World
Explained: Why the EU economy may be heading for a ‘soft landing’
The European financial system is “heading for a smooth touchdown” regardless of the persistence of excessive costs globally, an economist informed Euronews.
Inflation has been declining over the previous a number of months within the European Union, with it anticipated to be 6.9% in March, based on Eurostat.
That is after the annual inflation fee tripled in 2022, reaching 9.2% within the euro space because of the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic and the battle in Ukraine.
However with power costs down on account of gentle winter climate, inflation has been easing up.
“I definitely suppose the state of affairs in Europe is significantly higher than I might have predicted a number of months in the past,” mentioned Jacob Kirkegaard, a senior fellow on the Peterson Institute For Worldwide Economics.
The Worldwide Financial Fund (IMF) warned final week that inflation has remained persistent globally and downgraded its outlook for financial progress. Nevertheless it barely upgraded its progress forecast for the US and Europe in 2023.
Petya Koeva-Brooks, deputy director of the IMF Analysis Division, informed Euronews final week she was stunned that euro space economies have adjusted to the financial shock and that the IMF is anticipating a choose up of progress in 2024.
However whereas Europe general prevented an all-out recession final 12 months, inflation “stays stubbornly excessive,” based on Alfred Kammer, the IMF’s European division director, who was talking concerning the bigger European area.
At a press convention final week, Kammer mentioned that whereas power costs have fallen, “costs of different family bills are nonetheless growing at a quick tempo” and that Europe’s outlook stays one in all “gradual progress and sticky inflation”.
“It’s in double digits in most rising European economies and a few superior economies.”
However, Kammer defined: “The largest drawback we noticed final 12 months was a giant concern {that a} Russian gasoline shut-off may deliver the European financial system to a halt within the winter. It didn’t occur. And that may have been a giant recession in Europe.”
He mentioned the low progress forecast for 2023 was because of the results of the battle and power disaster and that whereas headline inflation is projected to say no, core inflation will nonetheless be above central financial institution targets by end-2024.
‘No runaway inflation in Europe’
Kirkegaard, in the meantime, stays optimistic. He mentioned that he expects one to 2 extra rate of interest rises from the European Central Financial institution adopted by a return to “financial or inflation normalisation.”
He added that EU economies haven’t but felt the total influence of the ECB’s present financial coverage, which works with a lag.
Inhabitants demographics may play a task in whether or not inflation continues in superior economies, he mentioned, with ageing populations decreasing demand.
“I do not suppose we’re going to have runaway inflation in Europe, however I feel in a rustic like the USA, as an example, I feel it will likely be troublesome for the Federal Reserve to get all the best way again to 2%…I am way more optimistic in Europe, Japan and different nations which are ageing quickly,” he mentioned.
The present price of residing disaster has additionally significantly lowered the buying energy of customers and led to strikes and protests over pay.
“It is vital to recognise that in 2022, throughout Europe on common we had the most important decline in buying energy in a long time,” mentioned Kirkegaard.
“We should always not typically be afraid of staff having larger wages, as a result of what we even have seen within the euro space in recent times may be very sturdy company earnings and that is additionally very a lot true in the USA. So having a redistribution away from the house owners of capital in direction of staff by larger actual wages, I feel is acceptable,” he added.
World
How ‘The Good Doctor’ Series Finale Handled the Death of [SPOILER] — and Took Shape After a ‘Downsized’ Season 7
![How ‘The Good Doctor’ Series Finale Handled the Death of [SPOILER] — and Took Shape After a ‘Downsized’ Season 7](https://variety.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/TheGoodDoctor.MAIN_.jpg?w=1000&h=563&crop=1)
Spoiler Alert: The following interview discusses events from “The Good Doctor” series finale “Goodbye,” streaming on Hulu as of May 22.
If you’re looking for the right prescription for a solid series finale consisting of high emotional stakes, happy and sad tearful moments followed by a big dose of hope, then “The Good Doctor” delivered on all of those elements in Tuesday’s series finale, which wrapped up seven seasons on ABC.
The drama, which premiered on September 20, 2017, followed the journey of autistic surgeon Shaun Murphy (Freddie Highmore) as he grew from surgical resident not only to being a successful doctor at San Jose’s St. Bonaventure Hospital, but also a husband, father and friend to the colleagues he worked with over the years. In the series, created by David Shore and developed from the 2013 South Korean drama “Good Doctor,” Shaun’s autism often saw him face conflicts in which he was torn between logic and emotion with the show’s finale digging deep once again into that arena.
In the episode, Shaun is faced with two of his closest friends – mentor and father figure Dr. Aaron Glassman (Richard Schiff) and returning friend Dr. Claire Browne (Antonia Thomas, who left the series as a regular after its fourth season) – facing life or death situations that Shaun felt the utmost responsibility to solve. This dramatic situation for Shaun drove the show’s final hour, as the last few episodes efficiently locked down happy endings for several cast members like colleagues Dr. Morgan Reznick (Fiona Gubelmann) and Dr. Alex Park (Will Yun Lee) finally being wed in last week’s episode.
Shore and executive producer Liz Friedman helped us dissect the show’s last episode, including how the shortened 10-episode final season impacted its conclusion, why Claire was the past cast member they chose to bring back and how they handled the death of Glassman in the episode — while keeping an upbeat end.
Once you found out the show would be ending after Season 7, did it change the end point you had been thinking about, or did you know this was coming so had time to plan?
Liz Friedman: I had planned for a season ender that either was in the ballpark of something that could wrap it up, or there were certain ideas I had of that if you included this little thread, it could launch into next season. I knew [the show ending] was a possibility. I was trying to keep everyone’s options open for as long as possible. I’m sad the show is ending, but I’m glad that we had enough notice. We were able to adjust, and do a true finale. I’m very happy with how we wrapped up the show.
Were there any adjustments you needed to do just because of the writers strike, with fewer episodes for the season?
Friedman: No, that was not in the planning. I mean, part of going through the writers strike was a repeated calculation of how many episodes we could do if it ended next week. And it was hard, honestly, because even when we came back, we had the ability to do 15 [episodes]. ABC initially said, no, we only want 13 and then that number got reduced to 10. But we figured it out, and downsized our story to make it work for that many episodes.
Did either of you go back and watch the pilot in preparation for this final episode?
David Shore: Yeah, we did. Liz watched right away, and told me I should watch it, too. I was going to watch it anyways, but she just said, “Yeah, it’s really good.”
Friedman: We had also watched it for when we did “The Good Lawyer” spinoff [last year]. There are definitely moments that refer back to [the pilot]. Honestly, it was a bit of an accident, but we came up with the story, and then I took a look at the Season 1 finale, which was really about Shaun learning that Glassman had cancer. And those two stories speak to each other quite a bit in a way that really pleases me. It really gives a very good measure of Shaun’s progress over the course of these seven years.
How much did Freddie Highmore weigh in on the finale and how things wrapped up? Was he involved with a lot of the choices?
Friedman: Freddie’s great in that. Over the past few years, I talked to him as I get the next section of stories and I talk him through what’s coming, and he’s a writer’s dream audience. He says, “Oh, that sounds good,” and then he throws in a, “Oh, that sort of reminds me of this…” He’s such a dream to work with. We would go through every script with him, and he asks us about any things he wants to change. And almost every change he wants to make makes the script better.
As a viewer, the show’s true love story is Shaun and Glassman, especially with how that relationship has unfolded and where it ends up in at the end of Season 7. Has that always been in the forefront of your minds, as well?
Shore: Certainly that relationship has been absolutely essential to the show from day one, and it was the one constant to the show throughout, adding to the sadness at the end. But it’s very much a father-son relationship, and we were aware of that right from the beginning and we wanted to play that out to the end. The role of a father and handing that off, and getting your child ready for the world.
Let’s talk about the finale with this conundrum that Shaun is in with the lives of both Glassman and Claire at precarious points. Can you talk about crafting that story?
Friedman: We found this medical story about microphages, and that seemed like a very interesting one to tell. From there, we had been thinking about the idea of having Claire return, and that we’ll have her come back for a relatively mundane medical procedure in [the May 14 episode] and then it will fan into this great mystery in the second [episode]. That worked very well to have Claire at the center of both a dramatic medical story, but also have her comment on all the change that’s happened in these people she’s known.
The Glassman story that we were going to have his cancer come back had been brewing for a while. What ended up working out really nicely was to be able to have the finale and have the two patients be characters that were a key part of our cast. That really allowed us to just keep the focus on what the audience wants, rather than trying to introduce an outside patient.
There are a lot of people from the show’s past that you could have brought back. Did you consider bringing some other people back, and how did you settle on Claire?
Friedman: There had been talk about bringing another character back that wasn’t possible, and that really sort of set up that it should be clear and we should really focus on Claire. Although, Perez [Brandon Larracuente] does make an appearance at the end.
Shore: But we didn’t want it to just be somebody coming in for a cameo and saying goodbye. We wanted to bring them back and utilize them properly.
It was a nice twist that Glassman steps in to do this unapproved procedure to save Claire so Shaun wouldn’t have to jeopardize his career. But would you say he’s saving Shaun one more time, or is he thanking Shaun for everything he’s done for him? I kept going back and forth on that.
Friedman: How did you see it, David?
Shore: He’s doing one last gesture for Shaun. Shaun cannot give up being a doctor. Shaun deserves to be a doctor. We wanted Shaun to be ready to fully sacrifice himself and we wanted Glassman to recognize, ‘no, I have to sacrifice myself for Shaun.’
How about you, Liz?
Friedman: Yeah, much the same. I think it’s definitely a mitzvah because what Shaun has accomplished is quite amazing and Glassman has been a key part of that. So this was really a sacrifice that allows Shaun to keep utilizing a pretty miraculous gift that he has in terms of his ability as a doctor.
Shore: I should add that, speaking of thanks, there was more dialogue in that scene at one point and it all worked very nicely, but in editing it all just got boiled down to the thank you. Shaun has so much to thank Glassman for, and they’ve reached a point that they had trouble reaching where Shaun is no longer fighting against Glassman. He’s just accepting Glassman.
Friedman: You can tell that David has moved into director mode, because he’s advocating for less words, but I totally agree. In fact, I was the one who said, “I think we should just make it that — that’s all we have to say.”
Was there ever a scenario when you thought you might have more episodes or more time and would actually see Glassman die and you could do the funeral? Or was that never something you wanted to touch?
Friedman: In a different scenario where there are more seasons of the show? Yeah, I would say that’s distinctly a possibility.
Shore: I remember thinking on the day when we were doing that carousel and that moment where Shaun’s alone on the carousel. It was about Glassman dying but the larger thing was about the end of the relationship and that Shaun is going to be OK. We shot at that carousel many seasons ago.
Shaun in the future giving a TED Talk was a great way to start seeing where he and everyone else end up. How did that scenario come to the episode?
Shore: I don’t know where it started from, but I know it wasn’t me. I just heard about it. That’s a good idea.
Friedman: I actually think it came out of when Freddie and I were talking at one point. It was before they had decided that it was going to end at 10 [episodes], but it had started to form in our minds of what would the ending be? And Freddie talked about Shaun standing up and giving a speech and he talked about it in the context of it being a nod to the pilot, that there’s that whole great section in in the boardroom. Glassman gives this great speech, and ultimately Shaun gives his great speech.
From that, I was thinking about speeches and trying to think about a context that suggested where Shaun had landed [in the future] and then I said, “Oh, OK, it’s a TED talk.” What I think is interesting is then independently, David came up with the idea of Shaun going back to the room where he did, in fact, that speech in the pilot, so that all the roads kept connecting to the beginning.
The names that are scrolling as Shaun is giving the TED talk, were those actual patient names from the show, or was there another significance to those names?
Shore: Actual patient names from scripts past. We did 126 episodes, so there’s a theoretically 1500 names on that list.
Friedman: And the first name that comes up, Adam, that’s the boy Shaun saved in the pilot.
In the last moments, after the TED talk and the entire cast has gathered and embracing, was that the last scene you shot for the show?
Shore: I wish it had been, in some ways, but we would have never gotten through the day. So scheduling stuff prevented that, but we were well aware of it as we were shooting it, and it was a rough time in that regard anyways. But it was lovely. It was actually really nice.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
A rare tornado in northern Haiti has injured more than 50 people and destroyed more than 200 homes, the U.N. said Wednesday.
HAITI’S MAIN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT REOPENS NEARLY THREE MONTHS AFTER GANG VIOLENCE FORCED IT TO CLOSE
The tornado hit the community of Bassin-Bleu on Tuesday, leaving more than 300 families homeless, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
A rare tornado in northern Haiti has injured more than 50 people and destroyed more than 200 homes. (Photo by THONY BELIZAIRE/AFP via Getty Images)
The office noted that at least 10 people are seriously injured, with local media reporting they were hospitalized.
The office said Haiti’s civil protection agency and the Red Cross were the first responders and are evaluating the damage.
The civil protection agency said heavy rain is expected for most of Haiti, including the area hit by the tornado, warning of possible flooding and landslides.
Announcement comes two days before the two-year anniversary of the massacre at the elementary school in the Texas city.
The city of Uvalde has reached a $2m settlement with most of the families of the victims of a mass shooting at an elementary school in Texas city, one of their lawyers has said.
The announcement on Wednesday came two days before the second anniversary of the massacre.
In one of the deadliest school shootings in US history, 19 children and two teachers were killed on May 24, 2022, when a gunman entered Robb Elementary School in Uvalde and barricaded himself inside adjoining classrooms with dozens of students.
A US Department of Justice review found local police ignored accepted practices by failing to confront the attacker, instead waiting outside the classroom for more than an hour despite calls for help from the children.
“The city of Uvalde has agreed to pay its insurance of $2m, which is all that there was,” Josh Koskoff, who represented families of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, said at a briefing to announce the agreement.
He said the settlement involved the families of 17 of the children who were killed and two children who survived.
Another lawyer announced that the families of 19 of the victims launched a $500m federal lawsuit against nearly 100 state police officers who were part of the botched law enforcement response to one of the deadliest school shootings in United States history.
Families are suing 92 Texas Department of Public Safety officers who were at the incident, said Erin Rogiers, partner at Guerra LLP, who is representing families together with Koskoff and Bieder PC, in a statement.
State and federal officers made up the majority of the 376 law enforcement operatives who waited 77 minutes before confronting and killing the 18-year-old gunman, Koskoff said.
The lawsuit, seeking at least $500m in damages, is the latest of several seeking accountability for the law enforcement response.
It is the first lawsuit to be filed after a 600-page Justice Department report was released in January that catalogued “cascading failures” in training, communication, leadership and technology problems on the day of the shooting.
The lawsuit notes that state troopers did not follow their active shooter training or confront the shooter, even as the students and teachers inside were following their own lockdown protocols of turning off lights, locking doors and staying silent.
“The protocols trap teachers and students inside, leaving them fully reliant on law enforcement to respond quickly and effectively,” the families and their lawyers said in a statement.
Families of victims filed a separate lawsuit in December 2022 against local and state police, the city, and other school and law enforcement officials seeking at least $27bn and class-action status for survivors.
She Found Financial Freedom After Dumping Her Spouse, House and Job
Heatwave health risks: Exercise and diet tips to beat fatigue, weakness in summer
‘Motel Destino’ Review: Karim Aïnouz’s Tropical Noir Conjures a Potent Atmosphere of Heat, Desire and Danger Even if the Payoff Loses Steam
The Children’s Place boys Multipack Short Sleeve Pique Polo
How ‘The Good Doctor’ Series Finale Handled the Death of [SPOILER] — and Took Shape After a ‘Downsized’ Season 7
See it: Tesla crashes into Columbus convention center at 70 mph
Colorado Rockies game no. 116 thread: Zac Gallen vs José Ureña
Fox News Politics: Georgia the whole day through
Death of missing Oregon girl found in stream ruled homicide
At least 2 dead as tornadoes hit Alabama, damage homes across Southeast
IRS whistleblower Shapley said he 'could no longer pursue' Hunter Biden sugar brother Kevin Morris due to CIA
Uvalde settles for $2m with school shooting victims’ families
Judge pushes back Hunter Biden’s L.A. tax trial from June to September
Fauci adviser's alleged destruction of COVID origin docs must be probed by AG: Rand Paul
Ombudsman probes Commission's senior staff 'revolving door'
-
Education1 week agoVideo: Protesters Scuffle With Police During Pomona College Commencement
-
World1 week agoEU's divided right wing can disrupt if it finds greater unity: experts
-
News1 week agoStudent protests caused mostly minor disruptions at several graduation ceremonies
-
News1 week agoNevada Cross-Tabs: May 2024 Times/Siena Poll
-
World1 week agoPro-Palestinian university students in the Netherlands uphold protest
-
Politics1 week agoWhite House walks diplomatic tightrope on Israel amid contradictory messaging: 'You can't have it both ways'
-
Politics7 days agoSouthern border migrant encounters decrease slightly but gotaways still surge under Biden
-
Politics1 week agoDem newcomer aims for history with primary win over wealthy controversial congressman