Pew Research Center's new political typology [sorts] the public into nine distinct groups based on their political and cultural values, not their party.

The Pew study, conducted every five-or-so years since 1987, uses polling and analysis to reimagine how Americans would cluster around ideas if they were not grouped into two political parties. Pew then created nine ideological categories in an attempt to more clearly define where people actually stand. "It's an effort to sort the public not just in the Democratic and Republican lanes that we're all so used to," said Jocelyn Kiley, director of research on U.S. politics at the Pew Research Center. Kiley said a core motivating question is "what if people didn't automatically have political parties and you just identified groups based on their political values." The 9 groups identified are (from left to right, top to bottom of the chart): Order and Opportunity Left (18%) Loyal Liberals (11%) Leftward Progressives (7%) Pragmatic and Polite Right (11%) Tuned Out Middle (9%) Left-Out Left (12%) No Apologies Right (9%) Faith First Conservatives (12%) Unconventional Right (12%) You can take a cute quiz here that will sort you into one of these 9 groups based on your values.

Heir's Game is a completed webcomic by brilliant Finnish author/artist suspu featuring swordplay, LGBTQ romance, Baroque fashion, courtly politics and a brewing revolution.

If historical swashbuckling isn't your thing, you may enjoy suspu's earlier webcomic, ShootAround, a tale of a high school girls' basketball team trying to survive the apocalypse. It's being made into a movie! suspu's current project is The Tattletale Fool, a comical tale of an utterly incompetent elf sent to spy on a human kingdom. (I've avoided using suspu's pronouns because I can't find them listed anywhere & don't want to get them wrong) Anyway... beautiful epic queer comics!! Happy Pride everyone.

LONDEN (ANP/RTR) - Wereldwijd zullen mensen de komende jaren minder alcohol gaan drinken, ondanks dat het aantal mensen stijgt dat oud genoeg is om dit te mogen doen. Dat blijkt uit een studie van marktonderzoeksbureau IWSR.

In een vooruitzicht voor 160 markten stelt het bureau dat het wereldwijde alcoholgebruik in 2035 naar verwachting 1 procent lager zal liggen dan in 2025. Daarentegen neemt het aantal mensen dat oud genoeg is om te mogen drinken wereldwijd met 9 procent toe. Sterke drank, bier en wijn worden het komende decennium allemaal minder vaak gedronken volgens IWSR. Nieuwe soorten dranken, zoals kant-en-klare cocktails in blik, nemen hun plaats in.

FRANKFURT (ANP) - De Europese Centrale Bank (ECB) verhoogt de rente in de eurozone om de hoge inflatie onder controle te krijgen. Het belangrijkste rentetarief gaat met een kwart procentpunt omhoog naar 2,25 procent. Het is de eerste renteverhoging sinds september 2023 en de eerste rentewijziging in een jaar tijd.

Economen hadden de renteverhoging verwacht. Door de oorlog in het Midden-Oosten zijn de brandstofprijzen wereldwijd flink opgelopen, waardoor de kosten van het levensonderhoud zijn gestegen. In het eurogebied liep de inflatie in mei op tot 3,2 procent, het hoogste niveau sinds september 2023. In februari, voor de Iranoorlog, bedroeg de inflatie in de eurozone nog 1,9 procent. De inflatie ligt nu ruim boven de doelstelling van de ECB van rond de 2 procent.

European Central Bank increases main deposit rate to 2.25%, with two further rises expected by next spring

• Business live – latest updates

The European Central Bank has raised interest rates for the first time since 2023 in response to higher inflation caused by the war in Iran.

The ECB raised its main deposit rate from 2% to 2.25% and financial markets are pricing in two more rises by next spring.

Continue reading...

Courtauld, London
Barbara Hepworth’s elegant works, with their harp-like strings and splashes of blue, evoke the foamy breakers of St Ives. But should we really be surprised she used colour?

They say in St Ives that if you put your ear to a Barbara Hepworth sculpture, you can hear the waves breaking on Porthmeor beach. Well, maybe they do say that and maybe they don’t. But the sea definitely roars in the ravishing sculptures at the heart of this small survey of just one aspect of her work: her use of colour.

Hepworth’s favourite colours turn out to be – wait for it – blue and white, the colours of the sea: the white foamy breakers and the rippling waters that swaddle the Cornish fishing town where her home and studio are proudly preserved.

Continue reading...

Bij regen stroomt PFAS van het fabrieksterrein van Sabic in Noord-Brabant in het nabijgelegen water. Rijkswaterstaat dreigt met een forse dwangsom, blijkt uit een brief in handen van NRC.