Centrist Emmanuel Macron and his newly created political party just won the French presidential election, much to the relief of EU leaders! He is the youngest French president ever, and this will be the first elected position for the brilliant and ambitious Frenchman. Polls show Macron was elected primarily to prevent the advance of his opponent, Marie LePen, rather than because voters favored him or his policies.

“Tattoos are more popular than ever. Roughly half of millennials have one, as do 36% of Gen Xers… The number of Americans with at least one tattoo has jumped 50% in the past four years” (Time, April 5, 2017). The growing prevalence of tattoos has spawned new research into potential dangers of the practice. Research shows tattoos may interfere with both body cooling (through sweating) and also mineral reabsorption.

This week, “A German newspaper reported that after a dinner on Wednesday evening Mr Juncker accused Mrs May of being ‘deluded’ and said it was ‘more likely than not’ that Brexit talks would fail. According to the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung... Mr Juncker told Mrs May ‘I’m leaving Downing Street 10 times more sceptical than I was before’” (The Telegraph, May 1, 2017).

“Global defense spending has gone up for the first time since 2011. According to the World Military Expenditure Report… countries around the world spent a total of $1.68 trillion (1.56 trillion euros) on arms in 2016” (Deutsche Welle, April 24, 2017). The U.S., China and Russia led the spending. One expert observed, “Today, unlike a decade ago, actors are not relying on diplomacy and international institutions.