For tens of thousands of years, these Palaeolithic artworks were unseen. When they were rediscovered, onlookers marvelled at their vivid beauty. One of the world’s leading experts took me up close The aurochs, the mammoth and the steppe bison are long extinct, but their painted likenesses still look relatively fresh across the walls and roofs of Altamira. Or so said Diego Garate Maidagan, who is o...
For tens of thousands of years, these Palaeolithic artworks were unseen. When they were rediscovered, onlookers marvelled at their vivid beauty. One of the world’s leading experts took me up close The aurochs, the mammoth and the steppe bison are long extinct, but their painted likenesses still look relatively fresh across the walls and roofs of Altamira. Or so said Diego Garate Maidagan, who is one of the very few humans allowed to enter that exalted cave in northern Spain. I met Garate last summer in a small Basque village called Gautegiz Arteaga. A professor of prehistory and Palaeolithic art at the University of Cantabria, he told me he’d been inside Altamira as recently as the week before, furthering his lifelong investigations of the prep work, tools and methodologies developed by early Homo sapiens painters. Continue reading...
In less than a decade, surrounded by screens, I lost my ability to read some of the best books ever written. But, inspired by the Guardian’s 100 best novels list , I was determined to get it back It is a privilege to be surrounded by books. My parents hail from the literary working class, a subsection of society that believes great works lead to a richer life. Reading for them was an inverted form...
In less than a decade, surrounded by screens, I lost my ability to read some of the best books ever written. But, inspired by the Guardian’s 100 best novels list , I was determined to get it back It is a privilege to be surrounded by books. My parents hail from the literary working class, a subsection of society that believes great works lead to a richer life. Reading for them was an inverted form of class snobbery. My dad could read as well as anyone. He’d prove it on package holidays, sitting on the balcony the entire time, head bowed, cigarette in hand, flicking through the pages of Jane Austen or Herman Melville . The only difference between my old man and an old Etonian was the drudgery of employment. To paraphrase Oscar Wilde: work is the bane of the reading class. As for my own reading life, my mum wore me down, shouting “Read a book!” any time I dared say I was bored. I soon capitulated. I was nudged towards the classics, defined by Italo Calvino as books people say they should “reread” because they’ve either read them or do not want to admit they have not. In my late teens and 20s, I worked my way through the greats. I fell in love with a woman called George and thought Middlemarch was magic . I was a smart lad, prone to bad decisions, unsure of my place in the world. It is perhaps no surprise that I identified with Dorothea. Continue reading...
Son and stepson of Cameroon’s Paul Biya are seen as main contenders to be vice-president Since taking power in Cameroon 44 years ago, Paul Biya has done without a vice-president. In 1972, a decade before he first won the presidency, the role had been scrapped as the central African country transitioned from a federal to unitary state. Now, at the age of 93, people close to the world’s oldest head ...
Son and stepson of Cameroon’s Paul Biya are seen as main contenders to be vice-president Since taking power in Cameroon 44 years ago, Paul Biya has done without a vice-president. In 1972, a decade before he first won the presidency, the role had been scrapped as the central African country transitioned from a federal to unitary state. Now, at the age of 93, people close to the world’s oldest head of state appear to have had a change of heart, and – according to their critics – they have one thing on their mind: the creation of a dynastic system that would transfer power to his son or his stepson. Continue reading...
In Scandinavia and the Baltic region, citizens are signing up to do their bit as non-combatants. Other Nato allies should take heed Wars, these days, target digital infrastructure as well as military installations. The very fact that large chunks of daily life can be knocked out without a single shot being fired is the reason Russia seems interested in doing exactly that. It is, for example, alrea...
In Scandinavia and the Baltic region, citizens are signing up to do their bit as non-combatants. Other Nato allies should take heed Wars, these days, target digital infrastructure as well as military installations. The very fact that large chunks of daily life can be knocked out without a single shot being fired is the reason Russia seems interested in doing exactly that. It is, for example, already dangerously interfering with aviation and shipping around the Baltic Sea . Imagine the impact of larger, more successful cyber-attacks on our modern lives. Ordinary citizens would have to survive without texting, banking apps, public transportation and most modern office work. The government, though, would need to keep operating. In an offline world, the logistics of running a country would require many people. Some of these people, Sweden suggests, could ride motorcycles. Continue reading...
Karen Holmes lost a son to cancer, then her home in Yorkshire to a fire; the house is now refurbished but its meaning has gone Karen Holmes is sitting in her newly renovated lounge in a house she has lived in for 28 years, but she cannot live here now. She cannot leave, either. The house looks good. Better than good, people tell her. There are new walls, new floors, new windows. French doors where...
Karen Holmes lost a son to cancer, then her home in Yorkshire to a fire; the house is now refurbished but its meaning has gone Karen Holmes is sitting in her newly renovated lounge in a house she has lived in for 28 years, but she cannot live here now. She cannot leave, either. The house looks good. Better than good, people tell her. There are new walls, new floors, new windows. French doors where there used to be a window. Continue reading...
It takes a brave person to write about a gang of 20-somethings navigating life and love in neighbouring Manhattan apartments. Sadly this is not an instant classic – it’s a slice of schmaltzy pudding flopping on to a plate More than three decades after Friends launched, it is still a brave writer who puts out a show about a gaggle of twentysomethings learning to navigate life and love in a brace of...
It takes a brave person to write about a gang of 20-somethings navigating life and love in neighbouring Manhattan apartments. Sadly this is not an instant classic – it’s a slice of schmaltzy pudding flopping on to a plate More than three decades after Friends launched, it is still a brave writer who puts out a show about a gaggle of twentysomethings learning to navigate life and love in a brace of unfeasibly palatial apartments in Manhattan. Brave or, perhaps, foolish. The new sitcom from Mindy Kaling (who began her writing and acting career on the US version of The Office and most recently created high school comedy Never Have I Ever and university sitcom The Sex Lives of College Girls ) gives us five rather than six friends split between two apartments across a hallway. Two of them are people of colour rather than maintaining the Kauffman-Cranes’ now infamously melanin-free approach to city life, but the keen eye can still trace the ancestry. The ear may have more trouble. Kaling’s scripts try hard but rarely shine, let alone dazzle as the Friends’ dialogue almost unfailingly did. Continue reading...
Drone swarms and stealth submarines are playing a growing role in modern warfare, yet aircraft carriers remain a symbol of military might. That can be seen in China’s investment in the warships, as well as other countries including France, Turkey, India and Japan. China’s naval fleet has been expanding at a rapid pace, with its fourth aircraft carrier fast taking shape, according to the latest sat...
Drone swarms and stealth submarines are playing a growing role in modern warfare, yet aircraft carriers remain a symbol of military might. That can be seen in China’s investment in the warships, as well as other countries including France, Turkey, India and Japan. China’s naval fleet has been expanding at a rapid pace, with its fourth aircraft carrier fast taking shape, according to the latest satellite images of the shipyard in Dalian in the country’s northeast, where it is being built. Those...
kyoshino/E+ via Getty Images Motor Vehicle Sales Unit sales of motor vehicles, published by the Bureau of Economic Analysis at the beginning of each month, include domestic sales and imports. Sales are expected to be mostly flat at a 16.0 million unit rate from 15.9 million in April. 1:50 AM Neel Kashkari Speaks Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President Neel Kashkari participates in a panel at th...
kyoshino/E+ via Getty Images Motor Vehicle Sales Unit sales of motor vehicles, published by the Bureau of Economic Analysis at the beginning of each month, include domestic sales and imports. Sales are expected to be mostly flat at a 16.0 million unit rate from 15.9 million in April. 1:50 AM Neel Kashkari Speaks Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President Neel Kashkari participates in a panel at the 2026 Bank of Korea International Conference. 8:30 AM Beth Hammack Speaks Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank President Beth Hammack gives remarks and participates in conversation on monetary policy co-hosted by the Cleveland Fed, the City Club of Cleveland, the Greater Cleveland Partnership, and the 50 Club of Cleveland. 10:00 AM JOLTS The Labor Department's JOLTS report tracks monthly change in job openings and offers rates on hiring and quits. Job openings are expected to be down a bit at a 6.815 million rate in April from 6.866 million in March. More on U.S. Markets CDT May 2026 - 1999 Called, They Want Their Stock Market Back Fed Returns To Profitability In First Quarter As Deferred Asset Declines Wall Street Brunch: The Last Core PCE Hurrah? JPMorgan sees the bond yield surge fading in the second half of 2026 Surging bank lending could rekindle inflation risks, SocGen's Albert Edwards warns
Poland’s central bank is poised to keep interest rates unchanged for a third straight month as an unexpected drop in the inflation rate relieves pressure to tighten monetary policy. The Monetary Policy Council will leave the key rate at 3.75% on Tuesday, according to all 32 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. The central bank is due to publish a statement at about 4 p.m. in Warsaw. Governor Adam Gla...
Poland’s central bank is poised to keep interest rates unchanged for a third straight month as an unexpected drop in the inflation rate relieves pressure to tighten monetary policy. The Monetary Policy Council will leave the key rate at 3.75% on Tuesday, according to all 32 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. The central bank is due to publish a statement at about 4 p.m. in Warsaw. Governor Adam Glapinski will hold a briefing on Wednesday. Policymakers in Poland, an importer of oil and gas, have become more hawkish in their comments in past months as inflation rose to the upper end of their tolerance band amid war in the Middle East. A softer-than-anticipated readout for price growth in May signaled, however, that consumer prices remained under control, at least for the time being. The inflation surprise “buys the central bank some additional room to breathe,” economists at JPMorgan Chase & Co. said. “Communication is likely to have a hawkish lean, but not more than before.” Headline inflation slowed to 3.1% in May from 3.2% in April, undershooting the 3.6% median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists. Before the Iran war started three months ago, prices grew at an annual pace of 2.1%. Read More: Polish Inflation Unexpectedly Slows, Cooling Rate-Hike Risks The inflation data added to a series of reports pointing to moderate price pressures. Economic growth slowed in the first quarter, retail sales show consumers turning cautious with their spending while wage growth is at the slowest in more than five years. Bank Pekao SA has cut its forecast of this year’s inflation peak to 3.5% from 4% seen previously and expects the borrowing costs to remain stable in 2026. “As long as inflation expectations remain under control — which is currently the case — raising interest rates would have a greater negative impact on economic growth than on the sources of current inflationary risks, which are largely external in nature,” said Pekao economists led by Ernest Pytlarczyk . ...
China ’s state-backed iron ore buyer has instructed some steel mills to ask questions about Fortescue Ltd.’s new low-grade product as negotiations over a long-term supply contract hit a rough patch. China Mineral Resources Group Co. has asked steelmakers with significant exposure to Fortescue ore to check with the miner about quality, according to people familiar with the matter. The low-grade pro...
China ’s state-backed iron ore buyer has instructed some steel mills to ask questions about Fortescue Ltd.’s new low-grade product as negotiations over a long-term supply contract hit a rough patch. China Mineral Resources Group Co. has asked steelmakers with significant exposure to Fortescue ore to check with the miner about quality, according to people familiar with the matter. The low-grade product, known as Fortune Fines, has yet to be shipped. Talks over a long-term contract have not progressed as smoothly as expected, despite fellow miner BHP Group reaching a settlement with CMRG earlier this year, said the people, who asked not to be named discussing private matters. They cautioned, however, that disputes over quality and marketing are relatively common when new ore products are introduced. A Fortescue spokesperson said it continues to engage with CMRG, while declining to comment further on confidential commercial discussions. CMRG couldn’t immediately comment. The Australian miner was expected to finalize a long-term agreement with CMRG in the coming months, with existing short-term arrangements extended while negotiations continue. Any escalation in tensions over Fortune Fines, which has 55% iron content, could complicate efforts to reach a final deal. Read More: China Is Taking On Giant Miners to Reorder a $190 Billion Market The move marks the latest attempt by CMRG to shift bargaining power in iron ore negotiations away from the major global miners. BHP was locked in a months-long standoff with the group before reaching an agreement in April that runs through June 2027 and includes some yuan-denominated pricing indexes. Fortescue, the world’s fourth-biggest iron ore producer, has sought to strengthen its position in China this year, beefing up its senior leadership presence in the country and highlighting its investments there. Executive Chairman Andrew Forrest has nevertheless criticized CMRG’s efforts, warning that the group was attempting to create a ...
Arm Holdings plc (NASDAQ:ARM) is one of the 10 Stocks Entering June on Fire. Arm Holdings kicked off the first day of the month soaring to a new all-time high, as investors resorted to a flurry of positive developments, including Nvidia Corp.’s launch of new chips built on its architecture and two analysts’ optimistic rating […]
Arm Holdings plc (NASDAQ:ARM) is one of the 10 Stocks Entering June on Fire. Arm Holdings kicked off the first day of the month soaring to a new all-time high, as investors resorted to a flurry of positive developments, including Nvidia Corp.’s launch of new chips built on its architecture and two analysts’ optimistic rating […]