Open Newswire

A developing "Super El Niño" is set to land on a Pacific Islands Forum emergency mechanism already switched on for a fuel shock. Can the region's new climate architecture move from declaration to delivery before the stakes rise further?About the author/sDebomita DasguptaDebomita Dasgupta is an independent policy researcher in Melbourne working on Indo-Pacific governance, critical minerals and climate diplomacy.

(The Center Square) – Illinois income tax and sales tax receipts are up for the fiscal year that ended on June 30. The Illinois Flash Economic Index based on major Illinois tax revenues rose from 101.1 in May to 101.4 for June, with numbers more than 100 reflecting growth. Fred Giertz, emeritus professor of economics at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, said the increase comes during a long-term period of gradual decline. “Now, decline doesn't mean the economy is getting worse. It means that the economy is not going ahead as fast as it otherwise would. So where we are right now is a period of modest growth, but slower than we have been the last several years,” Giertz told The Center Square. Giertz said Illinois has a low unemployment rate by historic standards, but it’s still above the national average. "Illinois, as most people know, even though we're growing here, we're not growing as fast as the rest of the country,” Giertz said. Major components of the flash index for June 2026 showed year-over-year increases. Giertz said individual income tax revenues have been strong all year, possibly driven by large capital gains. “That increases the revenue, so the fact that the stock markets have been strong in the last year or so probably had an impact there,” Giertz said. Giertz said higher sales tax receipts reflect real growth over and above higher prices. “Every month, the tax revenues are, the term is called deflated, that is, the inflation is basically taken out of them. So all the numbers are based on real values, the same purchasing power over a period of time,” Giertz said. Giertz said corporate tax revenues are lower than last year but still very good by historic standards. Giertz said the flash index was devised almost 30 years ago in the University of Illinois Institute of Government and Public Affairs, because federal and state government data doesn’t come out for weeks or months after a given month ends. “We decided to use the tax revenue as kind of a surrogate or a substitute or a quick measure of how the economy is doing, so that's been the substance of the Flash Index for several decades now,” Giertz said. Giertz said the index is very good for quickness, but adjustments have to be made to deal with unusual situations regarding tax revenues, such as changes in cash flow patterns.

Emails obtained by the BDN show a developer solicited local letters of support to give Gov. Janet Mills “cover” for her veto of a statewide data center ban.

Jewelweed has tall orange flowers in the shape of funnels at the end of slender stems, driving its name from how water beads form on it

El delantero estadounidense Folarin Balogun fue expulsado con una tarjeta roja directa por una falta que cometió sobre el jugador Tarik Muharemović ...

The owner of Stash VHS, who has been collecting vintage soccer clothing leading up to the World Cup, seizes the moment in his hometown.

The wandering Jew. The rootless cosmopolitan. Being homeless and belonging nowhere has long been a negative Jewish stereotype. But what if this trait was, instead, something beautiful? That’s the idea posed by Nabatele, an art installation from Ukrainian-Jewish artist Anna Kamyshan. A synagogue, an amalgam of different wooden shtetl synagogues across Europe, perches on a... The post A synagogue will soar above the Venice Biennale’s politics, and its lagoon appeared first on The Forward.

The new law includes civil penalties up to $3 million for violators.

As the State of Oklahoma stares down a deadline to lower its error rate for federal food benefits, numbers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture show the rate has slightly increased. The latest USDA numbers show Oklahoma’s error rate for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) slightly increased in the past fiscal year to 11.04%. This […]

O Tribunal de Apelação de Paris vai proferir, nesta terça-feira (7), sua decisão sobre o caso dos assistentes parlamentares do partido Frente Nacional (atual Reunião Nacional, RN) e, consequentemente, sobre o futuro político de Marine Le Pen. Trata-se de um julgamento crucial, já que a líder da extrema direita, acusada de desvio de recursos do Parlamento Europeu, corre o risco de ficar inelegível e ser impedida de disputar a eleição presidencial francesa de 2027.

Stockton City Council members on Tuesday will consider long-awaited labor contracts for police officers, firefighters and public safety managers. Stockton council to vote on long-awaited police, fire contracts as civil grand jury report looms is a story from Stocktonia News, a rigorous and factual newsroom covering Greater Stockton, California. Please consider making a charitable contribution to support our journalism.

A native of Chechnya and former member of the far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD), Noah Krieger — whose real name is Murad Dadayev — traveled to the war zone in Ukraine to fight on Russia’s side, a conclusion the German television channel n-tv drew from a series of videos he posted to his Instagram account.

A new study builds on a wave of new work that is daring to suggest insects might have a form of consciousness.

Um olhar sobre a inflexão da esperança na redemocratização, a partir da obra do cantor, morto há 36 anos. O otimismo em relação ao dia nascer feliz dava lugar à frustração de uma abertura política morna. Suas canções, ainda hoje, são armas críticas indispensáveis The post Melancolia e crítica à ditadura em Cazuza appeared first on Outras Palavras.

Indigenous Australians are less likely to use health services than non-Indigenous people – even when needed. So health services need to change.

Throughout the history of cinema, popcorn has been both scorned as a messy lowbrow distraction and hailed as a profit-making saviour.

Musquito’s life and death can be read through the lens of a history of invasion and resistance. Or of the difficulties of being placed between two worlds.

Australia’s EV transition is gathering pace – but fixing gaps in the public charger network will be essential for the shift to continue.

The former treasurer of the Tennessee Democratic Party has sued the party and its leadership, alleging they falsely accused her of not living in the state to justify her termination.  A lawyer for Carol Abney alleged in a legal complaint that Tennessee Democratic Party Chair Rachel Campbell engineered her removal after Abney repeatedly sought to […]

Maria Laura Tolmos Coquelet grew up in the Peruvian Amazon. As a child, she explored rivers by kayak and looked for animals along the banks. Nature was not a distant idea to her. It was home, and it shaped the course of her life. Tolmos, who died of breast cancer on June 21st in […]