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France's  capital Paris housing crisis 2026 with high cost of housing for residents, limited supply, and some of the housing going to rentals to tourists.

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Iraqi oil production drops from 4.3 million barrels a day to 1.3 million by March 8, 2026, after 1 week of war between the US and Israel with Iran over nuclear weapons development and ballistic missile production.

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Shelley-Ann-Fraser-Pryce the best female sprinter of all time with 10.6 seconds for the 100 metres, wins a parents mums race in Jamaica.

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The London Marathon is back after 30 months. The smile on Schar's face in wheelchair race.

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As the Conservative Party chooses its new leader the hard reality that the country does not support a no-deal Brexit favored by frontrunner Boris Johnson intrudes into the race. The Labour Party plans to build cross party support to block any no-deal Brexit in parliament.

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US Iran Memorandum of Understanding signed by DJT and Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian, May 17 2026, with Pakistan as mediator. Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt and Qatar tried to bring the two sides together within Iran the RGC Revolutionary Guard Corps military and the president elected in 2024 (to tackle cost of living and other economic issues). and narrow their differences with the US. A key factor was China and the US president called China's actions "fantastic" in achieving the signed agreement to work out the details within 60-90 days of talks. Without China's help in imports and other assistance Iran's economy would be hard to sustain. China's own interests are best served by maintaining peace in the region as it continues to develop and modernize its economy. Russia also supported the agreement. Another contributor was India by setting an example for modernization and economic development as the true pathway for the people of West Asia, by bringing UAE, Egypt and other Arab nations in North Africa such as Morocco together in the direction of economic development and showing that cooperation in the region including with Israel is the best way forward. From the perspective of long term future of the region the presence of Modi and India at the G-7 meeting next to Macron and DJT shows there is now a G-8, with India joining Japan as two key Asian nations in the G-8. In this way the administration has achieved something that was never possible in either the old G-8 (that included Russia) under previous administrations after 2000. DJT's meeting with Putin in Alaska, and his visit to Beijing for discussions with Xi Jinping in 2025 and 2026, achieved the G-8 setting with India plus keeping China and Russia fully engaged in separate one on one arranged talks. This is a rare feat achieved in 2026 for the US, China, India and Russia, EU, Germany, that has never been done before to the lasting credit of the leaders DJT, president Xi, prime minister Modi, president Putin, and chancellor Merz- to their patience even in times of disagreement, their efforts to persevere when times were rough, and their foresight and wisdom in seeking agreement around what they shared in common.  ...

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Belgian cyclist Remco Evenepoel wins gold in the 273 kms cycling race west of Paris into finishing circuit on streets of Monmartre Paris. This was the longest race of their career for many cyclists. 3.8 kms from finish he had a puncture and needed a tire replacement but was 25 seconds ahead which gave him time to finish first.

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Following the Dallas police officer shootings Bruni of the NYT says U.S. president Obama has not set race relations back 50 years as some of his detractors say. Instead the conversation on race relations has become more heated with technology providing instant images on iPhones, and the loss of black lives, says Bruni.  Obama has tried unsuccessfully to have his voice heard for moderation on all sides.

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One commentator in Norway says "an entire state apparatus has played bankrupt" with Norway's international reputation. British and Norwegian Royals Sarah Ferguson divorced wife of Prince Andrew,  Princess Mette-Marit of Norway, and the Epstein Files showing messages exchanged with Epstein even after much of his history was known, show a lack of judgement that reflects badly on Britain's establishment, on Norway's establishment. There are media reports of Mandelson, Starmer's UK ambassador to US of having sent messages to Epstein on matters relating to confidential plans of the government to sell state assets and about policy influence under a previous Labour administration.This suggests to people in Britain that Labour has failed to appoint people of integrity to important positions. Before Rutte of the Netherlands took over as head of NATO, the head of NATO Stoltenberg for 10 years was from Norway. The total population of Norway of 5.5 million is less than the population of the Houston region. Should it exercise such an important role in the affairs of Europe much less of the world? It was under Stoltenberg's appointment in 2014 as head of NATO after losing an election in Norway, with Merkel and Obama's support, that gradually changed the perception of NATO as too close to Russia's borders so that by 2019 when Covid took place the situation deteriorated in Europe beyond recognition. Russia and China joined together and Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022 with Stoltenberg in a role in NATO that reflected more the British view of NATO than how DJT and other Republican leaders perceived NATO. As America turns this chapter of Bush-Clinton-Bush-Obama years of failed politics in which US lost control in its own backyard to drug trafficking gangs in Mexico and Venezuela, conducted wars in remote deserts and mountains in the Middle East, and lost its economic position to China, turned over NATO to  politicians who followed a British view of hostility to Russia that did not reflect the American view of working in cooperation with Russia, China and other major powers, this appointment of Stoltenberg a figure in the Norway establishment may be seen as another failure of the Merkel/Obama years. ...

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The UK by-election in Makerfield that may decide Britain's future for years to come. Andy Burnham takes on Robert Kenyon, a plumber and army reservist who was Reform's candidate in the 2024 elections. Kenyon hopes to present Burnham as an outsider.Yet Makerfield lies close to Manchester where Burnham has been Mayor for 3 terms and brought new hope to the people of Manchester with changes including the city's transportation system and other changes.

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Jay Powell signals that protecting working families from inflation even as he attacks inflation and strong labor market to moderate wage increases that could hurt jobs is a difficult balancing act that he wants to get right. Here are his own words at the Brookings Institution- "My colleagues and I do not want to overtighten because... cutting rates is not what we want to do too soon. That's why we're slowing down and going to try to find out way to what that right level is." He said he did not rely on forecasting that could be inaccurate and is feeling his way through this. It showed - the remarkable humility of this central bank governor unlike any of the last five decades, and he was warmly received by Brookings. He is keenly aware that the pandemic has hurt labour market participation as many have retired and some are still struggling to join the labor market, and there are other working families in the labor market who are being hurt by inflation.    ...

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The UK NHS is urgently tracking down parents of 35,000 children in London who are not fully vaccinated against polio, says this report in The Times. Health officials have detected the first outbreak since 1984. They are trying to trace it back to a "single household or street." London has lower rates of polio vaccination than the rest of England, dropping to levels that are seen as risky for the health of children. Vaccination rates are low in north and east London says this report in The Times. In London as a whole the vaccination rate for one year olds in 2021 is at 87%,  5 percentage points lower than that of the UK as a whole of 92%.  

Lack of investment in public health and services has weakened the public health system even as hundreds of billions of dollars were misallocated by capital markets gone astray. The pandemic exacerbated a bad situation in public health lowering vaccination rates even further.

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The present state of affairs only puts all countries in a race to the bottom as companies seek the lowest tax rate to base their headquarters, leading to tax systems that are unstable and tax revenues that cannot support essential public goods and services such as healthcare, and essential infrastructure. US central bank head Janet Yellen called for a globally coordinated tax rate which would apply regardless of where a global company is located. In her speech to the Chicago Council of World Affairs she redefined what competitiveness should mean today- "Competitiveness is about more than how US headquartered companies fare against other companies in global merger and acquisition bids...It is about making sure that nations have stable tax systems that raise sufficient revenue to invest in essential public goods and respond to crises, and that all citizens fairly share the burden of financing the government." For too long the burden of  investing in essential public goods such as healthcare, education, environment, and infrastructure has not been fairly shared by all citizens in advanced nations of Europe and in the US and essential investment has been neglected in the process. The pandemic today has only exposed the major cracks in the system that prevails today. President Biden's infrastructure plan of $2 trillion to fund renovation rebuilding of roads, bridges, water systems, electricity systems, and the entire network of infrastructure including for health and education, is only possible in an environment that encourages essential investment and provides sufficient revenues to do this. Europe is in the same situation, and so is much of Asia, Africa and Latin America. ...

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US Supreme Court in 6-3 majority rules against tariffs by DJT, but makes no mention of refunds.

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Pep Guardiola and Valverde on the Manchester City loss to Real Madrid 3-0 and Valverde's hat trick. The Uruguay midfielder said: “We’d put some emphasis on training the long ball from goal kicks. City like to press high – they like to go one-v-one, and that means we might have space in behind them to exploit.” Courtois long goal kick gave Valverde his first goal. Manchester City missed Norwegian Haaland in this game.

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Heidi Vogt provides this exceptional account on the U.S. and international efort to build Liberia's healthcare system from scratch. Years of civil war till 2003 and the shortage of funds mean that even basic equipment such as X ray machines and blood testing equipment are lacking in Liberian hospitals. Even with a effort that includes the U.S. Army and Air Force planes, a 25 bed hospital for healthcare workers using tents will take till early November to be operational. Showing that the response is sorely inadequate here in Liberia leading to the spread of Ebola to Europe and the U.S. by December at the current pace. Liberia's head of Ebola control says the international community has failed Liberia with its inadequate response. For the U.S. and Europe an inadequate response creates new dangers as the public has lost confidence in government response.

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The US central bank, the Fed, signals smaller rate increases in the future after another rate increase of 0.75% in November 2022. "It is very premature to be thinking of pausing. We have a ways to go," says Fed chairman Jerome Powell. He added that - "the question of when to moderate the pace of rate  increases is now less important than the question of how high to raise interest rates and how long to keep monetary policy restrictive." The move raises rates in the US to between 3.75% and 4.0%. Rates could go up to 5% in 2023.

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The US Senate races in 2024. See if you can connect the names to the state in US where the contest is being decided November 5. Bob Casey Jon Tester Tammy Baldwin Angela Alsobrooks Jacky Rosen Ruben Gallego Colin Allred Which is the big upset race? Who are the Independent Senators who retired? Answers- Casey- Pennsylvania, Tester- Montana, Baldwin- Wisconsin, Alsobrooks-Maryland,  Rosen- Nevada, Gallego- Arizona Colin Allred- Texas The big upset US Senate race in Texas, Colin Allred to unseat Republican Ted Cruz. Independent Senators retiring Joe Manchin- West Virginia, Krysten Sinema-Arizona. With their support Biden passed the Inflation Reduction Act, other major legislation to invest in the renewal of America's infrastructure, American manufacturing,  CHIPS and Science.   ...

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Job loss nubers for 2009 from the Labor Dept are- February 681,000, March 699,000, April 539,000 as govt payrolls expanded by 72,000. About 8.9 million people work parttime, adding in the people who have given up looking for a job, the underemployment rate is 15.8% in April 2009.

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Four veteran U.S. Federal Reserve officials, most of whom have said they support rate increases, will join the central bank's rate setting committee. Bullard, Evans, and Rosengren, have made the case for increasing rates to restrain growth. The question in 2019 is how fast and at what pace there will be rate increases. This will be watched carefully in developed and developing countries that are affected by U.S. central bank policies.