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What is there left to know about Paul McCartney in 2025? Actually, quite a bit. The octogenarian megastar is seemingly ever-present, popping up on social media feeds with his affable avuncularity, his relentlessly sunny, two thumbs up ‘tude. Yet despite the steady trickle of Beatles scholarship that continues to be published, including Ian Leslie’s insightful book, “John & Paul: A Love Story in Songs,” earlier this year, McCartney is a cipher, a blank page. He has masterfully created the illusion of transparency, yet his life remains stubbornly opaque. Does the man ever lose his temper? Has he ever cheated on his taxes? If there is a chink in McCartney’s armor, we are still looking for it.
Denny Laine, Paul McCartney, Linda McCartney and Denny Seiwell in Osterley Park, London, in 1971.
(Barry Lategan / MPL Communications )
Yet according to this new book, an oral history of McCartney’s band Wings, there is still much to be excavated from what is the most examined life in pop music history, especially when it comes from the horse’s mouth. The book is ostensibly “authored” by McCartney even though it is an oral history that has been edited by Ted Widmer, an estimable historian and a former speechwriter for Bill Clinton. Widmer has also written third-person interstitial information to guide the reader through the story.
Stitching together interviews with McCartney, his wife Linda, erstwhile Beatles, and the various musicians and other key players who found themselves pulled into the Wings orbit across the nearly decadelong tenure of the band, “Wings: The Story of a Band on the Run” is a smooth, frictionless ride across the arc of McCartney’s ’70s career, when he continued to mint more hits, and secured a lock on a massive career that is presently in its 55th year.
Joe English, Jimmy McCulloch, Linda McCartney, Paul McCartney and Denny Laine in 1976.
(Clive Arrowsmith / MPL Communications)
Hard as it is to fathom, McCartney has had pangs of doubt concerning his art and career, never more so than in the immediate aftermath of the Beatles’ breakup in 1970, when he found himself at loose ends, unsure of how to follow up the most spectacular first act in show business history. In the immediate aftermath of that epochal event, McCartney retreated to a 183-acre sheep farm on the Kintyre Peninsula in Argyllshire, Scotland, with his wife Linda and their young family. According to the book, there was uncertainty about his ability to write songs that could stand alongside his Beatles work. Hence, his first solo offering, “McCartney,” was mostly tentative, half-baked notions for songs, interlaced with a few fully realized compositions like “Maybe I’m Amazed,” all recorded by McCartney in his home studio.
Home recording sessions for the McCartney album in London, 1970.
But the gentleman farmer couldn’t stay down on the farm for long. Eventually, the old impulse to be in a band and to perform became McCartney’s new imperative, but he would go about it in an entirely different way. No more camping out in Abbey Road studios, the Beatles’ favorite laboratory, hiring out string sections and horn sections, ruminating over tracks for as long as it took. McCartney would instead take an incremental DIY approach, starting modestly and progressing accordingly. Instead of meticulously recording tracks, records would be dashed off spontaneously. Bob Dylan became a kind of North Star for how to approach a record: “Bob Dylan had done an album in a week,” says McCartney in the book. “I thought, ‘That’s a good idea.’’’
Paul McCartney, Wings Over the World tour, Philadelphia, 1976.
(Robert Ellis / MPL Communications)
It was around this time that McCartney hired Denny Laine, who became (aside from wife Linda) the only full-time member of Wings for the duration of the band’s life. The two had met years earlier, when the Beatles were partying in Birmingham with Laine and his band the Diplomats. “Truth be told, I needed a John,” McCartney admits in the book. The first Wings album, “Wild Life,” recorded in a barn on McCartney’s Scotland farm, was critically savaged, but listening to it now, it retains a certain homespun charm, the amiable slumming of a master musician tinkering with various approaches because he can and because it’s fun. A short tour of universities around the U.K. further contributed to the low-key vibe that McCartney was intent on maintaining; he was waiting for the right time to pounce on the American market, specifically, and reclaim his mantle as the King of Pop.
1973’s “Band on the Run” would be the album that cracked it wide open again for McCartney, but he was still in a rambling mood, this time eager to try one of EMI’s studios in Lagos, Nigeria. “It wasn’t the sort of paradise we thought it would be,” McCartney is quoted in the book, “but it didn’t matter, because we were basically spending a lot of time in the studio.” Once in Africa, Paul, Linda and Denny Laine were mugged, their tapes stolen. Another night, they were guests of the master afrobeat musician Fela Kuti, who invited the three to his Afrika Shrine club for an indelible performance: “It hit me so hard,” says Paul. “It was like boom, and I’ve never heard anything as good, ever, before or since.”
McCartney II recording sessions, Lower Gate Farm, Sussex, 1979.
“Band on the Run” became an international smash and McCartney once again found himself playing arenas and stadiums with yet another iteration of Wings. It is also at this point that the story of Wings settles into a more of an “album-tour-album” narrative, save for a harrowing drug bust for pot in Japan on the eve of a Wings tour in January 1980, when McCartney spent nine days in jail. “I had all this really good grass, excellent stuff,” explains McCartney, who had cavalierly packed it in his suitcase. Once in jail he had to “share a bath with a bloke who was in for murder,” organizing “singsongs with other prisoners” until his lawyers arranged for his release. The bust would presage the dissolution of Wings; McCartney would release a solo album, “McCartney II,” in May.
Paul McCartney, Linda McCartney, Denny Seiwell and Denny Laine. Promotional photo shoot for “Wild Life,” 1971.
How you feel about the albums that Wings made after 1975’s excellent “Venus and Mars” will perhaps affect your judgment of the back half of “Wings: The Story of a Band on the Run.” But even a charitable fan will have a hard time making a strong claim for the albums that followed 1975’s “Venus and Mars,” which includes “London Town,” “At the Speed of Sound” and “Back to the Egg.” The book’s best stuff is to be found at the start, when the superstar was making his first baby steps toward renewed relevance, and then found it.
Weingarten is the author of “Thirsty: William Mulholland, California Water, and the Real Chinatown.”
Bueckers averaged 19.2 points on 47.7 percent shooting along with 3.9 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 1.6 steals in the season.
Published On 16 Sep 202516 Sep 2025
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Dallas Wings’ basketball star Paige Bueckers has won the WNBA Rookie of the Year honour after one of the best debut seasons in league history.
Bueckers received 70 of the 72 votes from sportswriters and broadcasters in balloting announced by the league on Tuesday. The other two went to Washington Mystics guard Sonia Citron.
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Bueckers was a bright spot for a team that tied the Chicago Sky with a league-worst 10-34 record after being drafted with the number-one overall pick and the first Dallas Wings player to win the award since Allisha Gray in 2017. The former UConn star averaged 19.2 points on 47.7 per cent shooting along with 3.9 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 1.6 steals.
But those numbers do not tell the complete story.
Her 692 points and 194 assists were the third most by a WNBA rookie. The highlight was when she scored 44 in a loss to the Los Angeles Sparks on August 20.
It was the WNBA’s highest point total this season and the most ever by a rookie. She also became the first player in league history to score 40 or more while shooting 80 per cent in a game.
That performance came near the end of a 30-game double-digit streak, the third longest to start a career behind A’ja Wilson’s 33 games in 2018 and Candace Parker’s 32 games in 2008.
Paige Bueckers is the 2025 WNBA @Kia Rookie of the Year 🏆
Despite political turmoil and global uncertainties, Poland anticipates several years of strong growth will continue.
Anyone looking for proof of Poland’s enduring investment appeal found it following the June 1 presidential election, which saw the right-wing Law and Justice Party candidate Karel Nawrocki narrowly defeat the governing Civic Platform’s Rafal Trzakowski. Instead of pulling back amid fears that Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s policies would be slowed, and political divisions deepen, investors remained upbeat.
The stock market, which has been one of the world’s best performing this year, continued its record streak as the WIG Index went into early August 35% above its August 2024 mark. Shares in oil and gas producer Orlen rose 60% over that period while supermarket chain Dino and insurance company PZU both saw their share price rise more than 30%. Instead of holding firm given the economic uncertainties, the National Bank of Poland cut base interest rates to 5%, with another 25-basis point cut anticipated for September, as inflation continued its downward path.
All this reflects the resilience the Polish economy has built up over the last decade, especially pre-pandemic, when GDP growth averaged 5% a year and annual inflows of foreign direct investment typically up to 4% of GDP.
“With Poland the fastest growing economy in the region—we forecast 3% GDP growth this year and next, rising to 3.1% in 2027—our sovereign rating is A- with Stable Outlook, a level we’ve held steady for 18 years,” says Milan Trajkovic, associate director, Fitch Ratings. The size of the economy—37 million people—its diversity, and the fact that it is not overly dependent on US exports; a slowing, tariff-sensitive auto industry; or the softening German economy are all positives, he adds.
According to UNCTAD, between 2000 and 2023, Poland attracted over $335 billion in foreign investment, almost half the combined total for the eight Central and Eastern European (CEE) states that joined the EU in 2004. Poland has been particularly successful at near-shoring, thanks to its well-educated workforce, developed infrastructure, diversified economy, and close integration with the EU.
As Finance Minister Andrzej Domański pointed out in an article for the International Monetary Fund from this June, the EU has been very good for Poland as its membership in the Single European Market has facilitated rapid technology transfer and opened the way for exports to grow to almost 3.5 times their previous level.
Indeed, the Polish Economic Institute has calculated that European integration boosted GDP by 40% over what it would have posted had Poland not joined the EU.
The nation also holds the CEE regional record in spending EU funds, led by funds distributed under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP). Some €60 billion (about $70 billion) scheduled through the end of 2026, including €25.3 billion in grants and the rest in preferential loans, will be available to Poland under this facility, a big chunk of the €648 billion earmarked by the EU to speed recovery from the Covid pandemic and its aftermath. According to the European Commission, Poland will be the largest recipient under the €2 trillion budget being proposed for 2028-34, with additional funds to be made available for security, agriculture, and innovation.
“Poland will most likely remain a champion in both absorbing and distributing EU funds into the real economy,” says Trajkovic, “which are expected to account for 1% of GDP this year and 3% next. Along with domestic consumption and investment, they will be one of the main drivers of the economy.”
The good news continues with FDI and Greenfield investments. According to the 2025 EY Europe Attractiveness survey, while FDI within the entirety of Europe dropped some 5% over 2024 and inflows to Poland retreated from 2023’s record of $28 billion, Polish industries including new technologies, renewable energy, services, and logistics continue to see strong investor interest. Reinvested profits are on an upward trend.
The EBRD Commits
Despite some political turmoil, the country has changed dramatically in the past five years, says Andreea Moraru, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s (EBRD) new director for Poland and the Baltic States. “Compared to 2019, when I was last here, Warsaw is utterly transformed,” she notes. “Real estate is booming, as is construction, and companies are much more ambitious, with many now looking abroad to expand.”
Andreea Moraru, Director for Poland and the Baltic States, EBRD
Poland’s economy today is sophisticated, innovative, and cutting edge, she says: “Companies are moving away from simple manufacturing to more value-added production. However, to stay competitive, Poland will need to continue investing in its human capital.”
The EBRD invested a record €1.43 billion in 49 projects in 2024; so far this year, it has invested another €900 million, an amount that is expected to rise, reflecting the bank’s countercyclical investment approach
“Whenever there’s a funding gap, as during market volatility, we move to fill it,” says Moraru.
The EBRD’s broad investment portfolio reflects Poland’s increasing economic diversity, with a major presence in the EBRD’s portfolio—often alongside the country’s liquid and dynamic commercial banks—in the corporate sector, pharma, manufacturing, and telecoms.
Perhaps its most consistent focus, however, is energy. Some 70% of the EBRD’s 2024 investments went to support decarbonization through renewable projects and other clean-energy initiatives in an economy that is still heavily coal dependent for electricity. Projects include Poland’s first offshore wind farm, to which the bank committed €140 million and which is expected to provide some 3% of Poland’s electric power, and the innovative Bioelektra municipal waste processing plant in Wierzbica, to which the bank has committed €17 million. Green bonds are an additional focus. Between 2023 and 2025, the EBRD has invested in five such offerings by Polish banking clients alongside one sustainability bond.
Six Pillars to Prosperity
In a speech before the Warsaw Stock Exchange before the presidential election, Tusk insisted that 2025 would be a “long-awaited year of the positive,” suggesting that investments in FDI and Greenfield will exceed PLN650 billion ($175 billion), perhaps reaching as high as PLN700 billion ($189 billion), fueled by EU funds from grants and loans. Saying he wanted a “strong, modern, and prosperous Poland,” he identified six pillars to achieving this: investment in science, energy transformation, development of new technologies, development of ports and railway modernization, a dynamic capital market, and business support and deregulation.
Key changes in government, announced after Tusk won a parliamentary confidence vote following the presidential elections, reflect his priorities. Establishment of a new energy ministry was announced a few weeks after Poland ended all purchases of Russian fossil fuels, which in 2015 still accounted for 84% of energy consumption. Tusk has confirmed that Poland is pressing ahead with a wave of new renewables projects and that first-phase ground studies have been completed for Poland’s first nuclear power station, with Bechtel and Westinghouse leading the construction and commissioning of the first unit scheduled for 2033.
Among the challenges Finance Minister Domański faces are bringing Poland’s fiscal deficit under control and stabilizing government debt in the medium term. From 2021 to 2024, the budget deficit rose from 1.7% to 6.6% of GDP, fueled by expenditures on pensions, infrastructure, and defense. Relative to GDP, Poland already spends more on its military than any other NATO country: 2% in 2021 against a rise to 5% in the medium term.
In addition, a large portion of future defense spending is slated to be done off-budget and financed through off-budget issuance, a practice that started during Covid and is expected to reach some 13% of GDP by 2028. The practice is accounted for in general government debt, helping to maintain fiscal transparency.
With the government targeting a general government deficit of 6.3% of GDP this year in its most recent progress report, reducing the shortfall is viewed as necessary if Poland is to maintain long-term economic credibility in the eyes of foreign investments and lenders and control rising debt service costs. But the going could be tough.
“The biggest challenge is having to implement fiscal consolidation in an environment not conducive to it, with global growth slowing, a continuing risk of tariffs, and high geopolitical and security risks,” Trajkovic observes.
Another challenge is the business environment. In Transparency International’s 2025 Corruption Perceptions Index, Poland dropped to 53 out of 180 countries, alongside Georgia, compared to 2016, when it ranked better at 29. The current government blames the slide on the previous Law and Justice government, which weakened judicial independence, transparency in government contracts, and judicial independence. Tusk has promised reforms, but warns this will take time, especially with President Nawrocki holding veto power.
For the moment, however, the data are looking up. “On the positive side, by almost any metric, including FDI inflows, inflation, and overall growth prospects, Poland’s diversified, resilient economy is in good shape,” Trajkovic argues.
The Sparks defeated the Dallas Wings 91-77 on Sunday at Crypto.com Arena to keep their faint playoff hopes alive heading into the final week of the regular season.
Julie Allemand finished with 21 points, a career-high five steals and four assists, and Rae Burrell had 13 points as the Sparks went on a 16-0 run in the fourth quarter.
The Sparks (20-22) must win their final two games against Phoenix and Las Vegas and have Seattle lose to Golden State on Tuesday to make the postseason.
The Sparks led for nearly the entire game, capitalizing on 10 three-pointers, 12 steals and six players scoring in double digits.
Dallas, however, went on a 19-2 run at the beginning of the third quarter and managed to briefly lead twice.
Amy Okonkwo hit a three-pointer with 8.9 seconds left in the third quarter to give the Wings (9-34) a one-point lead. But the Sparks didn’t waste time responding, with Allemand hitting a three-pointer before the buzzer that put the Sparks ahead for good.
The Sparks then pulled away in the fourth quarter, with Burrell scoring 11 points.
Momentum shifted in the third quarter as the Wings went on a 19-2 run in the beginning of the quarter.
Dallas managed to take a one-point lead late in the third quarter before Allemand hit a three-pointer before the buzzer that put the Sparks ahead for good. Burrell scored 11 points in the fourth quarter to help the Sparks pull away.
Azurá Stevens had 13 points and 11 rebounds, and Dearica Hamby finished with 15 points and 13 rebounds. Kelsey Plum had 12 points and Rickea Jackson contributed 11 points.
Dallas rookie Paige Bueckers finished with 18 points, seven assists and six rebounds for Dallas. Myisha Hines-Allen had 15 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists. Maddy Siegrist added 13 points and four rebounds for the Wings.
There are happy hours that function as post-work gatherings, fueled by discounted pitchers of beer, buckets of chicken wings, sliders and the sort of commiserating that can only happen between colleagues. If the beer is cold and the chicken wings properly sluiced in hot sauce and ranch dressing, this happy hour can be the happiest of hours.
But it wasn’t until I was seated at the bar of Josiah Citrin’s Citrin in Santa Monica that I understood a happy hour’s full potential. Here, happy hour is known as Glass Off, a 90-minute stretch of food and drink specials at the bar. Instead of a truncated list of fried foods intended to coat your stomach while you sip on discounted wine, you’ll find tasting-size portions of some of Citrin and fellow chef-partner Ken Takayama’s signature dishes.
Those spot prawns with young turnip and green tomato finished with a nori sabayon that normally cost $52 an order? You can enjoy a smaller portion at the bar for $22. The $49 risotto studded with Dungeness crab, artichoke and peas with aged Parmesan and Meyer lemon? During Glass Off, you can taste a portion of it for $24.
At the following restaurants, happy hour is designed to give diners a glimpse at a kitchen or bar’s full potential, at a more accessible price point. It’s not simply about ordering as many discounted drinks as possible during a limited window. That’s the sort of thinking that prompted the state of Massachusetts to ban happy hours in 1984. It’s prohibited in six other states, and allowed but highly regulated in a handful of others.
In the great state of California, happy hours abound. Just make sure you indulge responsibly.
Here’s a list of my current favorite happy hours. Save me a seat at the bar, will you?
Two easyJet planes clipped wings on the ground at Manchester Airport in Britain Friday morning leading to a temporary halt of ground traffic, although no injuries were reported. File Photo (2020) by Neil Hall/EPA-EFE
Aug. 15 (UPI) — Two planes clipped wings at Manchester Airport in Britain on Friday, briefly pausing flight operations on the ground at the facility, officials confirmed.
No injuries were reported when the two easyJet planes collided on the ground at about 6:30 a.m. local time, an airport spokesperson said.
“We suspended operations briefly while they were assessed to see if they could taxi back to a stand, which they could so operations resumed after a few minutes,” the airport said in a statement to reporters.
Both flights were set to depart the international airport, with one bound for Paris and the other headed to Gibraltar.
Britain-based easyJet is a multinational low-cost airline group. The company operates a fleet of 318 Airbus aircraft and boasts that it has “one of the youngest fleets in the industry.”
The airline was working on re-booking affected passengers Friday, according to airport officials.
“EasyJet can confirm that the wing tips of two aircraft came into contact while taxiing to the runway at Manchester airport this morning. The aircraft returned to stand to disembark customers who have been provided with refreshment vouchers while replacement aircraft are arranged to operate the flights,” an easyJet spokesperson told The Guardian in a statement.
“We apologize to customers for the delay to their flights. The safety of our passengers and crew is our highest priority.”
Last weekend, a Delta Airlines flight clipped another aircraft at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
A passenger on one of the EasyJet planes took this image after the crash
Two planes have collided on the airfield at Manchester Airport.
The EasyJet aircraft clipped wings during taxiing at about 06:30 BST, an airport spokesman said. There have been no reports of injuries.
Passengers have since disembarked from both planes which had been due to take off for Paris and Gibraltar respectively.
Flights have resumed at the airport following a brief suspension for a safety assessment which found minor damage to the planes.
Tynisha Chaudhry, who was on the Gibraltar-bound flight with her partner, compared the collision to a car crash.
“We felt the whole plane shudder – it was a massive hit.”
She said “a lot of fire engines” and other safety staff attended the scene, as passengers waited onboard during inspections.
The atmosphere among passengers was “okay” but some younger passengers and their parents became “tense” before they were allowed to return to the terminal, she added.
Apology
An EasyJet spokesperson said: “EasyJet can confirm that the wing tips of two aircraft came into contact whilst taxiing to the runway at Manchester airport this morning.
“The aircraft returned to stand to disembark customers who have been provided with refreshment vouchers whilst replacement aircraft are arranged to operate the flights.
“We apologise to customers for the delay to their flights.
“The safety of our passengers and crew is our highest priority.”
A flight from Majorca Palma Airport to Manchester led to ‘moments of great tension’ as passengers attempted to escape the plane by ‘jumping from its wing’ onto the tarmac
In a worrying turn of events, Ryanair passengers “jumped from the wings” of the plane due to a false fire warning, leaving 18 travellers reportedly injured.
The incident took place just after midnight on July 4 when the Manchester-bound flight from Majorca Palma Airport was halted due to a false fire alert, Ryanair confirmed. The plane was evacuated but it is said to have caused “moments of great tension” with passengers seen jumping from the plane’s wing reportedly “acting out of fear.”
Dramatic footage captured passengers exiting the plane via its wing and jumping onto the tarmac as emergency services, including firefighters and police, responded rapidly. Amid scenes of terrified passengers jumping from the wing in their haste to escape, an airport employee was heard on a walkie-talkie expressing confusion to a colleague, “Do you know the plane has emergency exits?”
He continued, “Plane about to leave from apron ten or eight and now the people are jumping from the wing onto the ground. Something’s happening, something’s happening, they’re evacuating the plane. Now the firefighters are coming.”
Passengers were seen fleeing the aircraft(Image: SOLARPIX.COM)
Several passengers sustained injuries during the evacuation before they were escorted back to the terminal. However, most passengers are said to have evacuated the aircraft in a more orderly manner.
Medical emergency coordinators reported that 18 individuals received treatment for “minor injuries”. Six required hospitalisation and three were reportedly taken to Clínica Rotger, a private facility in Palma. The remaining three were admitted to Hospital Quironsalud Palmplanas in the island’s capital.
Ryanair attributed the flight’s disruption to a “false fire warning.” Their statement read: “This flight from Palma to Manchester, on July 4, discontinued take-off due to a false fire warning light indication. Passengers were disembarked using the inflatable slides and returned to the terminal.
“While disembarking, a small number of passengers encountered very minor injuries (ankle sprains, etc.) and crew requested immediate medical assistance.
“To minimise disruption to passengers, we quickly arranged a replacement aircraft to operate this flight, which departed Palma at 07:05 this morning.
“We sincerely apologise to affected passengers for any inconvenience caused.”
Passengers on the runway(Image: SOLARPIX.COM)
This morning, a representative from the regional government-run emergency response coordination centre verified: “We received an alert about a fire on a plane on the ground at Palma airport at 00.36am today.
“Four ambulances were sent to the scene which were two basic life support units and two advanced life support unit.
“Eighteen people were injured and received medical assistance of whom six were taken to hospital.
“They were all minor. Three went to the Clinica Rotger and three to the Palmaplanas Hospital.”
DALLAS — Azurá Stevens had 21 points, including a career-high five three-pointers, Dearica Hamby added 20 points, and the Sparks beat the Dallas Wings 93-79 on Friday night to end a three-game losing streak.
Hamby and Stevens each reached 20-plus points for the fourth time this season. Odyssey Sims, who was coming off a 32-point performance in an 85-80 loss to Phoenix on Sunday, added 19 points and a trio of three-pointers for the Sparks.
The Sparks took a 45-40 lead at halftime after Sims converted a three-point play with 2.2 seconds left. Sims finished the half with nine points, Stevens added 13 and Hamby had 11.
Sparks forward Dearica Hamby, right, drives against Dallas Wings center Teaira McCowan during the first half Friday.
(LM Otero / Associated Press)
The Sparks started the third quarter on a 6-0 run and added a 9-0 run to begin the fourth for a 76-55 lead. The Wings had three turnovers and two missed shots in the opening three minutes of the fourth.
Stevens hit her fifth three-pointer with 4:45 left in the fourth on a wide-open shot from the corner off a nice drive and pass by Kelsey Plum.
Plum had 11 points, five rebounds and nine assists and Rickea Jackson scored 10 for the Sparks (3-6).
DiJonai Carrington scored 16 points and JJ Quinerly had a career-high 14 for Dallas (1-8). Luisa Geiselsoder had 11 points and 10 rebounds for her first double-double. Kaila Charles had 10 points.
Dallas has yielded 90-plus points three times during its four-game losing streak.
