Author: insighter

PA A count staff member at a GAA club in Cork With fewer than 50 council seats left to declare in the Irish local elections, the two biggest government parties are far out in front of their rivals. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael both have 236 seats. Independent candidates are faring well – they have secured 178 council seats between them. The main opposition party, Sinn Féin, has won 99 seats so far, well below its own target of 200. The Labour Party has 55 seats and the Social Democrats 35. Ireland has three EU constituencies which send 14 MEPs…

This year’s spring selling season wasn’t a typical one, and while it seems to be better than last year, there was an air of melancholy surrounding it.  As the season winds down, mortgage applications, pending home sales, existing home sales, and listings for the last few months have all generally reflected that sentiment.  It’s another reminder that buying and selling homes hasn’t been the same since the pandemic. It’s hard to sell your home if your mortgage rate is much lower than the current rate. And it’s hard to buy when the salary needed for a starter home has almost…

Battered by a defeat in European Parliament elections, France’s President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday dissolved the country’s parliament and called for legislative elections later this month. Here is what you need to know about what’s next — and why it matters: What happened in France? Voters in France dealt a massive blow to Macron in elections on Sunday for the European Parliament. Preliminary results showed that Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally (RN) secured more than 30 percent of the vote compared with 14.5 percent for the French president’s Renaissance (RE) party. Renaissance narrowly escaped coming in third place, finishing…

From “revenge travel” to the “sold-out summer,” there’s been no shortage of nicknames for the travel craze that has spanned multiple summers. But could 2024 be the “return of the airfare bargain?” It’s too early to say for sure, but after experiencing sky-high fares during the last two summers, it’s looking travelers might have more deals in store for the second half of 2024. To be clear, the crowds haven’t tapered off at all. In fact, airports are already setting records. However, unlike 2022 and 2023, we’ve noticed something of a pleasant surprise: True flight deals are popping up, and…

Owning a reusable water bottle is a great way to cut out single-use plastic and stay hydrated. Most people have specific preferences for their drinking vessels—nearly every WIRED staffer has their own favorite—so the best water bottle is the one you’ll use. If you’re unsure where to start, we’ve rounded up our favorites after years of trial and error and a lot of water. Whichever bottle or brand you go with, remember that you don’t need to own a collection of any bottle—that defeats the environmental purpose of purchasing a reusable bottle in the first place. Also, be aware that…

Firefighters are battling wildfires in Brazil’s Pantanal, the world’s largest tropical wetland. The Pantanal is home to jaguars, giant anteaters and giant river otters. Close to 32,000 hectares have already been destroyed by the fires in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, local media report. Climate experts say this year’s wildfire season has started earlier and is more intense than in previous years. Firefighters said their efforts to extinguish the flames were being hampered by high winds over the weekend. The region has also seen less rain than in other years, which has made it easier for the fires…

In 2008 Apple founder Steve Jobs “screamed” in the face of then-Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, encouraging the coffee chain boss to fire his leadership team. Schultz is a familiar face at the helm of the Seattle-founded brand, having had three separate tenures in the corner office. His first was in 1987—when he and local investors purchased the brand—until 2000 when he took a step back to focus on global expansion as chief strategist. His second stint was in 2008 to 2018, and then a final return in 2022 for a year. The timing of Schultz’s second two appearances is important:…

Kim Yo Jong had warned of a ‘crisis of confrontation’ if South Korea did not halt propaganda broadcasts. North Korea has floated hundreds more refuse-carrying balloons into South Korea after Kim Jong Un’s influential sister warned Seoul to halt propaganda broadcasts across their tense border. Pyongyang sent more than 300 waste-loaded balloons across the inter-Korean border overnight, South Korea’s military said on Monday, after Kim Yo Jong warned earlier that the loudspeaker broadcasts risked provoking a “crisis of confrontation”. “This is a prelude to a very dangerous situation,” Kim said in a statement carried by state media on Sunday. The…

Volvo Car AB has started to shift manufacturing of Chinese-made electric vehicles to Belgium as the European Union prepares to impose tariffs on China-made EVs, the Times reported. On top of transferring production of Volvo’s EX30 and EX90 models to Belgium, the carmaker may also move assembly of some Volvo models bound for the UK, the report said, citing unidentified people. Volvo, which is owned by Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co., is seen as the most exposed among western automakers to the potential tariffs, the Times said. Trade frictions between the EU and China have led to a barrage of…

William A. Anders, the astronaut behind perhaps the single most iconic photo of our planet, has died at the age of 90. On Friday morning, Anders was piloting a small plane that dove into the water near Roche Harbor, Wash. His son Greg confirmed his death. Anders retired from the Air Force Reserve as a major general, but was a major at the time of the Apollo 8 mission in 1968. Apollo 8 was the first manned mission to orbit the moon, which also made Anders one of the first people to leave the bounds of Earth’s orbit. On Christmas…

In Brussels, at past EU leaders’ summits, Emmanuel Macron has at times been accused of trying to steal the limelight. He certainly managed that on Sunday night. Although probably not in the way he’d have liked. As votes for the European Parliament were still being counted, Mr Macron dominated the headlines. His drubbing in the poll by French hard-right nationalists had been expected. His decision to dissolve France’s national parliament as a result, came as a shock. He had played with the idea last year, after getting trounced in France’s last general election but few expected this move now. It’s…

The true disruptive effects of artificial intelligence on the economy and financial markets may not become apparent until there’s a downturn, which could spiral into a full-blown crisis unless the risks of AI are addressed, the IMF’s second-in-command warned recently. During a speech at an AI summit in Switzerland on May 30, IMF First Deputy Managing Director Gita Gopinath said discussion about AI’s risks has largely focused on privacy, security, and misinformation. But much less talked about is the risk of AI amplifying the next recession. In a world of widespread AI adoption, the technology could convert an otherwise ordinary…