Century Entertainment transfers entire holding in mystery move linked to CEO
Hong Kong-listed gaming investor Century Entertainment International Holdings Ltd said in a Monday announcement that one if its major shareholders, Ms Ho Tsz Yi
MIAC announces 2026 spring sport Elite 22 winners
BLOOMINGTON, Minn. – The Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) recognized some of its best and brightest spring-sport student-athletes on Tuesday with the announcement of the baseball, softball, tennis, and outdoor track & field Elite 22 Awards.
Nintendo has just announced Wario Ware-like game Pictonico! for mobile phones, and it looks absolutely bonkers
Nintendo's latest surprise announcement is Pictonico! for mobile phones, a Wario Ware-inspired game that's free to start playing but comes with DLC packs.
Woodbridge school counselor named 2026 Delaware Behavioral Health Professional of Year - State of Delaware News
Taylor Richey, a school counselor from the Woodbridge School District, is the state’s 2026 Delaware Behavioral Health Professional of the Year. Secretary of Education Cindy Marten made the announcement at a statewide banquet honoring the district and charter network behavioral health professionals of the year. The Woodbridge Early Childhood Education Center counselor said […]
The Sugar Bowl and LHSAA announce new sponsorship deal. What ended the old one?
All LHSAA championships for the next six years will include the Sugar Bowl branding after the announcement of a sponsorship agreement that will run through the 2031-32 academic year.
Trump says he's called off Iran strike planned for Tuesday at request of Gulf allies
Trump made the announcement in a social media post on Monday after threatening the clock was ticking for Iran to strike a deal or fighting would renew after a fragile ceasefire.
Gleyber Torres Reacts to Former Yankees Teammate After Retirement Announcement
Gleyber Torres had a message on Monday.
🚨 José Mourinho and Real Madrid: it’s all done! (reports)
Official announcement imminent.José Mourinho is indeed set to become Real Madrid’s next manager.Fabrizio Romano reported this Monday morning that everything has been finalized between the Madrid cl...
🚨 BREAKING: Chelsea confirm appointment of Xabi Alonso
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Now What? With Carbon Pricing Eroded and Pipeline Politics Advancing, Here Are the Pathways for Climate Success
At the end of a whirlwind week of news on carbon pricing and electricity strategy, capping a madcap year of pretty much non-stop, dramatic change, the word across much of Canada’s climate and energy transition community is that climate policy in this country has been shredded. Eviscerated. Hit with a sledgehammer by policy rollbacks that have pushed the country’s 2050 net zero target “well out of reach”. That means it’s never been more important to look for the rays of hope and glimmers of possibility. To glimpse the seeds of the next set of strategies to get Canada’s climate pollution under control and the country into the accelerating global dash away from fossil fuels. And then, once we’ve spotted those possibilities, get on with the hard, day-to-day slog of trying to make them a reality. Nothing takes away from the frustration and the deep disappointment so many climate and energy hawks are expressing, the sense of betrayal by the author of Value(s) and the former UN special envoy for climate action and finance. But we knew two things as the week drew to a close. We’re looking at the world as it most definitely is. And we don’t get to give up finding the pathways to confront climate change and deliver faster, deeper carbon cuts that leave no one else behind. So really, the first question we all have to ask ourselves is: What’s next? Subscribe All the Oxygen in the Room The outpouring of anger and grief over the carbon pricing deal between Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has been absolutely understandable. So much of the climate community poured years, more than a decade, into dragging the current federal pricing regime across the finish line, then defending it from a deluge of three-syllable rhymes after the Trudeau government proved utterly incapable of delivering its own message. The policy foisted on us by neo-classical economists took up all the oxygen in the room, burned through years of climate response time that we won’t get back, while cornering climate hawks into the position that the best response to the crisis of our lifetimes is a new tax…in an era of historic anti-tax sentiment. I mean, really—what could possibly have gone wrong? Against that history, let’s appreciate columnist Max Fawcett’s point that even a modest carbon pricing agreement with a government as off-the-wall libertarian/conspiracist as Danielle Smith’s—those adjectives are mine, not Max’s—is a win worth savouring (as long as Smith keeps her promises for a change). But part of living in the world as it is (no, I’m not letting that go) is to be clear-headed about what we can and can’t control. And one thing we get to decide, after seeing this week’s carbon price festivities take up all the oxygen yet again, is whether we want to keep letting that happen. Particularly when success down that road depends on a factor that no one with a climate agenda can control or influence—a provincial carbon pricing mechanism that has been manipulated and eroded beyond its lowest possible denominator. Thankfully, that’s not the way it has to go. Not when we have so many other powerful, practical tools at our disposal, including the ones still available to us through this abominable Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Canada and Alberta. Tools In Our Toolbox When I started roughing out this list, I didn’t expect it to grow to nearly a dozen bullet points. It’s probably still incomplete. Some of the greatest hits in today’s climate solutions toolbox include: • No Carbon Capture, No Pipeline: On Friday, Prime Minister Mark Carney explicitly stated that there’s been no change to the MOU provision that there will be no West Coast pipeline without an industry commitment to build its massive, $16.5-billion carbon capture and storage (CCUS) hub in Northern Alberta, and vice versa. The two megaprojects were joined at the hip when the MOU was signed Nov. 27, and the implementation agreement this week affirmed that they still are. A parade of independent analysts have spent years pointing to the economic and technical flaws in CCUS, while the industry kept postponing its investment decision until it could arm-twist the government for more “clarity” (by which it meant even more lavish taxpayer subsidies) on the project. Now the industry itself is running away from the CCUS hub and insisting the pipeline should proceed without it, but Carney doesn’t seem to be budging from a central tenet of the MOU to which Smith has signed on. • No Subsidies, No Investors: Climate analysts and advocates have quite rightly been hammering away at Carney and his team, insisting that any new capacity the industry wants to build must proceed without new subsidies. The government has responded with a growing collection of funding and financing mechanisms for the very wide menu of industrial development and nation-building projects they say they want to take on, and that menu always includes fossil fuel infrastructure. But it’s hard to see how even the combined fiscal clout of the federal and supportive provincial governments will deliver the financial backing private investors would need when the business case for new fossil fuel development is evaporating before their eyes. Particularly when… • No Market, No Demand, No Investors: As our friend Markham Hislop at Energi Media (our apparently sleepless friend, given the massive volume of great material he’s been churning out) points out this morning, the biggest vulnerability in any pipeline deal is the assumption that Asian buyers will want the oil or liquefied natural ga that our fossil industry is so keen to send them. Hislop writes in part: Ottawa and Alberta are effectively betting that countries like China and India will continue increasing oil imports for decades as their economies grow and energy consumption rises. That assumption underpins the entire economic rationale for expanding oil sands production and building billions of dollars in new export infrastructure. But Asian energy systems are changing rapidly… China, India, South Korea, and other major hydrocarbon importers are now investing hundreds of billions of dollars into electricity systems built around wind, solar, batteries, nuclear, hydro, and expanded transmission infrastructure. Domestic “energy sovereignty” is increasingly replacing the old energy-security model based on stable oil and gas imports. Those investments are expected to sharply slow oil demand growth and eventually reverse it, even as overall energy consumption continues rising. There are also refining constraints. Many Asian refineries and petrochemical complexes are already optimized to process discounted heavy crude from the Middle East and Latin America. That raises serious questions about how much additional Canadian bitumen Asian markets can absorb at profitable prices. Small wonder that there’s still no private sector investor for the project, despite Smith’s government desperately beating the bushes to put together a deal. For now, Alberta is acting as proponent and covering early start-up costs for a pitch to the federal Major Projects Office, which could actually turn into the next tough hurdle for Smith and her pipeline to jump. • Canada Day Looms: How ironic that Canada’s birthday this year could become a major chokepoint for the provincial premier who’s been working so diligently to tear the country apart! The July 1 target date for Alberta’s pipeline proposal is baked into the MOU, was reaffirmed by the implementation plan, but it hadn’t dawned on me that it cuts both ways. As one very smart colleague wrote in an email yesterday, “they’ve thrown the ball into Alberta’s court to get the project proposal on the table really quickly and to have to do a whole pile of work to put together a massive, complicated project that would typically take years to assemble, and they’ve given them weeks to do it.” That makes July 1 a looming deadline that Smith won’t be able to run away from politically, especially with the separatists in her party and her caucus breathing down her neck. (See previous ref to off-the-wall.) But if Alberta comes in with a sloppy, incomplete submission, even after Carney bent over backwards to simplify the application process and the rules that govern it, it may be harder for the province or the industry to blame Ottawa and insist on the faster process they claim their investors are demanding. (Oh, wait—which investors would those be??) • We’ll See You In Court (Then We’ll See You Again): If Carney did cave, that would be just one more reason for Indigenous and other affected communities to take the government and the process to court—Just as Alberta First Nations did, successfully, in response to Smith’s half-baked separation referendum. Veterans of the Harper era have been warning that a shoddy process around fossil fuel infrastructure or other major projects will be a recipe for the very delays that process seeks to avoid. And now more than ever, with renewable energy and energy storage eating fossil fuels’ lunch in import markets around the world, a delayed pipeline or LNG terminal may be as good as a cancelled one. • Charged Up, Ready to Go: With its goal of doubling Canada’s electricity supply to meet a doubling of demand by 2050, the national electricity strategy that Carney unveiled Thursday has a lot to like. With its explicit language about speeding the shift from fuels to more efficient and affordable electricity, global investment and deployment patterns that already favour that shift, an emerging bidirectional power grid, the role of front-line options like rooftop solar and heat pumps, the emergence of electric vehicles as behind-the-meter energy storage, and the domestic jobs and manufacturing to make it all happen, the document doubles down on the essential cornerstone of a faster shift off fossil fuels. The strategy envisions a more prominent role for gas and nuclear power. But some of those provisions were already in the Clean Electricity Regulations that climate hawks are now fighting so hard to defend, inserted as a compromise in a futile attempt to mollify the industry and its political representatives in Alberta and Saskatchewan. But once again, gas will be a tougher sell when it’s more expensive and now so much more unpredictable than the clean alternatives. The new nuclear technologies are still speculative and deeply vulnerable to cost overruns. Increasingly, utilities, developers, and investors know it. Carney declared Thursday that “it doesn’t do us good to be sitting in court all the time with provinces. It doesn’t do us good to be talking past each other. What does do us good is to come together with specific projects.” There are no guarantees, but so much of the language and narrative-building in the electricity strategy suggests the lion’s share of those projects will be renewable. • The Party Has Already Started: The electricity strategy only rarely digs down to specific projects, but provinces representing three-quarters of Canada’s population are already embracing a faster transition. Hydro-Québec is working on a 10-year, $185-billion renewable energy and grid buildout by 2035. Ontario recently brought 10 provinces and territories together in a National Energy Corridor Agreement to boost interprovincial and -territorial transmission infrastructure. And the MOU implementation agreement commits Alberta to facilitate investment in renewable energy projects, a big step back from its continuing, punitive restrictions on renewables development. The electricity strategy envisions much of the financing and infrastructure that will be needed to pull those advances together into an integrated whole. • Delivering on Affordability: The MOU implementation plan has little or nothing to say about affordability (are you surprised?), but the electricity strategy does, with a top-line pledge to reduce home energy costs for seven out of 10 Canadian households by 2050, a total saving of $15 billion across the board. It’s just a start, but it puts affordability on the government’s narrative map. If they’re serious and deliberate about patching together a least-cost energy strategy, it’ll have little if any room for oil, gas, or nuclear—not with powerful evidence, for example, that electricity prices are higher when those prices are set by gas. • Smith Proves that Canada Works: By signing a deal that makes it harder to claim the federal government is blocking a new pipeline, Smith has helped prove Carney’s constant anti-separatist refrain that “Canada works”—incurring the rage, no doubt, of her own political base. Canada also needs to work for anyone who depends on a clean environment, healthy and thriving ecosystems, and safe, stable climate. But with Smith and her separatist constituents setting up as a fifth column for annexation by Donald Trump’s United States, let’s set aside any notion that 51st state status for Canada is a recipe for anything other than climate disaster (and so much else). Resisting and withstanding Trump (just 170 more sleeps until mid-term elections, which is a damn sight better than the 730 we started with) doesn’t mean a free pass for a pipeline, but we can still appreciate it that keeping Canada whole and sovereign is still Carney’s Job One. • The Words Not Spoken: Apart from a commitment to export a million barrels of “low-emission” Alberta bitumen per day (memo to Smith and Carney: You realize that that’s less than the industry is already exporting??), the MOU implementation plan says nothing about the international trade and economic sovereignty deals that Carney has been travelling the world to negotiate. It didn’t have to. Carney doesn’t need permission from Danielle Smith, her American enablers, or her separatist allies to continue building the alliances that will ratchet down our economic dependency on our unstable, unreliable neighbour to the south. But every connection he builds with countries outside North America helps align our economy and our future with a faster shift off fossil fuels. Little if any of this was on our bingo cards a year or two ago. But it’s the pathway that has opened up to us. And if it gives Canada any climate or energy gains at all in an era still dominated by Trump and his increasingly ridiculous tariffs, his loutish trade negotiations and his continuing annexation threats, we have to take the wins. Not least because they’ll be the point of departure for what we can achieve in 2027, 2029, and beyond, as Trump’s grip and this era begin to loosen and then fade. What is Carney Doing? If this line of thought is right—and it’s a possibility, not a prediction—it means that Carney’s actions and decisions are largely about buying time. Time for Trump’s power to wane. Time for Alberta’s separatist/conspiracist virus to spread, mutate, die out, or at least die back, with help from a vaccine of federal steadiness and calm (appropriate enough, for a movement populated largely by vaccine deniers) that no conspiracy theory can dismiss. And time for the government’s trade and investment agenda to deliver results—even knowing that some of those results will bring impacts that front-line communities will not and should not accept. In the immediate moment, none of this changes the way the wider climate community has to respond, from campaigners to investors to front-line practitioners. All of our voices are still essential. But those voices will be stronger and more confident if we have a clearer sense of the brutal game we’ve been pulled into, and a plausible path (or two it three) for playing it to the win we need. This conversation also underscores our biggest task for the remaining years of what was supposed to be the “decisive” decade for climate response: if we can shift the energy narrative in Canada, make it a mainstream view that the country’s preoccupation with oil and gas has us falling farther behind a changing world, we’ll see far better results in the 2030s and beyond. For many veteran climate advocates, taking on that part of the fight will begin with recognizing that most of our friends and family, neighbours and colleagues already understand that climate change is real and right in front of us: they’re looking away and staying silent because they don’t have what climate communicator Katharine Hayhoe calls “efficacy”. As Hayhoe recently pointed out in a feature interview with The Energy Mix, it amounts to science denial to keep hammering away at the dire news about global warming without also helping audiences understand what they can do about it, with multiple studies telling us why that won’t work. Far better to open those conversations with the dominant crises like energy security, food security, emergency preparedness and business continuity, affordability, and financial security that have knocked climate change far lower on the list of public priorities, and will likely keep it there. We Knew This Would Happen Climate hawks have always known this day would come. For decades, we warned that everyone had to pay attention to climate change right now, because it would be much tougher to respond once the crisis itself started affecting our daily lives. We were right, and here we are. But now, thanks to decades of hard work, communities and countries have an alternative to doubling down on fossil fuels. “In 10 years everyone will have ‘always known’ that solar and batteries were going to win,” Morgan Solar Executive Chair Mike Andrade writes on LinkedIn. With the disruption in the Strait of Hormuz roiling energy priorities around the world, Canada and the United States are among the shrinking number of countries that are still very keen on fossil fuel development. Understanding that gap is a first, essential step in spotting the opportunities ahead, and averting the deep economic as well as environmental and social risk we face if we don’t seize them. Thanks for reading The Energy Mix Weekender! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support our work. Subscribe Mitchell Beer traces his background in renewable energy and energy efficiency back to 1977, in climate change to 1997. Now he and the rest of the Energy Mix team scan 1,200 news headlines a week to pull together The Energy Mix and The Energy Mix Weekender. Chart of the Week BYD Eyes 20 Dealership Locations After Canada Greenlights Chinese EV Imports ‘Sledgehammer’ Carbon Price Deal Boosts Emissions by 230Mt, Aims for Fall 2027 Pipeline Approval ‘Worse Than Harper’: Regulatory Rollback Would Stop Canada from Assessing Project Impacts, Critics Warn Electricity Strategy Aims for Doubling by 2050, Allows ‘Flexibility’ for Gas Power Plants Opposition Mounts as O’Leary’s Data Centre Approved in Drought-Stricken Utah Diluted Carbon Price Misses ‘Reality of the World We’re In’, Could Impede Diversified Trade: Climate Institute $200B in Clean Energy Investment Will Need On-Time Delivery, Reliable Policies, Trade Association Says ‘Sovereign Pipeline’: CEO Pitches to Keep Trans Mountain in Government Hands What a Supercharged El Niño Could Mean for Canada Canada’s future is electric, and here’s how a power grid superhighway would get us there (Toronto Star) The Perilous Waters of Hecate Strait (Globe and Mail) Saudi Aramco profits jump despite conflict in Middle East (The Guardian) Farmers confront rising cost of fertilizer and fuel as spring seeding under way (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) Clarkson forecasts 24% decline in offshore oil, gas capital expenditures (Oil & Gas Journal) Pipe Dreams: How Oil and Gas Fail to Deliver Economic Development in Africa (Oil Change International) Developing countries must hold the pen to script the fossil fuel transition (Climate Home News) Iran war threatens the dream of a post-oil economy in the Gulf (Washington Post) U.S. Oil, Gas Work Force Hits Lowest Level Since 2022 (Rigzone) Why Polestar Is Doubling Down on Net Zero as Rivals Pull Back on EVs (Bloomberg) Why this Michigan utility plans to sell its hydro dams for $13 (E&E News/Politico) Levees can no longer save New Orleans (Vox)
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