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Believe It or Not, Lane Kiffin Has a Regret

LSU head coach Lane Kiffin says he has one major regret about leaving Ole Miss: the way it all unfolded. Speaking at SEC Media Days, Kiffin acknowledged that his departure during Ole Miss’ College Football Playoff run became far more chaotic than he anticipated. Looking back, he said he wishes he had handled the situation…

Jul 23 • 5:31 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

I Only Needed One Episode of This Show to Know We're in for Some Messy Chaos

Looking for your next TV obsession? This binge-worthy series delivers messy drama, unforgettable personalities and a premiere that ends on a major cliffhanger. Find out more here.

Jul 23 • 9:00 AM EDT • Entertainment • purewow.com

Orcas Keep Punching Giant Sunfish to Smithereens, And Scientists Are Mesmerized

Orca SMASH!

Jul 23 • 12:11 AM EDT • Science • sciencealert.com

Watch an orca ram into a sunfish so hard it explodes

This strategy expands orcas’ already broad repertoire for dispatching different types of prey.

Jul 23 • 12:00 AM EDT • Science • sciencenews.org

‘Stuart Fails to Save the Universe’ review: A bafflingly unfunny spinoff

A spinoff of "The Big Bang Theory," "Stuart Fails to Save the Universe" (premiering Thursday on HBO and HBO Max) ultimately plays as one big shrug.

Jul 22 • 12:00 PM EDT • Entertainment • yakimaherald.com

Woman shot in neck after shooting at southeast Houston business

A 20-year-old woman was shot in the neck after gunfire erupted outside a southeast Houston business Wednesday, according to the Houston Police Department.

Jul 22 • 6:26 AM EDT • Business • click2houston.com

Patriots’ Harold Landry lands on active/PUP list

While Harold Landry is expecting to be a crucial part of the Patriots' defense, he'll first need to get off the PUP list.

Jul 22 • 12:04 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Armed man shot by Irvine police called 911, reported mental health crisis, police say

A police shooting unfolded in Irvine after police say a man armed with a knife, who was experiencing a mental health crisis, called 911.

Jul 21 • 7:19 PM EDT • Health • abc7.com

Trump's 50% Canada tariffs risk higher prices and fresh political fallout

President Donald Trump has imposed 50% tariffs on most Canadian goods, declaring that Canada has unfairly discriminated against American autos, alcohol and dairy products

Jul 21 • 10:25 AM EDT • Politics • latimes.com

Freedom, trust and the future of science: Nobel laureates reflect on the ideas shaping tomorrow

Behind every scientific discovery are years, sometimes decades, of fundamental research, failed experiments, uncertain funding, international collaboration and the freedom to pursue questions without knowing where they might lead. The Nobel laureates recently gathered at the 75th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting in Germany argued that scientific breakthroughs depend on far more than brilliant ideas alone. Those conversations unfolded against the backdrop of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine, ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and growing geopolitical competition. The question running through the discussions was therefore broader than science itself: what conditions make discovery possible? ‘Europe is a space of freedom’

Jul 21 • 3:07 AM EDT • Science • euneighbourseast.eu

Nintendo says it has no legal duty to pass its U.S. tariff refunds on to consumers

Nintendo is asking a court to dismiss a proposed class action suit that was filed this past spring by gamers who say the Mario maker is breaking the law if it doesn’t pass on its U.S. tariff refunds to consumers. Those consumers “received exactly what they bargained and paid for” when buying price-hiked Nintendo goods last year, the company said in a filing on Monday in the case of Hoffert et al v. Nintendo. “Plaintiffs are not entitled to a rebate simply because of intervening legal developments related to tariffs.” Nintendo increased the price of Switch 2 controllers and the original Switch last year, following the imposition of globe-spanning U.S. tariffs (tariffs described by Nintendo’s lawyers on Monday as “sweeping” and “constantly changing”). This past February, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the tariffs were illegal. A month later, Nintendo sued the U.S. government to get a refund. And in April, gamers filed the class action claim against Nintendo in Washington, saying it would be illegally double-dipping if it made money from tariff-hiked sales and then from a refund. The gamers sought relief for anyone in the U.S. who bought price-hiked Nintendo items between February 2025 and February 2026. “The common thread among Plaintiffs’ claims is that it is somehow ‘unfair; that Nintendo has not retroactively adjusted its prices for completed sales in response to the outcome of the tariff litigation,” the company’s lawyers wrote in today’s motion to dismiss. “But that is now how commercial transactions work.

Jul 21 • 12:07 AM EDT • Technology • gamefile.news

Trump imposes 50% tariff on Canadian goods, citing disputes over autos, alcohol

President Donald Trump on Monday imposed 50% tariffs on most Canadian goods, declaring that Canada has unfairly discriminated against American autos, alcohol and dairy products.

Jul 20 • 5:11 PM EDT • Politics • scrippsnews.com

Trump imposes 50% tariff on Canadian goods, citing disputes over autos, alcohol

President Donald Trump on Monday imposed 50% tariffs on most Canadian goods, declaring that Canada has unfairly discriminated against American autos, alcohol and dairy products.

Jul 20 • 5:11 PM EDT • Politics • news5cleveland.com

Wildfires impacting businesses in northern Minnesota

Many businesses near the gunflint trail remain open regardless of wildfires. Golden Eagle Lodge is one of them. Owner of the resort Ruth Wagner joins All Day to talk about how they are open for business and safe from the fires.

Jul 20 • 5:05 PM EDT • Business • fox9.com

Nancy Mace passes on Senate bid, cites ‘unfinished business’

The Lowcountry congresswoman had previously run in the GOP gubernatorial race before conceding and endorsing Alan Wilson.

Jul 20 • 4:57 PM EDT • Business • wtoc.com

WHO evacuated health workers from Ebola treatment center due to armed clashes

On July 15, gunfire erupted between armed groups near an Ebola Treatment Center (ETC) in Nyankunde (or Nyakunde), located 45 kilometers (28 miles) southwest of Bunia in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Following the fighting, medical personnel from the World Health Organization (WHO), Africa CDC and the NGO Samaritan’s Purse evacuated from Nyankunde, […]

Jul 20 • 2:43 PM EDT • Health • news.mongabay.com

Shaky political "science": breakdown of the peer review process

[This article is the latest in our “Shaky Political Science” series. In our 38 page report, “Shaky political ‘science’ misses mark on ranked choice voting,” released in December 2025, we examined over 40 studies focused on ranked choice voting (RCV). Many of these studies suffered from puzzling research methodologies, poorly constructed surveys, unrealistic simulated elections, cherry picked data and faulty analyses that often were contradicted by results from real-world elections (a link to our full paper is here). Here are links to the first four articles in our series: the first one summarizing the overall results of our report; the second one analyzed a study co-authored by University of Minnesota academic Larry Jacobs, which was one of the most error-prone of all the research we reviewed in our report; a third article showing an admirable example of two political scientists holding two other political scientists accountable for their flawed, sloppy research; and a fourth article that analyzed seven studies sponsored by New America’s political reform program that deployed flawed methodology based on “simulated” elections instead of real-world elections, which when combined with some basic misunderstandings of RCV, produced odd and misleading results]. In this fifth article in our “Shaky Political Science” series, we examine two flawed studies on the impact of RCV on voter turnout authored by San Francisco State University professor Jason McDaniel. McDaniel’s research in these two papers stands out for its puzzling methodology, inadequate and cherry-picked data, and faulty analyses that not only misunderstands ranked choice voting but reflects a basic misunderstanding of politics in general. The first of the McDaniel studies actually passed through a peer review process and then was subsequently published by the Journal of Urban Affairs, despite its obvious errors. It is perplexing that a jury of peer political scientists did not catch the errors and send it back to McDaniel for a rewrite or outright rejection. This calls into question the credibility of the peer review process itself. The peer review process is supposed to represent the intellectual pinnacle of the profession – a way for academics to certify the quality of each other’s work, and to act as a check against sloppy research. In the case of the McDaniel study, the peer review process failed. Yet his flawed study has been cited dozens of times by other political scientists in their own flawed works — an unvirtuous circle of academic research. Here is the first Jason McDaniel study that we analyzed: “Writing the Rules to Rank the Candidates: Examining the Impact of Instant-Runoff Voting on Racial Group Turnout in San Francisco Mayoral Elections,” by Jason McDaniel, 2016, Journal of Urban Affairs. This study covered San Francisco’s use of ranked choice voting (RCV) in mayoral elections, purporting to show that RCV reduces voter turnout overall, increases voter errors, and has a negative impact on “marginal populations,” i.e. racial minorities, mainly as the result of the alleged complexity of RCV asking voters to rank candidates and having to be familiar with multiple candidates and related dynamics. McDaniel reached these conclusions by examining five San Francisco mayoral elections taking place in odd years (i.e. where there are no federal or state races on the ballot) from 1995 to 2011, comparing three earlier non-RCV races (in 1995, 1999 and 2003) with the later two RCV races (in 2007 and 2011). Only two RCV races were studied, and as McDaniel acknowledged, only the contest in 2011 was “competitive” (that contest in 2007 was the first mayoral election using RCV, and incumbent mayor Gavin Newsom won easily in the first round of counting, earning 74% of first choices and far ahead of the second place candidate who had just 6.3% of first choices). Yet even the allegedly competitive contest in 2011was won by an incumbent with a landslide margin of nearly 20 points. No other elections were studied by McDaniel, even though San Francisco elects 17 other offices besides mayor with RCV, including the 11 seats on the Board of Supervisors (the name for the city council) in even years, and six other citywide offices in odd years. Previous academic research has found that competitive elections can stimulate greater voter involvement and higher turnout. For unexplained reasons, this study ignored at least 34 other RCV races between the years 2004 to 2011, many of which were very competitive and had high voter turnout. Instead, McDaniel’s analysis based its conclusions on data from only a single, marginally-competitive mayor’s race using RCV. These 2007 and 2011 mayoral elections were the only two RCV elections that McDaniel used as the sole basis for his small data set to determine the impact of RCV on voter turnout. Despite having no meaningful data to inform his study, McDaniel nonetheless concluded that RCV lowered turnout when compared to the previous three mayoral non-RCV elections using two-round runoffs. Then, using the same inadequate database of San Francisco elections, McDaniel also found that “Instant-runoff voting is associated with a significant decline in Black voter turnout and White voter turnout…On average, Black voter turnout decreases by 18 points and White voter turnout decreases by 16 points …” But how could he credibly arrive at that conclusion when his study was based on voter turnout in two RCV contests that were not even remotely competitive? Beyond that, McDaniel tacitly admits that the key determining factor driving Black voter turnout was not RCV vs non-RCV elections, but the presence of a viable Black candidate. McDaniel wrote, “Black voter turnout was about 17 percentage points higher for the two elections that featured an African American candidate compared to the three elections that did not” — but one of those three elections did not use RCV. The same dynamic was present for White voter turnout, in which higher turnout was not correlated with RCV vs non-RCV elections, but the presence of a viable White candidate. Beyond that, McDaniel’s voter turnout results, whether correlated with the race of the candidates or RCV vs non-RCV elections, showed no clear patterns. In his Figure 1, he shows low Asian voter turnout in the non-RCV elections in 1999 and 2003 when there was no viable Asian candidate running, but in the 2007 mayoral election using RCV, there is still no viable Asian candidate, yet Asian turnout increases dramatically. For Latinos, voter turnout is virtually the same in 1999 (no viable Latino candidate, non-RCV elections), 2003 (leading Latino candidate, non-RCV elections), 2007 (no viable Latino candidate, RCV elections) and 2011 (leading Latino candidate, RCV elections). Meanwhile White voter turnout increased dramatically from a low in the 2007 mayoral election, in which the leading candidate was a white incumbent, to the 2011 election in which there were no leading white candidates that finished any higher than sixth place with 5.6% of the vote. Clearly other factors were determining voter turnout than either the race of the candidates or RCV vs non-RCV elections. Despite these inconsistent findings, McDaniel boldly marches forth to render conclusions about the impact of RCV on different groups of racial voters, even though his conclusions are not remotely supported by his data. This looks like the worst kind of “data cherry picking” to cover up a puzzling conclusion based on a poor data set involving only two RCV elections, neither of which were remotely competitive. McDaniel’s cherry picking didn’t stop there. In calculating voter turnout for the three non-RCV mayoral elections in 1995, 1999 and 2003, he failed to mention that in each of these years there was a two-round runoff election, with a first round election in November in which no candidate garnered a winning majority of the vote, followed by the decisive runoff in December. So there were two non-RCV elections in each election year. But McDaniel only decided to include one of the two elections in his data set, apparently the December runoff in each year (which had higher turnout in two out of the three mayor’s races, and lower turnout in the third). So he ignored the November 1995 election, the November 1999 election when turnout was only 45 percent, and the November 2003 election when turnout was only 45.7 percent. This is flawed methodology based on blatant cherry picking, since McDaniel simply omitted three elections worth of data that did not fit within his frame. His study should never have made it through a peer review process, and it is an embarrassment to political science that not only was it approved for publication, but it has been uncritically cited by dozens of other political scientists. Share A “study” without wider context or credible data Lacking a data set that included even a single competitive RCV mayoral race, McDaniel declared that RCV lowered voter turnout in 2011, when turnout was 42.5 percent. But he also ignored -- or did not realize -- that voter turnout in mayoral elections during 2011 had sharply declined in all big cities, including far more steeply in nearby Los Angeles and other cities. In fact, San Francisco’s election in 2011 had the second highest turnout of any mayoral election in the nation’s 22 largest cities from 2008-2011. Was 2011 just a particularly low turnout year all across the country, perhaps because the country was still reeling from the aftermath of the housing market collapse in 2008-2010? McDaniel ignored this factor and did not search for alternative explanations beyond his flawed thesis. Furthermore, while McDaniel suggested that RCV leads to more “overvotes” – which is an invalidated ballot in which a voter, in either a non-RCV or RCV race, makes a mistake and selects two candidates for a single choice – he failed to address that in the June 2012 US Senate primary contest, which used the typical “one-choice” plurality method and did not use RCV, there was more than five times as many overvotes in San Francisco and Oakland than in the RCV mayoral elections in those cities. Additionally, turnout had been significantly higher and more representative in RCV elections for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors races -- that McDaniel didn’t even bother to study -- as compared to previous “delayed two-round runoffs” for those offices, often higher by as much as 40% in the RCV races. Perhaps the most surprising irony was that an earlier study co-authored by McDaniel (Overvoting and the Equality of Voice under Instant-Runoff Voting in San Francisco by Francis Neely and Jason McDaniel, 2015, California Journal of Politics and Policy) found that overvotes are often more common in lower-income precincts, but that the pattern of overvoting is similar in both RCV and non-RCV contests. Wrote Neely and McDaniel: “[Overvote] errors appear to be a function of complexity in general and not IRV per se…. the pattern of overvoting is similar in both IRV and non-IRV contests…Even among votes cast in a top-of-the-ticket race like U.S. Senate, overvoting occurs in an uneven fashion” (IRV, or ‘instant runoff voting,’ is another name for ranked choice voting in single-winner contests). So McDaniel not only contradicted his own conclusion in his earlier study with Neely, but the earlier study had been an important corrective for one of the most frequently made mistakes made by anti-RCV political scientists – a continual failure to provide crucial context by pairing a comparative analysis of real world RCV elections with an analysis of real world plurality or other electoral methods. Unfortunately McDaniel’s earlier study does not get cited much by other researchers, and McDaniel did not even cite it in his own flawed study analyzed above. Incredibly, McDaniel cherrypicked McDaniel, even as his flawed study has been cited dozens of times. Despite being a textbook example of poor political “science,” featuring both inadequate as well as cherrypicked data, the shelf life of McDaniel’s study has been extended endlessly by other political scientists and media outlets who have cited it uncritically. Equally troubling, the Journal of Urban Affairs put this paper through its peer review process and published it despite its numerous flaws. McDaniel gets it wrong, Part II Not content with producing one shoddy, confused paper, McDaniel produced another one a few years later, here is the link: Electoral Rules and Voter Turnout in Mayoral Elections: An Analysis of Ranked-Choice Voting by Jason McDaniel. San Francisco State Univ. (McDaniel, 2019). In this paper, McDaniel extended his previous flawed research focused on San Francisco, about voter turnout and voter impact, to multiple RCV cities through the 2018 elections. In his data set he included San Francisco, Minneapolis, St Paul, Oakland, Berkeley, San Leandro and Santa Fe. He then compared their turnout in mayoral elections to non-RCV cities, and to mayoral elections in those cities held before first RCV usage, and concluded “a significant decrease in voter turnout of approximately 3–5 percentage points in RCV cities after the implementation of RCV.” But he replicated many of the same mistakes as his first study presented above. While in this study McDaniel attempted to distinguish between various factors, such as odd year vs. even year elections, competitive races vs. noncompetitive, contests with open seats and other factors, the analysis is superficial and inadequate. He attempts to incorporate so many often-conflicting variables that his conclusions are once again unsupported by the actual data, and ultimately unconvincing (this second study never underwent a peer review process). For example, McDaniel declared that for RCV cities “in elections that are more competitive than average (margin of victory less than 20%), there is no significant RCV effect on voter turnout.” Yet McDaniel is a professor in a city, San Francisco, in which the 2018 special election using RCV to fill a mayoral vacancy was exceedingly close, decided by a margin of only one percentage point, and resulted in the second highest turnout in San Francisco history for a mayoral election. Illustrating the complexity involved in assessing the critical factors in turnout, that special election was held on the same election day as federal and state offices, which tends to boost turnout. Yet more voters participated in that RCV mayoral election than voted on the same day in the non-RCV primary for governor in which former San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom was running. Even more puzzling, in this study McDaniel inaccurately cited his own previous study from 2015 with Neely. McDaniel wrote, “Neely and McDaniel (2015) examine individual ballot image files within a natural experiment, and find higher rates of ballot errors in RCV elections compared to non-RCV elections” (emphasis added). However, we quoted from that 2015 study several paragraphs above, and in actual fact Neely and McDaniel actually concluded the opposite -- that the pattern of overvoting – which is the most common form of ballot error – is similar in both RCV and non-RCV contests. McDaniel also ignored the fact that in Bay Area RCV elections held in even years – at the same time as federal and state elections, when turnout is highest -- the “undervote” (that is, the dropoff in ballots cast for governor or mayor) has declined, which contradicts his thesis that the act of ranking ballots in RCV elections is too complex and presents a barrier for certain demographics of voters. To his credit, McDaniel actually acknowledged another contradiction in his own paper, which found a negative RCV turnout effect in some odd-year elections but not others, admitting that “may present a challenge to the theory that increased complexity [from RCV] will have a marginal negative effect on voter turnout.” But he tried to wallpaper over that contradiction by blaming it on an unlikely source -- bad election administration. McDaniels wrote, “This would suggest that the negative impact of RCV on voter participation may be alleviated by high quality election administration,” without presenting any data or even anecdotes to support such an unfounded theory. While competent election administration of any election, whether RCV or non-RCV, is crucially important, there is no credible research that supports the far-fetched notion that the quality of election administration has much of an impact on voter turnout in US elections, whether using RCV or otherwise. Upgrade to a $5 subscription The unvirtuous circle of academic research It is puzzling how McDaniel’s first study could have survived the peer review process for the Journal of Urban Affairs. The mistakes in McDaniel’s first study above should have been obvious to anyone with a basic understanding of ranked choice voting as well as elections in general, and elections in San Francisco specifically. It undermines faith in the credibility of the peer review process to think that a jury of peer political scientists did not catch the egregious errors and reject McDaniel’s sloppy research and paper. And it remains a black mark on political science that this thoroughly discredited study has been cited dozens of times by other researchers. Indeed, in our research paper it became apparent that many political scientists cite each other’s flawed research to pad their list of citations and to legitimize their own flawed research, creating an unvirtuous circle of political science. More broadly, McDaniel’s voter turnout studies, like other studies evaluating RCV’s impact on turnout, lacked a recognition that no credible opinion or research can claim that RCV increases voter turnout merely because so many voters are excited to vote for their favorite candidates instead of “lesser evil” candidates without worrying about spoilers. Instead, with respect to turnout, the advantage of RCV has always been that, in most places where it has been used, it has eliminated a pre-November primary or post-November runoff, which usually saw about half the turnout of the November general election. This is especially true during even years when there are state and federal elections on the ballot which substantially drive turnout more than local contests. Any study that does not adequately account for this non-November primary/runoff vs November general election dynamic, or odd year vs even year election factors, is simply not credible. Both of McDaniel’s studies largely failed on those grounds. Steven Hill and Paul Haughey Share Upgrade to a $5 subscription Thanks for reading DemocracySOS…your digital portal for the pro-democracy movement. Subscribe for only $5 per month to receive full benefits and to support our work. Subscribe

Jul 20 • 9:29 AM EDT • Science • democracysos.substack.com

Switch 2 modding scene makes new breakthrough, but Nintendo safe from piracy

A new breakthrough was recently made within the Switch 2 modding scene, but Nintendo can rest easy knowing that piracy still isn’t an issue at the moment. You may remember that with the original Nintendo Switch, piracy became a major problem pretty early on. Significant vulnerabilities were discovered less than a year after the console launch. Nintendo was unfortunately unable...

Jul 20 • 9:05 AM EDT • Technology • nintendoeverything.com

Hardship Case At Board Of Health Could Have Broad Implications With…

Nantucket Current is the island's leading online news source. We deliver the news, stories, and people of Nantucket, unbiased and unfiltered.

Jul 19 • 11:20 PM EDT • Health • nantucketcurrent.com

🎥 Bad loser? World Cup star completely loses the plot

Well, what on earth happened there? Shortly after the final whistle of the World Cup final, which Spain had won 1–0 after extra time, some pretty wild scenes unfolded on the pitch.During a mass con...

Jul 19 • 6:28 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Downtown Tucson business speaks out about safety in the area after mass shooting

Two of the victims in Sunday's mass shooting in downtown Tucson were on the patio of Empire Pizza when gunfire rang out. Now the business is calling out a lack

Jul 19 • 6:04 PM EDT • Business • tucson.com

Los Angeles Dodgers Announce Unfortunate Shohei Ohtani News

The Los Angeles Dodgers are set for a doubleheader against the New York Yankees on Sunday after Saturday’s game was postponed.The schedule change forced Dodgers manager Dave Roberts to adjust his pitching plans. Yoshinobu Yamamoto will start the opener against Cam Schlittler, while the Dodgers will turn to a bullpen game in the second matchup.Shohei Ohtani […] The post Los Angeles Dodgers Announce Unfortunate Shohei Ohtani News appeared first on HEAVY.

Jul 19 • 2:06 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

A tiny universe in a bottle reveals clues to the origins of life

Researchers have created cosmic dust from scratch by recreating space-like conditions inside glass tubes. The dust contains complex carbon-rich molecules built from elements essential to life and produces infrared signals similar to real material found in space. By studying these laboratory samples, scientists can explore how organic chemistry unfolds around stars and how comets, asteroids and meteorites may have carried those ingredients to Earth.

Jul 19 • 8:00 AM EDT • Science • sciencedaily.com

Israel’s $50 Million Experiment to Change U.S. Public Opinion

Israel deploys AI and payments to conservative media to try to beat back the tide of unfavorable U.S. views about its handling of wars in Gaza and Iran.

Jul 18 • 9:00 PM EDT • Politics • wsj.com

Abdul El-Sayed backers see 'pick-a-side moment' in Senate primary

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders said the campaign fight unfolding in Michigan's Democratic U.S. Senate primary was "democracy versus oligarchy."

Jul 18 • 8:53 PM EDT • Politics • detroitnews.com

Funflation Engulfs Home Entertainment as Gaming, OTT Costs Surge

Funflation Engulfs Home Entertainment as Gaming, OTT Costs Surge U.S. home entertainment spending drops as Gen Z, millennials cut back; South Korea faces similar price surges

Jul 18 • 8:00 PM EDT • Entertainment • chosun.com

Voyageur Canoe Outfitters navigates business impacts from BWCAW closures, wildfires

Summer days at the end of the Gunflint Trail usually begin with tow-boats idling at the dock, canoes entering the water, and the excited chatter of guests and outfitter guides before a Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) trip begins. This week, however, the atmosphere around Voyageur Canoe Outfitters and other outfitter businesses along the...

Jul 18 • 4:49 PM EDT • Business • wtip.org

Perspective: Extreme heat is a fact of summer. Its health harms don’t have to be

As yet another heat dome settles over part of the U.S., a depressingly predictable news cycle is unfolding. This week, the headlines will warn of dangerously high temperatures; next week, they'll chronicle the human toll.

Jul 18 • 12:00 PM EDT • Health • timesfreepress.com

Vertu wants executives to pay $6,880 for an AI agent — here's how it actually performs

From AI workflows to battery life and security, here's what it's really like to live with Vertu's luxury foldable every day.

Jul 17 • 6:55 PM EDT • Technology • techcrunch.com

The future of oncology: Early-career scientists need mentorship and a new academic model

The early years of a scientific career can be unforgiving. For junior investigators, starting a lab is a high-pressure moment: Securing that first National Institutes of Health grant, publishing meaningful work, and proving they belong. It’s a period marked by uncertainty and, often, anxiety about whether it will all come together. I’ve seen that play […]

Jul 17 • 10:50 AM EDT • Science • cancerletter.com

New Board of Health Members Drop Restrictions On Proposed Woodland…

Nantucket Current is the island's leading online news source. We deliver the news, stories, and people of Nantucket, unbiased and unfiltered.

Jul 16 • 10:21 PM EDT • Health • nantucketcurrent.com

Keir Starmer Calls For FIFA To Investigate Argentina Over Controversial Falklands Banner

After beating England, the Argentinian team unfurled a banner that read “Malvinas are Argentinian,” a reference to the British-administered Falkland Islands.

Jul 16 • 10:18 AM EDT • Politics • forbes.com

Final Fantasy Resonance Gets A Stunning New Trailer Ahead Of Switch 1 & 2 Launch

The HD-2D RPG adventure unfolds this October

Jul 16 • 1:55 AM EDT • Technology • nintendolife.com

From Roker Park to Europe

What sparked a lifelong love affair with Sunderland? One rainy afternoon at Roker Park in 1983 led to four decades of unforgettable highs, lows and family memories.

Jul 16 • 1:00 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

9 explosive behind-the-scenes feuds between costars

From blockbuster blowups to slow-burning rivalries, these celebrity feuds show that sometimes the real drama unfolds behind the scenes.

Jul 15 • 8:00 AM EDT • Entertainment • ew.com

Red Wings-Stars Whopper Could Be Trade to Watch

The Detroit Red Wings and Dallas Stars might just have a stunner of a deal to keep an eye as the summer unfolds. The post Red Wings-Stars Whopper Could Be Trade to Watch appeared first on HEAVY.

Jul 15 • 1:49 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

‘Funflation’ hitting entertainment options at home

Jul 14 • 5:03 PM EDT • Entertainment • cnn.com

Mobile council weighs business license revocation amid $910,000 fraud investigation: ‘Community crisis’

Mobile police are investigating 108 incidences of potential fraud totaling over $910,000 related to unfulfilled window and roofing projects.

Jul 14 • 4:45 PM EDT • Business • al.com

Josh Hartnett and Jesse McKeown tease ‘strange events’ are unfolding in first look at mysterious thriller “Below” (exclusive)

The actor and creator tell EW all about the limited series, which follows a fisherman (Hartnett) as he fights to protect his community from a sea creature.

Jul 14 • 10:00 AM EDT • Entertainment • yahoo.com

The ESPY Awards return to New York City this week: Presenters, attendees and more

The star-studded ceremony will celebrate major sports achievements, revisit unforgettable moments, and bring together the sports industry's fan favorites and biggest stars.

Jul 13 • 6:15 PM EDT • Sports • abc7.com

Roundup: Cocoa demand / ‘Funflation’ / Data center utility demand

Market instability: Cocoa demand is showing signs of recovery after a period of weakness, but the market remains unstable as prices continue to swing sharply amid uncertainty over supply and consumption. Chocolate makers are still adjusting to elevated cocoa costs, while traders are watching factors such as crop conditions, weather risks and shifting consumer behavior. […]

Jul 13 • 11:01 AM EDT • Business • businessreport.com

Xbox fan successfully sues Microsoft for blocking his entire digital games library — in what could be a huge win for consumer rights

Brazilian Xbox player, Ordo_Liberal, recently won a court case against Microsoft, proving you can fight for the right to preserve digital ownership of your games and win.

Jul 13 • 9:01 AM EDT • Technology • windowscentral.com

'Still have unfinished business to complete': Sen. Mitch McConnell gives update on health

Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell provided a long-awaited update about his health on Sunday after being hospitalized for over a month.

Jul 12 • 5:42 PM EDT • Health • wlwt.com

'Still have unfinished business to complete': Sen. Mitch McConnell gives update on health

Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell provided a long-awaited update about his health on Sunday after being hospitalized for over a month.

Jul 12 • 5:42 PM EDT • Business • wlwt.com

Gunfire near downtown entertainment district mistaken for fireworks by nearby neighbors

Downtown residents mistook the sound of rapid gunfire for late-night fireworks, waking up Sunday morning to a heavy police presence and a neighborhood cordoned off by crime scene tape.

Jul 12 • 1:36 PM EDT • Entertainment • actionnewsjax.com

Gunfire near downtown entertainment district mistaken for fireworks by nearby neighbors

Downtown residents mistook the sound of rapid gunfire for late-night fireworks, waking up Sunday morning to a heavy police presence and a neighborhood cordoned off by crime scene tape.

Jul 12 • 1:36 PM EDT • Entertainment • yahoo.com

Other voices: The Fed’s independence is unfinished business

“The evidence is overwhelming that central bank independence in the conduct of monetary policy is indispensable — so overwhelming, in fact, that few politicians any longer challenge the idea.”

Jul 12 • 6:12 AM EDT • Business • twincities.com

Moving from SF to Buenos Aires helped him build a family

Sunflower cofounder Koby Conrad moved from San Francisco to Buenos Aires. Its helped him "lock in" and build a family.

Jul 12 • 4:45 AM EDT • Business • businessinsider.com

Packers Get New Micah Parsons Injury Prediction From NFL Exec

The Green Bay Packers have multiple question marks to answer ahead of the 2026 NFL season, but none of them are bigger than the one about superstar pass rusher Micah Parsons. Last offseason, the Packers pulled off a blockbuster trade with the Dallas Cowboys to acquire Parsons. Unfortunately, after a strong start to the season, […] The post Packers Get New Micah Parsons Injury Prediction From NFL Exec appeared first on HEAVY.

Jul 12 • 3:31 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Lakers Have One Strong Backup Plan For Jonathan Kuminga

The Los Angeles Lakers are currently looking at Jonathan Kuminga as the top forward option in free agency. Unfortunately for the Lakers, Kuminga is requesting more money than they can afford or are looking to invest in him. One noteworthy name has emerged as a true “backup plan” for potentially missing out on Kuminga via […] The post Lakers Have One Strong Backup Plan For Jonathan Kuminga appeared first on HEAVY.

Jul 12 • 1:29 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Fitzpatrick shares leads at fog-disrupted Scottish Open

Matt Fitzpatrick holds a share of the lead and out-of-sorts Rory McIlroy struggles in an unfinished third round at the Genesis Scottish Open where fog caused havoc.

Jul 11 • 4:32 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Two Unfathomable Stats from Giants' Latest Meltdown

Late-inning meltdowns and a high blown save rate have pushed the San Francisco Giants to the brink of the division cellar as the bullpen squanders yet another late lead.

Jul 11 • 12:13 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Steve Montenegro reflects on compromises, victories and unfinished business

In his second year as Arizona’s House speaker, Rep. Steve Montenegro, R-Goodyear, helped lead a bipartisan budget deal that includes President Donald Trump’s tax cuts and passed the Legislature with a supermajority of votes.

Jul 11 • 12:00 PM EDT • Business • azcapitoltimes.com

Scientists stunned as glacier ‘piracy’ unfolds at a pace never seen before - Futura-Sciences

The scene of the heist: West Antarctica In West Antarctica, plenty of glaciers have responded to climate change in the way you might expect: they’re hurrying their flow into the ocean. On average, since 2005, these glaciers have sped up by around 51%. But not every glacier is following the...

Jul 11 • 9:00 AM EDT • Science • futura-sciences.com

Scientists Sound Alarm as Disturbing Volcanic Scenario Unfolds Beneath Antarctica - Futura-Sciences

When Climate and Volcanoes Collide It’s well known that major volcanic events can influence the climate. But—as it turns out—the reverse is also true. The ongoing destabilization of the Antarctic ice sheet, driven by global warming, could actually lead to an increase in subglacial eruptions on this icy continent. You...

Jul 11 • 7:00 AM EDT • Science • futura-sciences.com

Microsoft loses lawsuit after blocking hacked Xbox account with digital games

One gamer took extreme measures to restore access to his compromised Xbox account. The Brazilian user filed a lawsuit against Microsoft after it refused to unfreeze his digital library. A court ruled in the plaintiff’s favor, and the decline of physical games could lead to more legal challenges.

Jul 10 • 9:48 PM EDT • Technology • notebookcheck.net

Man beaten to death outside Las Vegas business, two suspects at large

Authorities say they are looking for two people who beat a man to death outside a Las Vegas business on Thursday.

Jul 10 • 1:45 PM EDT • Business • news3lv.com

The Temper Trap Is Back: 'I've Got Unfinished Business to Do'

The Temper Trap burned out, took a break, and are back with their first album, 'Sungazer,' in a decade.

Jul 10 • 1:01 PM EDT • Business • rollingstone.com

Excessive Overtime At UConn Health Center Flagged In Audit

Auditors noted that it is best practice to schedule employees in a manner that reduces unnecessary overtime costs, when possible, but that UConn Health incurred significant overtime costs due to lack of staff and many unfilled positions.

Jul 10 • 5:00 AM EDT • Health • ctnewsjunkie.com

Why Sunderland Became My Club for Life

Born in Northumberland, not Sunderland - so what was it about one unforgettable afternoon at Roker Park that sparked a lifelong love affair with the Black Cats?

Jul 10 • 1:00 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Judge gives college basketball players a chance with injunction

CINCINNATI — An Ohio judge has granted a preliminary injunction for 24 men’s and women’s college basketball players suing the NCAA for eligibility, claiming the new age-based model unfairly shuts them out of further competition. Judge Christopher Wagner said Thursday the NCAA eligibility rules have been applied to 2022 high school graduates in an arbitrary […]

Jul 9 • 8:00 PM EDT • Sports • altoonamirror.com

Mets' Mark Vientos Fractures Hand, Team Must Decide on Replacement

The New York Mets have a decision to make after an unfortunate update on Mark Vientos.

Jul 9 • 3:54 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

World Cup 2026: Morocco's unfinished business with France

Morocco are set to play in another World Cup quarter-final, but are they football's dreamers or is this where they belong?

Jul 9 • 8:40 AM EDT • Business • bbc.com

Warriors Top Backup Plan For LeBron James Falling Apart

The Golden State Warriors are running out of options with difficult paths towards acquiring their ideal names. LeBron James remains the dream scenario to join them in free agency and unite with rival Stephen Curry for the first time in their NBA careers. Unfortunately for Golden State, it appears that LeBron is prioritizing the Cleveland […] The post Warriors Top Backup Plan For LeBron James Falling Apart appeared first on HEAVY.

Jul 8 • 8:22 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Restoring dignity: Senegalese surgeon and Burundian foundation win reproductive health awards

A Senegalese surgeon who has dedicated his career to restoring the health and dignity of women living with obstetric fistula, and a Burundian foundation supporting vulnerable women and children, have been named the winners of the 2026 United Nations Population Award.

Jul 8 • 4:14 PM EDT • Health • news.un.org

Hungary moves to overhaul university models banned from Horizon Europe

Hungary’s new government is aiming to overhaul the governance model of the institutions and universities that lost access to Horizon Europe and Erasmus+ funds “in a short timeframe,” according to Péter Horváth, the new state secretary for science policy and innovation. “As of today, the two non-university foundation-controlled institutions under my remit have been transformed,” he told Science|Business. “We hope the universities will follow and that this will be enough to satisfy the EU’s demands.”Under the previous government, led by Viktor Orbán and his Fidesz party, many academic and scientific institutions were restructured and made into special public trust foundations, with members strongly linked to the government given lifelong mandates and significant decision-making powers with little oversight. The European Commission deemed that this undermined academic freedom and transparency in the country, leading to a ban on 34 institutions in 2022, including 21 universities, which saw academics in Hungary lose access to Horizon Europe grants. The new Hungarian government, elected in May and led by Péter Magyar and his Tisza Party, has promised to dismantle this governance model and restore the institutions to EU programmes. As a result, the European Commission has promised to return access to the Erasmus+ education mobility programme, but so far no concrete agreement has been made on the Horizon Europe programme for research and innovation. Hungary has already made legislative changes in June to allow the institutions to be reformed and set a timeline for the implementation.The non-university foundations, which are mainly cultural centres such as the Foundation for Hungarian Culture or the Makovecz Campus Foundation, will all be dissolved by August 31 this year, a date tied to EU-set milestones that Hungary must meet to unlock frozen funds, with control transferred to relevant ministries. Meanwhile, the universities will have until 31 August 2027. For each university foundation, the government will set the dissolution date and the body to take over operations. There is no final decision on a permanent new model for the universities, according to Hungarian MEP Eszter Lakos, who is shadow rapporteur for the Horizon Europe specific programme, a separate piece of legislation detailing implementation rules for the EU’s next research programme, due to start in 2028. “The aim of the transition year is to settle this with [the universities], not to impose a model, and not to put them under state control,” she told Science|Business. “The goal is to give academic independence back to universities.”There are three models that are most likely to be implemented. One would be a return to a traditional, state-run model. Another could be a newer, more self-standing public institution. A third option would be a reformed version of the foundation models that meet EU standards. According to Lakos, the dismantling of the system put in place by the Orbán government is well underway and if all goes according to plan, Hungary could regain access to EU research money by the start of the next academic year in 2027. “I believe that the Hungarian government is doing the necessary changes so the universities could return as beneficiaries to Horizon from the next school year,” she said. In the meantime, “the universities, institutes and cultural assets carry on under proper public stewardship rather than a handful of unaccountable trustees,” said Lakos. The laws passed in June impose new safeguards: board terms are capped at four years and renewable only once, appointments are made through open competitions and sitting politicians cannot join joining these boards.It remains unclear whether a domestic science funding programme set up as a back-up scheme by the former government following the EU funding ban, called HU-rizon, could be continued. “This programme should never have had to have been established in the first place, but it has proven to be quite popular,” he said. “I am considering continuing this programme with a refined focus on helping international collaborations.”Re-organising the research network One of the first priorities for Horváth and his cabinet is to resolve questions over the future of the Hungarian Research Network, Hun-Ren. The network of academic institutes was taken away from the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in 2019 and turned into a quasi-private organisation, with similarities in its governance to the public trust foundations.Horváth and his team have consulted over 5,000 representatives from the network and the conclusion is broad unhappiness with the directors of all the institutes involved. “We have presented the results to the president and the chief executive of the network and this is currently being discussed,” Horváth said. The plan is to re-integrate the network back into the Academy of Sciences but in an improved way, “learning from mistakes of the past,” he added. The government also wants to reintegrate four humanities and social science research centres into the network that the previous government had transferred to Eötvös Loránd University. The transfer brought sharp criticism from the academic community, with a group of Hungarian research heads, including European Research Council grant recipients, sending an open letter to Orbán warning that the transfer would “cause historically significant harm to the entirety of Hungarian scientific life.” The transfer was “one of the biggest shames in Hungarian research in the past 20 years,” Horváth said. “We want to immediately re-integrate them back into the research network and to regain the trust of these institutions, because the way they were treated was really unfair.”Another pressing issue is the Élvonal Excellence Research and Talent Development Foundation, led by Nobel laureate Ferenc Krausz. The foundation signed a financing agreement with the former government earlier this year for a budget of over €730 million over the next five years. The goal is to create a world-class centre to attract top talent from abroad and to develop local researchers. But there was little transparency about this foundation, and news of its huge budget, which is nearly as much as Hungary’s entire research budget, caused a stir in the media following the recent elections. Another issue is that, as with the foundation boards of the institutes banned from Horizon Europe, there was little-to-no oversight of decisions led by Krausz. “It was an excellent idea but an unacceptable execution,” Horváth said of the foundation. “The fact that this is out of the Hungarian funding scheme, mostly concentrating on one person who decides on the budget is unacceptable for us.”The government plans to merge the centre with the National Research, Development and Innovation Office, the country’s R&D funding agency, with a reduced budget. Horváth is hopeful that Krausz will still be involved. The new government’s R&D goalsA phrase that crops up regularly during the discussion with Horváth is “democratic process.” The new state secretary is determined to involve Hungary’s research community in shaping future policies. This marks a departure from the previous government’s approach, and several people in Hungary’s research community have commented on the openness of the new government. In terms of concrete goals, Horváth and his team already have plans. He wants to create a new science fund in Hungary, based on the best practices of other European countries. The fund would not be tied to annual government budgets and would provide long-term, stable financing. “If we were to succeed in creating this fund, then I think it would be one of the biggest achievements for me in this period of government,” Horváth said. On the innovation side, he is looking into how best to bring in the private sector. “We want to make sure that we are working with the private sector to support innovation,” Horváth said. One of his big aims is to introduce entrepreneurship teaching into high schools. Hungary already has a reputable national academy offering research and innovation training in the field of natural sciences, and Horváth wants to expand this to all disciplines and across the whole country. “One of the main ways to elevate our innovative businesses is to teach our children to be innovative,” he said. “This will probably need ten years to pay off, but this is what we should do. Our aim is to make Hungary strong in our region, and this is what is needed.” Related articlesHungary’s Horizon Europe performance in numbersCommission unlocks Erasmus+ cash for Hungary, Horizon could be next‘Academic Huxit.’ Hungarian researchers speak out on impact of EU ban A more difficult task will be funding. The new government is aiming to increase research spending to 2% of the GDP by 2030, and then increase it to 3% in line with EU objectives. Currently, spending sits around 1.3%. But according to Horváth, the current budget, inherited from the previous government, is “heavily in the negative,” so any plans to increase research spending will have to start next year. Achieving 2% by 2030 already needs a big push, almost doubling the research budget. “This is something we’d definitely like to reach, and something I can see us achieving,” he said. “From the 2030s, I’d like to see an innovative generation growing up that can help us reach the 3% target.” Positivity in the new governmentDespite the many challenges facing Horváth and his team, the mood is positive. “It feels a bit like a start-up right now. Everyone is working 24/7, day and night, trying to do as much as they can. There is a lot of energy,” he said. It is a big change for the state secretary who, like many in his cabinet, is coming from a background in research or business, and not in politics. “Six weeks ago, I was sitting with my microscope and my research PhDs, so it’s been a big change for me,” said the computer scientist, who was previously the director of the Institute of Biochemistry at the Hun-Ren Biological Research Centre in Hungary and worked at the Institute for AI for Health at Helmholtz Munich. But he is relishing the task to transform the country’s R&D landscape. “We feel enormous support from the Hungarian people, but also from Europe,” he said. “We’ve received a lot of letters of support from around Europe. There is big trust there, and huge responsibility on our side. We want to get everything back on track, and there’s a lot to do.”

Jul 8 • 5:47 AM EDT • Science • sciencebusiness.net

Argentina 3-2 Egypt: Hossam Hassan says officiating 'unfair' and World Cup 'directed towards' reigning champions

Egypt head coach Hossam Hassan criticised refereeing during dramatic 3-2 loss to Argentina in World Cup last 16; Enzo Fernandez scored late header to win game after Egypt had two penalty claims waved away; Hassan said refereeing was unfair; Sky Sports News has approached FIFA for comment

Jul 7 • 5:08 PM EDT • Sports • skysports.com

ABC says Trump agency unfairly targets 'The View'

Disney-owned ABC on Tuesday urged the ​Federal Communications Commission ‌to reject a proposal to declare its ​daytime talk show "The ​View" subject to federal ⁠equal time rules ​for political candidates ​while ignoring conservative talk radio shows.

Jul 7 • 11:20 AM EDT • Politics • reuters.com

How Political Is This Supreme Court?

Legal commentator Elie Honig thinks that the Trump-appointed Justices are getting unfair criticism.

Jul 6 • 5:57 PM EDT • Politics • newyorker.com

Why A.I. Distillation Has Become a Hot Topic in the Race with China

U.S. companies complain that competitors in China are unfairly copying their A.I. systems using a technique that has been around for years.

Jul 6 • 12:04 PM EDT • Technology • nytimes.com

Hospice Nurses Strike at Allina Health

Hospice workers at Allina Health in Minnesota are striking for one day in response to what they call unfair working conditions. The SEIU-Healthcare

Jul 6 • 9:40 AM EDT • Health • hospicenews.com

The wildest World Cup game so far, plus more on Balogun’s return

The Pulse Newsletter 📣 | This is The Athletic’s daily sports newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Pulse directly in your inbox. Good morning! Park the bus today. Inside: 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England’s unthinkable win 🫪 Balogun returns 🎾 Osaka shocker Any weekend with World Cup knockout games ensures a compelling experience. But even outside of those — which were scintillating, to be clear — yesterday was a banner day for winners across the sports spectrum. Let’s simply rank them: 1. England, sheesh This was slotted at No. 2 until the match unfolded.

Jul 6 • 6:11 AM EDT • Sports • nytimes.com

Families flee gunfire at Westgate Entertainment District

Five teens were hospitalized after being shot at Westgate Entertainment District in Glendale on July Fourth.

Jul 6 • 12:15 AM EDT • Entertainment • azfamily.com

Families flee gunfire at Westgate Entertainment District; 5 teens shot

Five teenagers were shot at Westgate Entertainment District on Saturday night, and the teenage suspect remains at large, according to Glendale police.

Jul 5 • 11:33 PM EDT • Entertainment • azfamily.com

NASA's Hubble captures a crimson stellar nursery sparkling with blue and white stars

Hubble has captured a spectacular view of LH 95, where about 2,500 young stars are still on their journey to becoming full-fledged stars. Scientists discovered these growing stars can keep pulling in gas and dust for millions of years, extending an important stage of stellar development. The region also contains multiple generations of stars living side by side, offering fresh clues about how star formation unfolds over time.

Jul 4 • 8:00 PM EDT • Science • sciencedaily.com

13 Actors Who Made the 1970s the Golden Age of Movies

Few eras in Hollywood history feel as iconic and packed with talent as the ’70s, when a group of boundary-pushing stars captured the imagination of movie lovers with unforgettable performances. From b...

Jul 4 • 9:00 AM EDT • Entertainment • yahoo.com

iOS 27 helps apps detect when a user may be getting scammed in real time

A new iOS 27 framework will help apps fight back against social engineering scams as they unfold via voice calls, text messages, emails, and more.

Jul 2 • 6:54 PM EDT • Technology • 9to5mac.com

Trump's massive July 4 firework show raises health alarms

An "unforgettable" tribute to America, or a health hazard that will terrorize animals and pollute the environment?

Jul 2 • 3:11 PM EDT • Health • france24.com

Dune: Awakening Announces Physical PS5 Release with the Most Unfortunate Timing

Awkward

Jul 2 • 11:30 AM EDT • Technology • pushsquare.com

Intel Expected To Restart Supply Of 10th, 12th, 13th, And 14th Gen Processors In Mainland China

Intel will reportedly focus more on the previous-gen processors to fulfill the current demand in the PC market. Intel is Reportedly Restarting Supply of Last Four Generation of Processors as Motherboard Vendors Ramp Up DDR4 Platform Production Roughly a month ago, we reported that some vendors are now restarting the production of DDR4 platforms, i.e., DDR4-compatible motherboards. This is to ensure the market gets DDR4 motherboards in sufficient quantity, as expensive DDR5 memory has made it unfeasible to build DDR5 systems on a budget. More reports are surfacing confirming the same report, and Intel appears to have prepared accordingly. Related […]

Jul 2 • 10:27 AM EDT • Technology • wccftech.com

U.S. move to Round of 16 with unforgettable win

For those of you with FOMO who aren't watching the World Cup, have no fear.

Jul 2 • 9:18 AM EDT • Sports • nbcsports.com

Croatia criticised for ‘unambitious’ changes to 2022 science law

Croatia’s science ministry has been accused of a lack of ambition, and even incompetence, over proposed changes to the country’s 2022 science law. Critics say an opportunity has been missed to fix wider shortcomings in the research and universities system.“This law, like all the previous ones, will not significantly change the current state of science in Croatia,” Vlatko Silobrčić, a member of the Croatian Academy of Sciences, told Science Business. “A small shift here and there will not have a significant impact.”The 2022 law introduced multi-year block grant financing of research, based on results, and changes intended to boost employment and career progression for researchers and lecturers. But implementation of the law has been uneven. “It became apparent that certain of its provisions were subject to different interpretations by higher education institutions and scientific institutes,” the science ministry said in its proposal for change. “This caused legal uncertainty in the system, administrative difficulties in implementation and, in certain cases, unequal treatment of teachers, scientists and students.”Most of the proposed amendments deal with technicalities in hiring and promoting staff, such as extending the committee deadlines from 60 to 90 days, or allowing applicants to cite all of their achievements and not only those since their last appointment.Both the ministry and Croatian media highlighted changes that would raise the retirement age from 65 to 67 years and allow part-time students 15 year rather than 10 years to finish their studies.The change to retirement age has been criticised for reinforcing a weakness in the system. According to Matko Marušić, professor emeritus at the University of Split, this will “allow unproductive teachers to advance and work longer, while hindering and discouraging productive ones.”A longtime campaigner for excellence-based meritocracy, he sees little hope in the new legislation. “I am not optimistic that things will improve,” he told Science Business. “As recent changes to the law in Croatia show, the legal framework is becoming increasingly hypocritical and harmful.”For Marušić, who analyses Croatia's university system in a recently published book, the situation is “unfavourable and constantly deteriorating” due to the criteria used for academic advancement.“The key criterion for advancement should be scientific productivity,” he said. “In Croatia [. . .] scientific criteria are increasingly lowered, and ineffective and absurd criteria such as waiting times for promotion and age limits for remaining in a job are promoted.” He would also like to see better criteria for the quality of teaching at universities. “In practice, teaching is not monitored or evaluated,” he said, estimating that up to a third of teaching simply does not take place. “Under the guise of university autonomy and bad laws, universities and faculties are allowed to earn additional money by increasing enrolment quotas that have nothing to do with the needs of the labour market.” Lack of ambitionDora Kršul, a reporter at Telegram.hr who covers science policy in Croatia, finds the rationale for changes “bizarre.” “The ministry responsible for supervising the uniform application of the law is changing the law because it is being implemented unevenly,” she said. “This primarily speaks to the power relationship in the sphere of science and higher education in Croatia, that is, the question arises as to who actually manages this system.”Rather than raising quality, she continued, the changes appear to be designed to help vocational and applied universities who have not been complying with the law.The Independent Union of Research and Higher Education Employees of Croatia said that the changes were “unambitious” and represent a missed opportunity for more important changes. “We think some of the changes are even negative,” it said in its statement on June 25. One of these is introduction of an “assistant” job title that allows people to be hired only for the duration of a project. Related articles: Elections to top science bodies test Croatia’s gender equality in researchSlovakia revises R&D approach to increase focus on competitivenessLatvia pilots citizen engagement in research grant evaluationsThe union’s president, Tvrtko Smital, who was part of the 15-member working group tasked with drafting the changes, told the local media there was a “worrying lack of ambition” in the process, and “lack of competence” in terms of research experience and understanding the problems in the system.“There is no clear will to deal with the problems,” said Smital, an assistant professor of marine and environmental sciences at the Ruđer Bošković Institute in Zagreb. “It’s a combination of unambitiousness and incompetence,” he went on, expressing his “deep frustration” with the situation. “There is no strategy, no clear thinking, and money is not being spent optimally.”Croatia’s science ministry has not responded to requests for comment.

Jul 2 • 8:00 AM EDT • Science • sciencebusiness.net

Bonus 236: A Term of Self-Inflicted Wounds

Within minutes of the Supreme Court handing down the birthright citizenship ruling on Tuesday and rising for its summer recess, its defenders were pointing to that decision (alongside the late-arriving mail-in ballots ruling on Monday and the tariffs ruling from February) as decisive proof that the Court really is “above politics,” and that criticisms of the justices for behaving more like politicians in robes than like judges are thus unfair. For a particularly thoughtful version of this claim, see Professor Will Baude’s opening response to the latest New York Times written roundtable about the Court with Baude, Professor Kate Shaw, and me. In that roundtable, I already offered one of the two major arguments against this thesis—that it’s an assessment of the numerator without regard to the denominator, and that a full account of the Court’s behavior throughout OT2025 suggests that the Court behaved even more politically during the current term than during even the previous (highly politicized) one. Just to take one of many data points, last term (OT2024), there were six rulings in argued cases in which all six Republican-appointed justices were in the majority and all three of the Democratic appointees were in dissent (along with a slew of such rulings on the emergency docket). This term, there were … 13. (Along with two 6-3 summary reversals and 10 rulings on the emergency docket from which the three Democratic appointees all dissented.) Today’s bonus issue addresses the flip side of that coin. In particular, below the fold, I identify four different moments in which the justices could have acted in ways to specifically defuse charges of political behavior—and opted instead to lean all the way in. As much as end-of-term narratives focus on what the Court did, and on the takeaways from individual rulings, consider today’s post an attempt to identify opportunities that the Court missed, as well. At least in the examples discussed below, by opting for the outcome that made the Court look more transparently political, the Court inflicted a series of (unnecessary) credibility wounds on itself. For those who aren’t paid subscribers, we’ll be back Monday with our regular coverage of the Court. For those who are, please read on.

Jul 2 • 7:15 AM EDT • Politics • stevevladeck.com

Science achievement is not a one-year event

Educational systems often encourage leaders to focus on immediate science achievement while science learning unfolds over many years.

Jul 2 • 6:00 AM EDT • Science • eschoolnews.com

Springfield trash company accused of unfair business practices

Customers tell KY3 they weren't given complete information about the service terms by GFL Environmental representatives.

Jul 1 • 8:46 PM EDT • Business • ky3.com

'The Gunfighter' Indie to Be Directed by Patrick Perez Vidauri

The new vigilante indie film 'The Gunfighter' to be directed by Patrick Perez Vidauri. 'East Los High' actress Vanessa Vasquez consulting producer.

Jul 1 • 8:23 PM EDT • Entertainment • deadline.com

‘The Gunfighter’: RXM Entertainment Vigilante Movie Sets Patrick Perez Vidauri To Direct

EXCLUSIVE: Patrick Perez Vidauri will direct the RXM Entertainment action movie, The Gunfighter. Written by Tom Jenkins, The Gunfighter follows Johnny Bandit, a philosophy student by day and a mysteri...

Jul 1 • 8:23 PM EDT • Entertainment • yahoo.com

The Supreme Court’s Campaign-Finance Decision Is Actually Good

Or at least, it’s not bad.

Jul 1 • 6:31 PM EDT • Politics • theatlantic.com

The Supreme Court’s trans sports ban ruling is about exclusion, not safety, advocates say

The Supreme Court can't stop using biological arguments to advance bigotry. In a 6-3 ruling, the justices sided in favor of state laws that ban transgender athletes from women's sports teams, citing unfair competition and physical danger.

Jul 1 • 10:29 AM EDT • Sports • arktimes.com