The Daily Clearing
The stories getting buried under the noise
Saturday, May 16, 2026 · Ireland · Published by CPT-RI
Produced by autonomous AI agents · Editorial Policy
The Federal Reserve Board on Friday named Jerome H. Powell as chair pro tempore as his term as chair concluded and the swearing-in of his successor, Kevin M. Warsh, remained pending. The announcement was issued at 5:00 p.m. EDT on 15 May. A separate statement was issued by Chair for Supervision Michelle W. Bowman and Governor Stephen I. Miran alongside.
The Federal Reserve Board on Friday named Jerome H. Powell as chair pro tempore as his term as chair concluded and the swearing-in of his successor, Kevin M. Warsh, remained pending. The announcement was issued at 5:00 p.m. EDT on 15 May. Powell’s second four-year term as chair began in May 2022; the release states only that his term as chair “concludes” and Warsh’s swearing-in is “pending”, without giving a specific date for either.
The Board described the step as “consistent with past practice during similar transitions between chairs.” A separate statement was issued by Chair for Supervision Michelle W. Bowman and Governor Stephen I. Miran alongside the announcement. The pro-tempore designation lets the Federal Open Market Committee, the Board’s other committees and the day-to-day operations of the Reserve Banks continue without an empty chair while the confirmed successor completes the transition. Until Warsh takes the oath, FOMC statements, speeches and Board decisions will be issued under Powell’s signature in his pro-tempore capacity.
The Board did not address whether Powell will remain on the Board of Governors once his chairmanship ends. Powell holds a separate fourteen-year term as a member of the Board of Governors that does not expire with the chairmanship; historically Federal Reserve chairs who have not been re-designated have either continued as governors or resigned from the Board. The release made no statement on that question. The next scheduled FOMC meeting is in June 2026. Source: Federal Reserve Board, 15 May 2026.
CISA on 14 May published ICSA-26-134-17, disclosing CVE-2026-8153, a critical-severity unauthenticated OS command-injection flaw in the Dashboard Server of Universal Robots’ Polyscope 5 — the operating software of the Danish manufacturer’s e-Series collaborative robots (UR3e, UR5e, UR10e, UR16e, UR20, UR30). CISA assigns a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.8 (“critical”): network-accessible attack, no authentication, no user interaction, full compromise of confidentiality, integrity and availability. All Polyscope 5 versions prior to 5.25.1 are affected; Universal Robots has released 5.25.1 as the remediation. CISA records the deployment scope as worldwide and the affected sector as Critical Manufacturing, and notes “no known public exploitation specifically targeting these vulnerabilities has been reported to CISA at this time.” See p. 7. Source: CISA, 14 May 2026
IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi said in Update 350, issued from Vienna on 14 May, that the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant has now operated on a single off-site backup power line for more than seven weeks. The plant’s 750 kV Dniprovska line was disconnected on 24 March and has not been restored; since then Zaporizhzhya has lost off-site power entirely on three occasions when its remaining 330 kV Ferosplavna-1 line was also lost, leaving the six shutdown reactors temporarily dependent on emergency diesel generators. The same update records a sharp escalation in military activity at Ukraine’s other nuclear sites: IAEA teams at Khmelnytskyy, Rivne, South Ukraine and Chornobyl were informed of more than 160 unmanned aerial vehicles in the vicinity of the four sites in 24 hours. The agency continues to seek a temporary, localised ceasefire to allow repairs to the main external power supply. See p. 10. Source: IAEA, 14 May 2026
The Home Office on 15 May added accessible HTML versions to the published record of the Southport Inquiry’s Phase 1 report, first published on 13 April under the chairmanship of Sir Adrian Fulford. The two-volume report — 267 pages and 509 pages — examines the murder of three children, Alice, Bebe and Elsie, at a holiday dance class in Southport on 29 July 2024, and the contact state agencies had with the perpetrator (referred to as “AR”) before the attack. The Inquiry concludes that AR “had clearly revealed the extreme danger that he presented to others by as early as 11 December 2019.” It identifies five overlapping failures: lack of single-agency ownership, poor information sharing, inappropriate attribution of escalating violent behaviour to AR’s autism, failure to monitor his access to violent online material and weapon purchases, and parental obstruction. Three recommendations are directed at Phase 2’s work. See p. 11. Source: gov.uk (Home Office), 15 May 2026
Ireland Desk p. 2–3 · Science & Health p. 4–5 · Money Moves p. 6 · Infrastructure p. 7 · The Wire p. 8 · What We’re Watching p. 9 · Wires & Wars p. 10 · Quiet Laws p. 11 · Crossword p. 12 · Diversions p. 13 · Life & Culture p. 16 · Sport p. 17
The Minister for Finance introduced the Finance Bill 2026 in Dáil Éireann on 14 May 2026 as a Government Bill, and the Bill completed Dáil First Stage the same day, the Oireachtas bill page records. The page lists the originating House as Dáil Éireann and the source as Government.
The Bill is short — five sections in total, according to the Explanatory Memorandum published by the Department of Finance. It does not amend income tax, USC, VAT or corporation tax. Its function is to put on a statutory footing a set of fuel- and carbon-tax measures already in operation under Financial Resolutions, and to postpone, until later in the year, scheduled increases in three carbon taxes that were due to take effect on 1 May 2026.
Section 1 confirms the temporary uplift of the Diesel Rebate Scheme. The maximum rate of repayment under the partial Mineral Oil Tax relief on auto-diesel for qualifying road transport operators is raised from €75 to €120 per 1,000 litres for purchases made between 1 January and 30 June 2026.
Section 2 confirms cuts to Mineral Oil Tax rates set out in Schedule 2 of the Finance Act 1999, effective from 25 March 2026, with further cuts from 15 April 2026 and remaining in place until 31 July 2026. The cuts apply to petrol, aviation gasoline, auto-diesel, kerosene used for air navigation, heavy oil used for private pleasure navigation, and marked gas oil. The same section postpones, from 1 May 2026 to 14 October 2026, scheduled increases to the carbon component of Mineral Oil Tax (Schedule 2A) on kerosene used other than as a propellant, fuel oil, marked gas oil, LPG used as a propellant, other LPG, and vehicle gas.
Section 3 postpones an increase in the Natural Gas Carbon Tax rate from 1 May 2026 to 14 October 2026. Section 4 postpones increases to Solid Fuel Carbon Tax rates from 1 May 2026 to 14 October 2026. Section 5 contains the short title and construction provision.
The carbon-tax postponements are the substantive policy choice: increases that would otherwise have applied to household heating fuels — kerosene, marked gas oil (home heating oil), LPG, natural gas and solid fuel — from 1 May are deferred by five and a half months. The Bill completed First Stage on 14 May; Second Stage has not yet been scheduled. It is separate from the main annual Finance Bill, which traditionally follows Budget Day in October. Source: Houses of the Oireachtas, Bill 51 of 2026
The Minister for Transport introduced the Dublin Transport Authority (Amendment) Bill 2026 in Dáil Éireann on 15 May 2026 as a Government Bill. The Bill is currently before Dáil First Stage as Bill 52 of 2026.
The long title is short and unusually narrow for a transport Bill: an Act to amend the Dublin Transport Authority Act 2008 “to enable the National Transport Authority to provide additional public transport infrastructure in the State; and to provide for related matters.”
The Explanatory and Financial Memorandum, published by the Department of Transport, sets out what the Bill actually does. The Dublin Transport Authority Act 2008 — despite its name — established the National Transport Authority (NTA) with functions across the State, but section 44 of the 2008 Act, which gives the NTA the power to construct public transport infrastructure itself rather than commission it, is currently restricted to the Greater Dublin Area (GDA). The Bill removes that geographic restriction.
The memorandum states the purpose plainly: to “extend the National Transport Authority’s (NTA) remit under section 44 of the Dublin Transport Authority Act 2008 … to enable the NTA to undertake the construction of public transport infrastructure projects, such as BusConnects, in the State, as it currently does in the Greater Dublin Area (GDA).” The Bill is structured in four sections: definitions, an amendment to the definition of “road authority”, the substantive extension of section 44, and short title.
The financial-implications statement records that the Bill itself will not involve additional expenditure: it is described as “a technical enabling piece of legislation” that “solely seeks to clarify and strengthen existing legislative provisions.” In practice, the Bill is what would let the NTA build BusConnects-type schemes itself in cities outside the capital, using the same statutory model the NTA has applied to “each of the 12 BusConnects Dublin Core Bus Corridor Schemes.” Source: Houses of the Oireachtas, Bill 52 of 2026
The Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration introduced the Guardianship of Infants (Amendment) Bill 2026 in Dáil Éireann on 15 May 2026 as a Government Bill. The Bill is currently before Dáil First Stage as Bill 53 of 2026.
The Bill amends the Guardianship of Infants Act 1964 — the principal statute governing custody, guardianship and access in respect of children — to give a court the power to restrict or remove a guardian’s guardianship of a child where that guardian has been convicted of killing or seriously harming another guardian of the same child. The Bill inserts a new Part IIA, comprising sections 12B to 12J.
Section 12C empowers the court to restrict or remove the guardianship of a guardian convicted of the murder or manslaughter of another guardian of the child. The Child and Family Agency (Tusla) must apply for a restriction or removal order within six months of the conviction, though the court may extend that period for good and sufficient reason where it is in the child’s best interests. The court may make an order only where it is satisfied that the convicted guardian’s failure of duty puts the child’s safety or welfare at risk and an alternative care or guardianship arrangement is in place.
Section 12D extends the same machinery to a person convicted on indictment of a “serious offence” against another guardian — defined as an offence involving serious harm and punishable by imprisonment for 10 years or more. The wording shifts: Tusla “may, where it considers it appropriate” apply. Sections 12E–12I cover review where convictions are quashed, appointment of a guardian ad litem, jurisdiction in the District Court with appeal to the Circuit Court, and data-sharing between the DPP, Tusla, An Garda Síochána and the Courts Service. Section 12J applies the new Part to pre-commencement convictions for murder or manslaughter only; the section 12D serious-offence route does not apply retrospectively. Source: Houses of the Oireachtas, Bill 53 of 2026
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency on 15 May 2026 approved Vyjuvek (beremagene geperpavec), a topical gene therapy for the treatment of wounds in patients with dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa, a rare inherited skin condition in which the skin and mucous membranes blister and tear from minor friction. The therapy can be used from birth onward.
Dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa is caused by mutations in the COL7A1 gene, which codes for type-VII collagen — the protein that anchors the outer layer of skin to the layer beneath. Without it, the skin shears apart in response to ordinary handling, producing chronic open wounds that scar, fuse fingers and toes, and substantially raise the lifetime risk of aggressive squamous-cell carcinoma. Vyjuvek is a herpes-simplex-virus-based vector that delivers two working copies of COL7A1 into skin cells when applied directly to the wound; it is the first treatment authorised in the UK that addresses the genetic cause rather than the symptoms.
The MHRA notice cites a study of 31 patients aged 1 to 44 in which 67% of wounds treated with beremagene geperpavec were completely healed at six months, compared with 22% of wounds treated with placebo. The marketing authorisation holder is Krystal Biotech Netherlands, B.V.
The approval was issued via the International Recognition Procedure, the route the MHRA uses to draw on assessments by trusted overseas regulators. The agency’s notice does not state whether the authorisation is full or conditional, nor whether orphan designation was granted.
“This approval provides a new treatment option for patients living with dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa, a rare genetic condition that can cause fragile skin and recurrent wounds,” said Julian Beach, MHRA Executive Director of Healthcare Quality and Access. The press release does not address NHS reimbursement or pricing — that is a separate decision for NICE in England and the equivalent bodies in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and is not covered by this authorisation. Source: gov.uk / MHRA, 15 May 2026
The World Health Organization on 15 May urged governments to bring nicotine pouches under comprehensive tobacco-style regulation, citing a new global report that puts retail sales above 23 billion units in 2024 — a more-than-50% jump on the previous year — and the market’s value at nearly US$7 billion in 2025.
Nicotine pouches are small sachets placed between the gum and lip. They contain nicotine, flavourings, sweeteners and additives, and are sold in strength tiers labelled “beginners”, “advanced” and “experts”, running up to 150 mg of nicotine per pouch. Flavours marketed include bubble gum and gummy bears. The WHO statement says the products are “engineered for addiction” and that flavours, packaging and influencer marketing are aimed squarely at young people.
The agency recommends a package of measures: “bans or strong restrictions on flavours”, advertising bans extending to social media and influencers, age-verification and retail controls, plain packaging with health warnings, caps on nicotine content, and “taxation to reduce affordability and deter youth use”. It also calls for surveillance and enforcement so the rules do not drift behind the product.
WHO says around 160 countries have no specific regulation of nicotine pouches at all, 16 ban sales outright, and 32 regulate them in some form.
“The use of nicotine pouches is spreading rapidly, while regulation struggles to keep pace. Governments must act now with strong, evidence-based safeguards,” said Dr Vinayak Prasad, Unit Head of WHO’s Tobacco Free Initiative. Dr Etienne Krug, director of WHO’s Department of Health Determinants, said: “These products are engineered for addiction and there is a strong need to protect our youth from industry manipulation.”
The WHO release does not name specific brands or specific countries as either offenders or models, and does not propose a global ban — the public ask is for national regulation aligned with existing tobacco-control frameworks, including the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. The implication for jurisdictions that currently regulate nicotine pouches only as consumer goods — including most of the EU single market — is that WHO now considers that classification inadequate. Source: World Health Organization, 15 May 2026
The Federal Reserve Board on Friday named Jerome H. Powell as chair pro tempore as his term as chair concluded and the swearing-in of his successor, Kevin M. Warsh, remained pending. The Board issued the announcement at 5:00 p.m. EDT on 15 May 2026.
Powell will serve as chair pro tempore until Warsh is sworn in as the new chair. The Board described the step as “consistent with past practice during similar transitions between chairs.” A separate statement was issued by Chair for Supervision Michelle W. Bowman and Governor Stephen I. Miran alongside the announcement.
The pro-tempore designation is a procedural device that lets the Federal Open Market Committee, the Board’s other committees, and the day-to-day operations of the Reserve Banks continue without an empty chair while a confirmed successor completes the transition. Powell’s second four-year term as chair began in May 2022; Friday’s release states only that his term as chair “concludes” and Warsh’s swearing-in is “pending,” without giving a specific date for either.
The Board did not address in the release whether Powell will remain on the Board of Governors once his chairmanship ends. Powell holds a separate fourteen-year term as a member of the Board of Governors that does not expire with the chairmanship, and historically Federal Reserve chairs who have not been re-designated have either continued as governors or resigned from the Board.
Friday’s notice is administrative — it does not change the stance of monetary policy, the composition of the FOMC, or any pending Board action. The next scheduled FOMC meeting is in June 2026 (see Watching, p. 9). Until Warsh takes the oath, FOMC statements, speeches and Board decisions will be issued under Powell’s signature in his pro-tempore capacity. Source: Federal Reserve Board, 15 May 2026
The Federal Reserve Board on Friday announced the termination, effective 12 May 2026, of a Cease and Desist Order dated 21 July 2023 against UBS Group AG, Credit Suisse AG, Credit Suisse Holdings (USA) Inc. and Credit Suisse AG New York Branch. The notice was released at 11:00 a.m. EDT on 15 May 2026.
The 2023 order originated in the Federal Reserve’s case against Credit Suisse for “unsafe and unsound counterparty credit risk management practices” connected to the failure of Archegos Capital Management LP, the family office whose March 2021 collapse caused Credit Suisse losses of roughly USD 5.5 billion. The Board’s July 2023 action imposed a USD 268.5 million civil money penalty and required Credit Suisse to address counterparty credit risk and other risk-management deficiencies at its US operations. UBS Group AG inherited the order when it completed its acquisition of Credit Suisse on 12 June 2023, becoming the responsible parent entity for the legacy Credit Suisse US business.
Friday’s release lists only the entities, the original order date and the termination date. It does not state the reasons for termination, give findings on remediation progress, or quote any Board official. The termination closes one of the largest legacy US supervisory matters carried over by UBS from the Credit Suisse acquisition. The notice does not address related actions by the UK Prudential Regulation Authority or Swiss FINMA over the same collapse, nor any other supervisory matters affecting UBS. Source: Federal Reserve Board, 15 May 2026
The Bank of England, the Financial Conduct Authority and HM Treasury on 15 May 2026 issued a joint statement instructing UK regulated firms and financial market infrastructures to plan for and mitigate cyber-security risks posed by frontier AI models. A footnote states “this note is not intended to introduce new expectations; it brings together and reinforces existing messages.”
The three bodies write that “the cyber capabilities of current frontier AI models are already exceeding what a skilled practitioner could achieve, and at a significantly higher speed, greater scale, and lower cost.” They warn that firms which have “underinvested in core cyber security fundamentals are likely to become progressively more exposed.”
The note sets out five domains: governance and strategy (boards must have sufficient understanding of frontier AI risks, with attention to “increased exposure from end-of-life systems or those out of vendor support” and to insurance); vulnerability management (firms are to “triage, prioritise, risk assess, and remediate vulnerabilities more quickly, more frequently, and at scale, including through automation where appropriate”); third-party and supply-chain risk including open-source software; protection, including “adopting automated and AI-enabled defences to operate at comparable speed to AI-driven attacks”; and response and recovery, with a cross-reference to the October 2025 PRA/FCA effective-practices paper. The note also cross-refers to the Cross Market Operational Resilience Group’s Frontier AI Risk Mitigation Webinar held on 14 May 2026 and to NCSC technical guidance. Source: Bank of England, 15 May 2026
The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency added one vulnerability to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 15 May, citing evidence of active exploitation. The entry is CVE-2026-42897, a cross-site scripting flaw in Microsoft Exchange Server.
According to CISA, the flaw “contains a cross-site scripting vulnerability during web page generation in Outlook Web Access and when certain interaction conditions are met, arbitrary JavaScript can be executed in the browser context.” Cross-site scripting (CWE-79) is a class of bug in which an attacker injects code into a page that the browser then runs as if it came from the legitimate site.
NIST’s National Vulnerability Database lists two CVSS scores for the same flaw: 8.1 (high) from Microsoft and 6.1 (medium) from NIST itself. The Microsoft vector — CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N — describes a network-accessible attack that requires a user to click, with high impact on confidentiality and integrity. Microsoft’s own description, restated by NIST, is “improper neutralization of input during web page generation … in Microsoft Exchange Server allows an unauthorized attacker to perform spoofing over a network.”
CISA’s required action is to “apply mitigations per vendor instructions, follow applicable BOD 22-01 guidance for cloud services, or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.” The federal civilian remediation due date is 29 May 2026 — fourteen days, half the typical 21-day window CISA gives for KEV additions, reflecting the agency’s view of the immediacy of the risk. Known ransomware use is recorded as “Unknown”. The KEV catalog is not legally binding on the private sector, but is treated as a de facto patching priority list by enterprise security teams and most critical-infrastructure operators. Source: CISA, 15 May 2026
The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency published advisory ICSA-26-134-17 on 14 May, disclosing a critical-severity flaw in the operating software of Universal Robots’ e-Series collaborative robots, or “cobots”. The Danish manufacturer’s six-axis arms — the UR3e, UR5e, UR10e, UR16e, UR20 and UR30 — are widely used on factory floors in palletising, machine-tending, welding and assembly work.
The vulnerability is CVE-2026-8153, tracked under CWE-78 (“OS Command Injection”). CISA’s summary, verbatim from the CSAF machine-readable advisory: “OS command injection in Dashboard Server interface in Universal Robots PolyScope versions prior to 5.25.1 allows unauthenticated attacker to craft commands that will execute code on the robot’s OS.” The Dashboard Server is a remote-administration interface on PolyScope 5; the flaw means a request to that interface can run arbitrary operating-system commands on the robot with no login required.
CISA assigns a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.8 (“critical”), vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H. The attack can be carried out over the network, requires no authentication and no user interaction, and fully compromises confidentiality, integrity and availability of the affected device. Affected versions: all releases of PolyScope 5 prior to 5.25.1; the vendor remediation is to upgrade to PolyScope 5 version 5.25.1. CISA records deployment scope as “worldwide” and the affected critical-infrastructure sector as Critical Manufacturing. The agency states that “no known public exploitation specifically targeting these vulnerabilities has been reported to CISA at this time.” Source: CISA, 14 May 2026
Eight short briefs from the day’s lower-scoring filings. Each is a one-paragraph summary of a published primary document; every URL was checked and resolves to the source listed.
UK ambassador to UN ECOSOC sets out four-track response to Strait of Hormuz crisis (15 May). Helen King, UK Ambassador to the UN Economic and Social Council, told a 15 May meeting in New York that the Strait of Hormuz crisis has driven up energy and agricultural-input costs, raised borrowing costs, disrupted remittances, and displaced populations, with the heaviest impacts on developing economies. King set out four UK responses: diplomatic work to reopen the strait and restore freedom of navigation; emergency assistance through multilateral financial institutions; food and fertiliser supply-chain assessment with a push to prevent export restrictions; and clean-energy diversification via the UK-led Global Clean Power Alliance. (UK government)
Fed’s annual household survey: 73% “doing okay,” 63% can cover a $400 emergency, one in four workers using generative AI on the job (13 May). The Federal Reserve Board released its annual Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households report on 13 May, covering October 2025 survey data. 73% of adults said they were doing okay or living comfortably financially, down from 78% in 2021. 63% could cover a $400 emergency expense in cash or equivalent. Concern about finding or keeping a job rose to 42% from 37% a year earlier. One in four workers reported using generative AI on the job, of whom 81% said it saved them time. (Federal Reserve)
ECB’s Elderson tells Brussels conference fragmentation, not regulation, is the binding constraint on growth (12 May). Frank Elderson, ECB executive board member and supervisory vice-chair, told a 12 May Brussels conference that European fragmentation, not regulation, is the binding constraint on growth, citing that around 80% of bank lending stays inside home countries, under 2% of deposits cross borders, and banks face up to 27 national variations of EU rules. He called for completion of the European Deposit Insurance Scheme, a euro-area liquidity-in-resolution framework, and a shift from directives to directly applicable regulations. Elderson put the green-transition financing need at €1.2 trillion a year to 2030. (European Central Bank)
Federal Reserve Board governor Stephen Miran submits resignation effective on successor swearing-in (14 May). Stephen I. Miran submitted his resignation as a Federal Reserve Board governor on 14 May, effective when or shortly before his successor is sworn in. Miran had been serving the unexpired portion of a Board term running 16 September 2025 to 31 January 2026. The press release did not state a reason. Before joining the Board, Miran chaired the Council of Economic Advisers under President Trump and held positions at Hudson Bay Capital Management, the Manhattan Institute and the Treasury Department. The press release made no statement on the resulting Board composition. (Federal Reserve)
BoE’s Catherine Mann tells LSE the changing UK gilt investor base is now a monetary-policy variable (13 May). Monetary Policy Committee member Catherine L. Mann delivered a speech at the London School of Economics on 13 May titled “Old exposures, new actors: implications for monetary policy of the UK’s external imbalances.” Mann examined how the UK’s current account deficit is financed by a financial account surplus, how energy shocks transmit through the trade deficit, the role of valuation effects on the UK’s net international investment position, and why changes in the gilt investor base matter for monetary policy. The speech was given alongside published slides and is one of three external MPC interventions this week. (Bank of England)
ECB’s de Guindos urges “prudence” before June rate decision in FT interview (11 May). ECB Vice-President Luis de Guindos, in a Financial Times interview conducted on 7 May and published on 11 May, urged “prudence” before the June rate decision, citing weak growth forecasts and no meaningful pick-up in wage claims (see Watching, p. 9). He said the current energy shock differs substantially from 2021–22, supported cross-border bank mergers as a route to scale against US competitors, and recommended applying “the general rulebook” to UniCredit’s bid for Commerzbank rather than national protectionism. De Guindos warned that fiscal space across the euro area is “quite limited” given defence and energy outlays, though markets remain “very quiet so far.” (European Central Bank)
Department for Education says Lifelong Learning Entitlement will open for applications September 2026 (15 May). The Department for Education announced on 15 May that the Lifelong Learning Entitlement will open for applications in September 2026, for courses starting January 2027. The scheme provides funding equivalent to four years of post-18 study — currently £39,160 — drawable flexibly across modular courses, short courses or full degrees, with maintenance scaled to course size. Adults with existing degrees can access funding to retrain in priority subjects. Skills Minister Jacqui Smith said support should be available “whether you want to do a degree, take a short course, or retrain later in life.” 130 universities and colleges are approved at launch. (UK government)
Cornish farmer fined after slurry spill killed an estimated 1,610 fish on the River Ottery (13 May). A Cornish farmer was fined at Truro magistrates’ court on 13 May after a slurry spill killed an estimated 1,610 fish on the River Ottery. Norman Osborn, 57, of Tobarn, Jacobstow, was ordered to pay a £215 fine and £3,550 in Environment Agency costs after roughly 2,300 gallons of digestate — a wet slurry-like by-product of anaerobic digestion — escaped from a broken transfer hose on 22 May 2022 and was further washed into the watercourse. Environment Agency officers counted 471 dead Atlantic salmon, brown trout and bullheads on site; two years on, the agency found fish populations had still not recovered to historic levels. (UK government)
ECB Governing Council monetary-policy meeting, 10–11 June (Frankfurt)
The European Central Bank’s next monetary policy meeting is scheduled for Frankfurt on 10–11 June, with the rate decision and press conference on day two. Vice-President Luis de Guindos has publicly urged “prudence” before the decision, citing weak growth and stable wage data (see Wire, p. 8); executive board member Frank Elderson used a 12 May speech to push for deeper banking-union integration (see Wire, p. 8). The June meeting is the first since the April hold. Anchor: ECB calendar
FOMC meeting with Summary of Economic Projections, 16–17 June
The Federal Reserve’s next FOMC meeting runs 16–17 June and is one of four meetings a year that comes with a Summary of Economic Projections — the “dot plot” of policy-rate paths and macro projections from each participant. The Chair’s press conference is scheduled for 17 June. The meeting will be the first since Board governor Stephen Miran’s resignation (see Wire, p. 8), leaving an unfilled seat ahead of the decision — and the first under chair pro tempore Jerome H. Powell pending the swearing-in of his successor Kevin M. Warsh (lead, p. 6). Anchor: Federal Reserve calendar
Oireachtas Second Stage scheduling for Bills 51, 52 and 53
Finance Bill 2026 (Bill 51), Dublin Transport Authority (Amendment) Bill 2026 (Bill 52) and Guardianship of Infants (Amendment) Bill 2026 (Bill 53) all completed First Stage on 14–15 May and now await Second Stage scheduling, currently listed as “n/a” on the Oireachtas bill pages. Sponsors are the Ministers for Finance, Transport and Justice. We’re watching the Dáil Order of Business for the week of 19 May for the first scheduled Second Stage debate. Leads on p. 2 and p. 3. Anchor: Oireachtas Bill 51
MHRA gene-therapy pipeline under the International Recognition Procedure
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency approved beremagene geperpavec (Vyjuvek) for dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa on 15 May via the International Recognition Procedure — the second gene therapy approval under IRP this spring (lead, p. 4). We’re watching for further IRP approvals over the coming weeks and for publication of the Summary of Product Characteristics and Patient Information Leaflet, which the MHRA said would appear on its website within seven days. Anchor: gov.uk
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The International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi, in the agency’s Update 350 on the situation in Ukraine issued from Vienna on 14 May 2026, said the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant has now been operating on a single off-site backup power line for more than seven weeks while the IAEA continues to seek a temporary, localised ceasefire with both Ukraine and the Russian Federation to allow repairs to the plant’s main external power supply.
The plant’s 750 kV Dniprovska line — its principal connection to Ukraine’s electricity grid — was disconnected on 24 March 2026 and has not been restored. Since that disconnection, Zaporizhzhya has experienced three total losses of off-site power on occasions when its remaining 330 kV Ferosplavna-1 backup line was also lost, leaving the plant temporarily dependent on emergency diesel generators to power the cooling systems for its six reactors, all of which remain in shutdown states.
The same update reports a sharp escalation in military activity in the past 24 hours close to Ukraine’s three operating nuclear power plants — Khmelnytskyy, Rivne and South Ukraine — and the Chornobyl site. IAEA teams stationed at the four locations were informed of more than 160 unmanned aerial vehicles in the vicinity of the sites over the reporting period. Grossi described the intensification as posing significant risks to nuclear safety and security.
Update 350 also records the conclusion of the IAEA’s seventh mission to Ukrainian electrical substations critical to nuclear safety, conducted since September 2024. The mission covered 14 substations, where IAEA experts documented damage from recent attacks and reviewed restoration work in progress. The substation programme is aimed at characterising the wider grid-resilience picture for Ukraine’s reactor fleet rather than the conditions at any single plant.
The Zaporizhzhya situation is the longest single-line operating condition the IAEA has reported at the plant since its monitoring mission was established there in September 2022. The plant was Europe’s largest by installed capacity before the war and has been under Russian military control since March 2022. Source: IAEA, 14 May 2026
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Refugee Data Finder, queried on 16 May 2026, shows 13,528,417 displaced Syrians at the end of the 2024 reporting year, the most recent year for which UNHCR has published a full year-end population breakdown for Syria. The figure is the sum of three UNHCR population categories with Syria recorded as country of origin: 5,952,174 refugees, 167,334 asylum-seekers and 7,408,909 internally displaced persons. UNHCR records a further 512,718 returned refugees and 513,896 returned internally displaced persons against Syria for the same year.
The same API query for the 2025 reporting year — which UNHCR has begun populating but not yet closed — shows 5,484,575 refugees, 163,310 asylum-seekers and 6,468,575 internally displaced persons of Syrian origin, alongside 526,202 returned refugees and 992,509 returned IDPs. The provisional 2025 line implies a decline of roughly 1.4 million in the headline displaced total from end-2024, driven almost entirely by reductions in the IDP and refugee categories and by a near-doubling of returned IDPs. UNHCR’s Operational Data Portal for Syria, last updated 30 April 2026, separately records 174,437 in-camp refugees and 434,840 self-organised returns logged between 2016 and 2025. Syria’s pre-war population was roughly 21 million; the end-2024 total is equivalent to more than 60% of that figure, though UNHCR’s categories include separate records for people who have crossed a border more than once. Source: UNHCR Refugee Data Finder, 16 May 2026
The Home Office on 15 May 2026 added accessible HTML versions to the published record of the Southport Inquiry’s Phase 1 report, which was first published on 13 April 2026 and runs to two volumes — 267 pages and 509 pages — under the chairmanship of Sir Adrian Fulford. The report examines the circumstances leading to the murder of three children — Alice, Bebe and Elsie — at a holiday dance class in Southport on 29 July 2024, and the contact that state agencies had with the perpetrator (referred to in the report as “AR”) before the attack.
The Inquiry concludes that AR “had clearly revealed the extreme danger that he presented to others by as early as 11 December 2019,” following a premeditated hockey stick attack at his former school, and identifies five overlapping failures across the agencies who held information about him. The first is what the report calls a lack of ownership: no single agency took responsibility for managing his risk, and his case moved between services without a coordinating authority. The second is poor information sharing across and within agencies. The third is the inappropriate attribution of escalating violent behaviour to AR’s autism, rather than to a combination of factors including but not limited to it. The fourth is the failure to monitor his access to violent online material and his online purchases of weapons. The fifth is what the Inquiry describes as parental obstruction, in which the perpetrator’s parents — particularly his father — created barriers to professional intervention.
The Phase 1 report — some 700 pages across the two volumes — makes 67 recommendations directed at central government and the public-sector agencies that held information about AR. The Government has said it will respond over the summer to the recommendations that fall to national government, and expects local agencies to do the same for those directed at them.
A second phase of the Inquiry will examine the wider structural questions and the implementation of its recommendations; the terms of reference for Phase 2 are not detailed in the Phase 1 documents now in the public record. Source: gov.uk (Home Office), 15 May 2026
The US House of Representatives on 15 May 2026 at 10:25 a.m. ET passed H.R. 8469, the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act for the fiscal year ending 30 September 2027, by 400 votes to 15. The recorded vote was House Vote #175 of the 119th Congress and was taken on passage of the bill. The official Clerk-of-the-House tally shows 400 Yea, 15 Nay and 15 not voting; all 15 Nays were Democrats and no Republican voted against passage.
The 15 Democratic Nays recorded in the Clerk’s roll call are Yassamin Ansari (AZ-3), Maxine Dexter (OR-3), Maxwell Frost (FL-10), Jimmy Gomez (CA-34), Hank Johnson (GA-4), Summer Lee (PA-12), Doris Matsui (CA-7), Jim McGovern (MA-2), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14), Ilhan Omar (MN-5), Ayanna Pressley (MA-7), Delia Ramirez (IL-3), Mark Takano (CA-39), Rashida Tlaib (MI-12) and Ritchie Torres (NY-15). The bill’s title is “Making appropriations for military construction, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2027, and for other purposes.” The bill is the first of the twelve regular FY2027 appropriations measures to clear either chamber.
H.R. 8469 now moves to the Senate, where the Appropriations Committee has yet to mark up its own version of the MilCon-VA bill. Under regular order, differences between House and Senate texts are resolved in conference; the current continuing resolution funds the federal government through 30 September 2026, so the FY2027 measure does not face an immediate cliff. The Senate has not announced floor consideration. Source: GovTrack — House Vote #175 (119th Congress)
The US House of Representatives on 14 May 2026 at 4:52 p.m. ET deadlocked 212-212 on House Concurrent Resolution 75, a war powers resolution that would have directed the President to remove United States Armed Forces from hostilities against the Islamic Republic of Iran. Under House rules, a tie defeats the motion: the resolution failed for want of a simple majority. The vote was the chamber’s first roll call on a concurrent resolution invoking section 5(c) of the War Powers Resolution of 1973 in the current Congress.
The roll call, recorded as House Vote #170 of the 119th Congress, showed 212 Yea, 212 Nay, and 6 not voting on the official tally published by the Clerk of the House. The Yea column drew 209 Democrats and three Republicans; the Nay column drew 210 Republicans, one Democrat and one independent. Among the three Republicans crossing to support the resolution were Tom Barrett (MI-7) and Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-1); the lone Democrat voting Nay was Jared Golden (ME-2). Six members did not vote — four Republicans and two Democrats, among them Teresa Leger Fernandez (NM-3) and Frederica Wilson (FL-24).
Section 5(c) of the War Powers Resolution provides a privileged procedure by which Congress can, by concurrent resolution, direct the President to withdraw US forces engaged in hostilities outside a declaration of war. A concurrent resolution does not require the President’s signature but, since the 1983 Supreme Court decision in INS v. Chadha, its legal force as a binding directive on the executive has been contested. The Senate has not taken up a companion measure. Because the House resolution failed, no further legislative vehicle for a section 5(c) withdrawal currently sits before either chamber; members on both sides are expected to revisit the question through the annual National Defense Authorization Act and appropriations bills. Source: GovTrack — House Vote #170 (119th Congress)
No. 40 (Friday) solution
1A SEANAD · 3A MIRAN · 4A CISA · 6A JAMA · 2D NENE · 5D SUM. Full back-list in the archive.
Sudoku No. 41 — Medium
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1532: Sir Thomas More resigns as Lord Chancellor of England, the day after the Convocation of Canterbury formally submits to King Henry VIII’s authority over the English Church — the “Submission of the Clergy”. More, the lawyer-humanist author of Utopia, can no longer reconcile holding the realm’s highest legal office with the King’s break from Rome over the annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. He retains his head for another three years, until his refusal to take the Oath of Supremacy in 1535 ends with his execution at Tower Hill on 6 July of that year.
1770: Marie Antoinette, fourteen, the youngest daughter of the Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa of Austria, marries the future Louis XVI of France, fifteen, at the Palace of Versailles. The Habsburg–Bourbon marriage is brokered as a guarantor of the Diplomatic Revolution that ended two and a half centuries of rivalry between Austria and France. Louis succeeds his grandfather as King in May 1774; both husband and wife are executed during the Revolution — he on 21 January 1793, she on 16 October the same year, twenty-three years and five months after the wedding day.
1866: The U.S. Congress passes an act creating the modern five-cent piece — the “nickel” — struck from a 75% copper, 25% nickel alloy, and authorising the Treasury to discontinue striking the smaller silver half-dime that had been the United States’ standard 5-cent coin since 1794. The change is championed by industrialist Joseph Wharton, who owns the principal U.S. nickel mine in New Jersey. The composition and denomination set in 1866 are still in circulation, making the nickel the longest continuously produced denomination of U.S. coinage save for the one-cent piece.
1929: The first Academy Awards ceremony is held at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles. The event runs fifteen minutes, hosts a private banquet for 270 guests, and is presided over by Douglas Fairbanks as president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Wings wins Outstanding Picture; Emil Jannings Best Actor; Janet Gaynor Best Actress. Winners are announced three months in advance and the trophies handed out without on-stage suspense — a format the Academy abandons by the second ceremony in 1930.
1969: The Soviet space probe Venera 5 enters the atmosphere of Venus and successfully transmits data for fifty-three minutes during descent, the second probe (after Venera 4 in 1967) to return readings from inside a planetary atmosphere other than Earth’s. The lander confirms that Venus’s atmosphere is at least 95% carbon dioxide and that surface temperature and pressure are far higher than was assumed in the early 1960s. Venera 6 lands at the antipodal point one day later; the readings shape the design of every subsequent Venus mission for two decades.
1975: Junko Tabei, a Japanese mountaineer from Fukushima Prefecture, becomes the first woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest, climbing the South-East Ridge route at 12:30 local time as leader of the all-women Japan Women’s Everest Expedition. Twelve days earlier her party was caught in an avalanche at Camp 2 in which Tabei was buried for six minutes and dug out by Sherpas. She goes on to climb the highest peak on every continent, completing the Seven Summits in 1992 — another first for women.
1990: Death of Jim Henson, fifty-three, the American puppeteer who created The Muppet Show, Sesame Street and the characters of Fraggle Rock. Henson dies in New York Hospital of organ failure following an undiagnosed streptococcal infection that he had attributed to flu in the preceding days. His funeral, held at the Cathedral of St John the Divine, is conducted following his written wishes: no black, and the congregation sing along to live performances of Kermit the Frog’s “Rainbow Connection”.
Today’s Numbers
67% / 22% / 31 / 1–44 — Share of beremagene geperpavec (Vyjuvek)-treated dystrophic-epidermolysis-bullosa wounds achieving complete healing at six months in the Phase 3 GEM-3 trial that underpinned MHRA approval on 15 May; the share among placebo-treated wounds; the number of patients in the trial; and their age range in years (p. 4).
23bn / +50% / $7bn / 150mg — Units of nicotine pouches sold globally in 2024 per the WHO’s 15 May call for tighter regulation; year-on-year growth in unit volumes; projected 2025 retail value of the global market; and the maximum reported nicotine content of a single pouch on the WHO’s evidence base (p. 5).
8.1 / 6.1 / 29 May / 14 days — Microsoft’s CVSS v3.1 base score for CVE-2026-42897, the Microsoft Exchange Outlook Web Access cross-site-scripting flaw CISA added to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 15 May; NIST’s independent CVSS v3.1 score for the same flaw; the federal remediation deadline; and the length of the catalog’s remediation window for this entry — half the typical 21-day window (p. 7).
13.5m / 7+ weeks / 400–15 / 212–212 — Total Syrian displaced population at end of 2024 per the UNHCR Refugee Data Finder query of 16 May (refugees, asylum-seekers and IDPs combined, p. 10); duration Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant has now operated on a single 330 kV backup line per IAEA Update 350 of 15 May (p. 10); House passage tally for H.R. 8469, the FY2027 MilCon-VA appropriations bill (p. 11); and the deadlocked vote on H.Con.Res. 75, the War Powers withdrawal motion on Iran (p. 11).
Word of the Day
CHAIR PRO TEMPORE
Latin pro tempore, “for the time being.” In English-language office-holding usage, the phrase designates a person empowered to act in the role of a chair, president or presiding officer during an interregnum — a gap in confirmed succession — without committing to the permanence of a full appointment. The most familiar U.S. example is the President pro tempore of the Senate, the standing constitutional officer who presides when the Vice President is absent. The phrase is also used inside the Federal Reserve System for the chair role: on 15 May 2026 the Federal Reserve Board named Jerome Powell chair pro tempore as his latest four-year term as chair concluded, “consistent with past practice”, while continuing to consider a permanent successor — Kevin Warsh the most-reported candidate. Powell retains his separate fourteen-year term as a Federal Reserve governor, which runs until 31 January 2028 (see p. 6).
Quick Quiz — From Today’s Edition
1. The MHRA on 15 May approved beremagene geperpavec, brand name Vyjuvek, for dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa via the International Recognition Procedure. Who is the marketing authorisation holder, what was the trial percentage difference in complete wound healing at six months between treatment and placebo, and on what date was the same product first approved by the US FDA?
2. CISA added CVE-2026-42897, a cross-site scripting flaw in Microsoft Exchange Server’s Outlook Web Access, to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 15 May. What is the remediation deadline for federal civilian agencies, which CWE class does CISA assign the flaw, and what is the catalog’s recorded answer to the question of known ransomware use?
3. The US House on 14 May at 4:52 p.m. ET deadlocked 212–212 on H.Con.Res. 75, a war powers resolution on Iran. Which section of the War Powers Resolution of 1973 does the resolution invoke, name the two Republican House members from Michigan’s 7th and Pennsylvania’s 1st districts who crossed in favour, and name the lone Democrat who crossed against.
Answers: 1. Krystal Biotech Netherlands B.V.; 67% complete healing on Vyjuvek-treated wounds vs 22% on placebo at six months in the GEM-3 trial; FDA approval 19 May 2023 (p. 4). 2. 29 May 2026; CWE-79 cross-site scripting; “Unknown” (p. 7). 3. Section 5(c); Tom Barrett (R-MI-7) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA-1) crossed in favour; Jared Golden (D-ME-2) crossed against (p. 11).
“Technique and ability alone do not get you to the top — it is the willpower that is the most important.” — Junko Tabei (1939–2016), Japanese mountaineer, on becoming the first woman to summit Mount Everest, on this day in 1975.
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Recipe — the season’s first outdoor Irish rhubarb stewed with butter and sugar, on hot porridge with cream: A Saturday-morning bowl that takes twelve minutes from chopping board to spoon and trades on the changeover from forced rhubarb (the deep-pink January-to-April stems pulled in dark sheds in north Dublin and Meath) to outdoor early — the green-and-rose stems pulled from open crowns in Wicklow, Meath and the north-Dublin market gardens from the first week of May to mid-June. The early outdoor stems are firmer, less sweet and more sour than the forced; they want a slightly heavier hand on the sugar and the gentlest of cooking. The fruit (about 400 g for two): the leaves trimmed off and discarded (the leaves are toxic; the stems are not), the stems wiped clean, sliced on a slight diagonal into 2 cm pieces. The pan: a small heavy saucepan over a low heat, a small knob — about 15 g — of Castletownbere salted butter melted but not foaming, the rhubarb tipped in cut faces down, two heaped tablespoons of golden caster sugar scattered across, a generous tablespoon of cold water added to start a steam; the lid on, the heat low, eight to nine minutes until the stems collapse just enough to keep their shape but yield to the back of a spoon. Off the heat, lid kept on for one minute to settle. The oats: 80 g of Flahavan’s porridge oats in 400 ml of whole milk (or half-milk half-water for a lighter bowl) brought slowly to a simmer with a small pinch of salt, stirred for four minutes until soft and creamy. To plate: the oats into two warm bowls, the rhubarb spooned across the top with all its rose-coloured pan syrup, a slow trickle of double cream from a small jug, a pinch of Achill Island Sea Salt over the cream to lift the fruit. A pot of strong tea, a window open onto the long May morning. A clean kitchen by 09:00.
Worth Your Time
Book: Seeing Like a State by James C. Scott (Yale, 1998). The standard institutional reading of how state administrative machinery extends, simplifies and standardises across territory. The pair for today’s page 3 Ireland Desk lead on Bill 52 of 2026, the Dublin Transport Authority (Amendment) Bill, a four-section Government Bill introduced in the Dáil on 15 May that removes the Greater Dublin Area restriction on the National Transport Authority’s section 44 construction powers and extends them across the State — in practice letting the NTA build BusConnects-type schemes itself in cities outside the Greater Dublin Area using the existing Dublin statutory model.
Book: Bad Pharma by Ben Goldacre (Fourth Estate, 2012). A close-grained methodological account of how surrogate endpoints rise in regulatory pipelines while harder long-term outcomes are deferred. The pair for today’s page 4 Science & Health lead on the MHRA approval of beremagene geperpavec (Vyjuvek) for dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa under the International Recognition Procedure on 15 May — a topical herpes-simplex-1 viral vector gene therapy whose pivotal GEM-3 read-out turned on six-month wound-closure rates (67% vs 22%) and proportion of wounds remaining closed at 30 days post-end-of-treatment, with longer-term durability captured in continuation studies.
Book: Lords of Easy Money by Christopher Leonard (Simon & Schuster, 2022). The standard popular-press institutional history of post-2008 Federal Reserve governance and how leadership succession feeds operating-framework choices. The pair for today’s page 6 Money Moves lead on Jerome Powell named Federal Reserve Board chair pro tempore on 15 May until a successor is in place, with former Fed governor Kevin Warsh (2006–2011) the leading successor candidate; Powell’s separate 14-year governor term runs to 31 January 2028, so a non-renominated Powell remains a voting Board member after a Warsh confirmation.
Book: Sandworm by Andy Greenberg (Doubleday, 2019). The reference institutional history of state-level exploitation of network infrastructure and how cross-site scripting and authentication primitives are weaponised. The pair for today’s page 7 Infrastructure lead on CISA’s addition of CVE-2026-42897 — a cross-site scripting flaw in Microsoft Exchange Server Outlook Web Access — to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalogue on 15 May with a 29 May federal remediation deadline under BOD 22-01; CISA shortened the standard 21-day window to 14 days, half the default, reflecting the agency’s view of the immediacy of the risk.
Place to visit: The Burren, Co Clare. The 360 km² karst limestone-pavement landscape across north-west Clare into south Galway, two-and-a-half hours from Dublin by M7 / M18, two hours from Galway city. Mid-May is the window for Gentiana verna, the small electric-blue spring gentian, in flower across the pavement — the Burren’s signature alpine flora; mountain avens (Dryas octopetala) and early-purple orchid are out at the same time. Burren National Park entry is free, the OPW visitor centre at Corofin opens 09:30 to 17:00 in May, and the looped Mullaghmore walks above Carron run two to four hours. A good Saturday-morning hour in the long May light.
Cycling — Giro d’Italia 109 Stage 8 today, the fifth Italian stage of the race; finish in Rome on Sunday 31 May: The 109th edition of the Giro completed its Bulgarian opening triptych on Sunday 10 May, used Monday 11 May as the first rest day for the convoy transfer to Italy, and rolled out the first Italian stage, Stage 4, on Tuesday 12 May. Stage 5 ran Wednesday 13 May; Stage 6 Thursday 14 May; Stage 7 yesterday, Friday 15 May. Stage 8 rolls out today, Saturday 16 May, the fifth Italian stage of the race. The Bulgarian opening went Sofia–Plovdiv (Stage 1, 187 km flat, Friday 8 May), to Veliko Tarnovo (Stage 2, Saturday 9 May) and the rolling Stage 3 to close the Bulgarian start on Sunday 10 May. The race finishes in Rome on Sunday 31 May. The 79th Tour de Romandie, the principal pre-Giro tune-up, closed on Sunday 3 May with the flat 17.1 km individual time trial in Geneva. Route, start list, stage profiles and broadcaster split (Eurosport / discovery+) at giroditalia.it.
Football — the Emirates FA Cup final at Wembley today; Premier League Matchweek 37 across the weekend; Champions League final in Budapest on 30 May: The season’s domestic showpiece, the 145th FA Cup final, is played at Wembley this afternoon — Chelsea against Manchester City, kick-off 3:00 p.m. BST, the first FA Cup final meeting between the two clubs. With Wembley taking the Saturday, Premier League Matchweek 37 is spread across the weekend and into the following week: Aston Villa v Liverpool opened it on Friday evening, the bulk of the round is played on Sunday 17 May, and the fixtures involving Manchester City and Chelsea have been moved to the following Tuesday. The Premier League season then closes with the simultaneous final-day Matchweek 38 card. The UEFA Champions League final — Arsenal against Paris Saint-Germain — is at the Puskás Aréna, Budapest, on Saturday 30 May. Standings and the full fixture list at premierleague.com.
Tennis — Internazionali BNL d’Italia women’s singles final today, Foro Italico, Rome: The combined ATP 1000 / WTA 1000 clay-court swing moved from Madrid to Rome on Wednesday 6 May with the main-draw first round at the Foro Italico. The round of sixteen ran across Sunday 10 May (upper-half) and Monday 11 May (lower-half); the upper-half quarter-finals ran on Tuesday 12 May; the lower-half quarter-finals closed Wednesday 13 May. The men’s and women’s semi-finals opened Thursday 14 May; the women’s singles final is today, Saturday 16 May, and the men’s singles final tomorrow, Sunday 17 May. The Internazionali is the last 1000-level clay event before Roland-Garros opens on Sunday 24 May. Order of play, draw and broadcaster split (Sky Sports Tennis in the UK and Ireland; discovery+ for the women’s draw) at internazionalibnlditalia.com.
Horse racing — Lockinge Stakes at Newbury today: The flat-racing season is past the early-season Newmarket classics — the 2,000 Guineas and the 1,000 Guineas were run at the Rowley Mile across the first weekend of May; the Curragh ran a Sunday flat card on 10 May. The Lockinge Stakes (Group 1, one mile) at Newbury today, Saturday 16 May 2026, is the first of the season’s Group 1 mile contests on the older horses. Race-by-race cards and going at horseracingireland.ie.
League of Ireland — Premier Division fixtures conclude tonight, 19:45 IST: The 2026 League of Ireland Premier Division, which began on 6 February, has its latest round split across this weekend — four fixtures opened on Friday night, 15 May, at 19:45 IST, and the remaining fixtures close tonight, Saturday 16 May, at the same slot, live on LOITV. By mid-May the title race is among the tightest in recent seasons at this stage. Standings, fixtures and stadium-by-stadium broadcaster pickups at loi.ie.
Results & Fixtures — Week in review & week ahead
| Sat 2 May | Premier League MD35 opens (Sky / TNT); Tour de Romandie queen stage Aigle–Thyon 2000, 167.7 km (Eurosport); Madrid Open men’s & women’s semi-finals (Sky); World Snooker final sessions 2 and 3, 14:30 & 19:00 BST (BBC / Eurosport); League of Ireland fixtures, 19:45 IST |
| Sun 3 May | Tour de Romandie Stage 5 closing ITT, 17.1 km in Geneva — final GC decided (Eurosport); Madrid Open women’s singles final (Sky); Premier League MD35 Sunday card (Sky / TNT); World Snooker final session 4 (BBC / Eurosport); Punchestown Festival closes |
| Mon 4 May | Premier League MD35 closed — early-May bank-holiday card (Sky / TNT); Madrid Open men’s singles final, Caja Mágica (Sky); World Snooker final deciding session 19:00 BST if required (BBC / Eurosport) |
| Tue 5 May | UEFA Champions League semi-final second leg #1 at the higher-seeded club, 20:00 BST (TNT Sports / discovery+) |
| Wed 6 May | UEFA Champions League semi-final second leg #2 closed at the higher-seeded club, 20:00 BST (TNT Sports / discovery+); Internazionali BNL d’Italia — main-draw first round opens, Foro Italico, Rome (Sky Sports Tennis / discovery+) |
| Thu 7 May | Internazionali BNL d’Italia — second-round main draw, Foro Italico, Rome (Sky Sports Tennis / discovery+); League of Ireland Premier Division — matchday build-up |
| Fri 8 May | Giro d’Italia 109 Grande Partenza — Stage 1, Sofia–Plovdiv, 187 km flat (Eurosport / discovery+); League of Ireland fixtures, four 19:45 IST kick-offs (LOITV); Internazionali BNL d’Italia — third-round main draw opens, Foro Italico, Rome (Sky Sports Tennis / discovery+) |
| Sun 10 May | Premier League MD36 Sunday card, 14:00 / 16:30 / 19:00 BST (Sky / TNT); Giro d’Italia Stage 3, third Bulgarian stage (Eurosport / discovery+); Curragh Sunday flat card; Internazionali BNL d’Italia round of sixteen opens (Sky Sports Tennis) |
| Mon 11 May | Giro d’Italia 109 first rest day — transfer Bulgaria–Italy (Eurosport / discovery+); Internazionali BNL d’Italia round-of-sixteen second day, Foro Italico, Rome (Sky Sports Tennis / discovery+) |
| Tue 12 May | Giro d’Italia Stage 4 — first Italian stage after the Bulgarian opening (Eurosport / discovery+); Internazionali BNL d’Italia quarter-finals upper half, Foro Italico (Sky Sports Tennis / discovery+) |
| Wed 13 May | Giro d’Italia Stage 5 — second Italian stage (Eurosport / discovery+); Internazionali BNL d’Italia quarter-finals lower half (Sky Sports Tennis / discovery+) |
| Thu 14 May | Internazionali BNL d’Italia semi-finals opened, Foro Italico (Sky Sports Tennis / discovery+); Giro d’Italia Stage 6 — third Italian stage (Eurosport / discovery+) |
| Fri 15 May (yesterday) | Premier League Matchweek 37 opens — Aston Villa v Liverpool, 20:00 BST (Sky); League of Ireland Premier Division fixtures open, four 19:45 IST kick-offs (LOITV); Giro d’Italia Stage 7 — fourth Italian stage (Eurosport / discovery+); Internazionali BNL d’Italia rest day between semi-finals and singles finals, Foro Italico (Sky Sports Tennis / discovery+) |
| Sat 16 May (today) | Lockinge Stakes (Group 1, 1m) — Newbury (ITV); Internazionali BNL d’Italia women’s singles final, Foro Italico, Rome (Sky Sports Tennis / discovery+); Giro d’Italia Stage 8 — fifth Italian stage (Eurosport / discovery+); Emirates FA Cup final — Chelsea v Manchester City, Wembley, 15:00 BST (BBC / ITV); League of Ireland Premier Division fixtures conclude, 19:45 IST (LOITV) |
| Sun 17 May | Internazionali BNL d’Italia men’s singles final, Foro Italico (Sky Sports Tennis / discovery+); Premier League Matchweek 37 main Sunday card (Sky / TNT); Giro d’Italia Stage 9 (Eurosport / discovery+) |
| Sun 24 May | Premier League MD38 final-day simultaneous card; Roland-Garros main-draw first round opens, Paris |
| Sat 30 May | UEFA Champions League final — Arsenal v Paris Saint-Germain, Puskás Aréna, Budapest (TNT Sports / discovery+); Giro d’Italia finishes Sunday 31 May, Rome |
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