Wednesday, May 20, 2026

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Financial Comics and Cartoons - Investing.com

DROUGHT: Colorado River forecast worsens - AZPM

“This could potentially be a pretty big bucket of projects,”

WATER May 20, 2026

Water users around the west seek billions in federal drought help as Colorado River forecast worsens

Stakeholders signing onto the emergency funding request range from the Navajo Nation to Routt County in northwest Colorado to the National Audubon Society. by Scott Franz, KUNC

AZPM News

5 hours ago

Water users around the west seek billions in federal drought help as Colorado River forecast worsens - AZPM

It’s not clear yet how the money would be distributed among several states in a river basin where political fights and an impasse over how to share water long-term have persisted even during a historic drought.

The funding request arrived a week after federal hydrologists said Lake Powell, the largest reservoir in the upper basin, is on track to receive the lowest amount of runoff in its history.
The Interior Department last month started pulling massive amounts of water out of Flaming Gorge Reservoir on the Wyoming-Utah border to boost flows down into Powell and prevent it from getting so low that it stops generating electricity.

This story is part of ongoing coverage of the Colorado River, produced by KUNC in Colorado and supported by the Walton Family Foundation. KUNC is solely responsible for its editorial coverage.

Anyone shocked?

Drought panel recommends – again – that drought emergency status in Arizona continue

According to the NWS forecasts, the strong El Niño condition also brings with it a 46 percent probability that Summer 2026 will prove to be hotter than normal. Like we haven’t seen that before.

Unsurprisingly, the predictions for atmospheric conditions going into the next six months, combined with a report from Arizona State Climatologist Dr. Erinanne Saffell on the recent winter conditions, which were often much hotter and drier than normal, the panel, co-chaired by ADWR Director Tom Buschatzke, opted to recommend that the Governor continue with the state’s drought emergency declaration.

Seasonal precipitation outlook for Jan-Feb-Mar 2027

The ICG is an advisory group to the Arizona Governor composed of over 20 federal state agencies and tribes that considers whether to recommend the continuation of a drought declaration to the Governor.

That is its formal function. Additionally, the biannual meetings of the ICG also serve as perhaps the premier analysis of weather and precipitation conditions in Arizona and the Southwest for the six-month period immediately preceding the meeting and for projections and expectations for weather and precipitation for the coming six months. Additionally the meetings provide briefings on conditions on the Salt River Project watershed and on the conditions of state and tribal forests.

Drought Monitor - University of Nebraska–Lincoln

8 hours ago

Current Conditions | U.S. Drought Monitor

AOL.com

11 hours ago

Northeast to see soggy weekend as much-needed rain helps ease drought conditions

COMING SOON Hit Hulu TV Show Renewed for Season 2 After Impressive Milestone

AOL.com

59 minutes ago

Hit Hulu TV Show Renewed for Season 2 After Impressive Milestone

Rahul Majumdar

Wed, May 20, 2026 at 11:08 AM MST

Hit Hulu TV Show Renewed for Season 2 After Impressive Milestone — Photo Credit: Hulu

Hulu renews one of its biggest new TV shows for Season 2 after strong streaming numbers. It saw a significant growth in viewership, amassing over 45 million hours streamed globally.

What hit Hulu TV show has been renewed for Season 2?

Chase Infiniti’sThe Testaments is returning for a second season. The show, a sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale and based on Margaret Atwood’s 2019 novel, premiered on Hulu earlier in April. It received positive reviews and impressive viewership, as reported by Deadline.

As per the report, The Testaments garnered over 11 million hours streamed globally in its first eight days. More impressively, viewership rose 76% by the eighth episode compared to the premiere.

“The series follows young teens Agnes, dutiful and pious, and Daisy, a new arrival and convert from beyond Gilead’s borders. As they navigate the gilded halls of Aunt Lydia’s elite preparatory school for future wives, a place where obedience is instilled brutally and always with divine justification, their bond becomes the catalyst that will upend their past, their present, and their future,” reads its official synopsis.

The Testaments stars Ann Dowd, Chase Infiniti, Lucy Halliday, Mabel Li, Amy Seimetz, Brad Alexander, Rowan Blanchard, Mattea Conforti, Zarrin Darnell-Martin, Eva Foote, Isolde Ardies, Shechinah Mpumlwana, Birva Pandya, and Kira Guloien.

The series is created by showrunner and executive producer Bruce Miller. It is executive produced by Warren Littlefield, Elisabeth Moss, Steve Stark, Shana Stein, Maya Goldsmith, John Weber, Sheila Hockin, Daniel Wilson, Fran Sears, and Mike Barker. The Testaments is produced by MGM Television and 20th Television.

While the show’s first season hasn’t ended its run yet, it’s currently sitting at a respectable 87% on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 53 reviews. Its season finale will release on May 27, 2026.

The Testaments is streaming on Hulu and on Disney+ via the Hulu tab.

The post Hit Hulu TV Show Renewed for Season 2 After Impressive Milestone appeared first on ComingSoon.net - Movie Trailers, TV & Streaming News, and More.

Renewed TV Shows 2026

Kelli Boyle

Wed, May 20, 2026 at 9:50 AM MST

Tracy Morgan and Daniel Radcliffe in 'The Rise and Fall of Reggie Dinkins' - Scott Gries / NBC

New year, new TV! With 2025 over and done, it’s now time to look ahead to the 2026 calendar year, which has an exciting lineup of returning shows, spinoffs, and new titles.

HBO has renewed Industry for Season 5 (the final season), Euphoria has returned with Season 3, and two Game of Thronesprequels — A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms and House of the Dragon— are coming back for second and fourth seasons, respectively. AMC‘s acclaimed dramas Dark Windsand Interview With the Vampire (entitled The Vampire Lestat in Season 3) are coming back, too.

Over on PBS, we have returning dramas All Creatures Great and Small and the final season of Miss Scarlet, plus more seasons of the new costume drama The Forsytes to look forward to. Starz is releasing the final season of its time-traveling epic, Outlander, and Hulu is bringing back Rivals. Speaking of “rivals,” HBO Max‘s instant hit, Heated Rivalry, is also getting a second season.

As 2026 presses on, studios will be announcing what shows they’re renewing for more seasons. Here, we’re compiling a list of every TV show that’s coming back this year and beyond so you can keep track of it all. We’ll continue to update this list as more renewals are announced.

ABC NEWS: Lake Mead, Lake Powell facing dire projections going into summer months

Lake Mead and Lake Powell are the largest reservoirs in the U.S. Together, they store about 80% of the water supplies in the Colorado River system, Mark Squillace, professor of natural resources at the University of Colorado, told ABC News.

More than 40 million people rely on the river system for water, according to the Bureau.

Worsening snow drought in the West will have cascading impacts, experts say

Apart from actual water supplies, one of the biggest concerns for hydrologists is whether enough water remains in the reservoirs to operate hydropower systems. Another 2.5 million people are supplied by hydropower conducted in the Colorado River's hydroelectric facilities, such as the Hoover and Glen Canyon dams.

YouTube

22 hours ago

Lake Powell Water Level Update! 2025 Drought Worsens - YouTube

Nothing said. . .

ECONOMIST EL-ERIAN: 'Four to eight weeks' left to avoid a recession unless the Strait of Hormuz opens

The global economy is running out of time. That's the stark assessment from Mohamed El-Erian, who was CEO of PIMCO and chair of former President Obama's Global Development Council.

Mohamed El-Erian:

'Four to eight weeks' left to avoid a recession unless the Strait of Hormuz opens — if not, the world ‘will look very different'

Emma Caplan-Fisher

May 2, 2026

Mohamed El-Erian, Chief Economic Adviser of Allianz

The global economy is running out of time. That's the stark assessment from Mohamed El-Erian, who was CEO of PIMCO and chair of former President Obama's Global Development Council.

He recently put a precise deadline on what has become a pressing economic crisis, stating it will "avoid a recession, provided — and here's the important thing — the Straits are reopened in the next four to eight weeks. If they're not … it will look very different,"

--- Fortune reported. (1)

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The Strait of Hormuz — the narrow waterway shared between Iran and Oman connecting the Persian Gulf to the open ocean — has been largely blocked since February 28, when the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran, killing Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Iran closed the Strait in retaliation, and commercial traffic dropped more than 90% almost immediately. (2)

The consequences for global energy markets have been severe. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), roughly 20 million barrels of oil per day transit the Strait, representing around 25% of all global seaborne oil trade, with the vast majority destined for Asian markets. (3)

The IEA has described the situation as the "largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market." (4)

And there's little sign of a quick resolution. A Congressional Research Service report noted Iranian forces carried out over a dozen attacks on ships in and around the Strait after an Iranian official threatened vessels transiting the waterway in March. (5)

Though a conditional ceasefire is in place, "almost no shipping has used the strait and it remains effectively closed," according to the UK House of Commons Library. (6)

What this means for Americans

El-Erian acknowledged that the U.S. is comparatively insulated — its domestic energy production and agile economy offer a buffer unavailable to Europe or Asia.

But that doesn't mean the country's unaffected. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, imports still made up 17% of U.S. energy supply in 2024. (7)

The indirect effects of a global oil shock are already visible at the pump. AAA data shows the national average price of a gallon of regular gasoline stands at $4.39 as of May 1 (8) — up from $2.98 on February 26, days before the conflict began. (9)

According to the Center for American Progress, Americans are paying roughly 35% more for gas than they were before the war started (10), and almost 70% say they're concerned about high gas prices as a result, per a Pew Research Center poll. (11)

Meanwhile, research from Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley found that the oil price shock from the Iran conflict has nearly entirely wiped out the consumer tax benefits from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, and for lower-income Americans, the math may actually be negative, Fortune reports. (12)

The recession warning

Moody's chief economist Mark Zandi has been equally blunt about the domestic outlook. In a recent note, he described U.S. growth as "fragile" — sufficient to avoid contraction for now, but not sustainable enough to drive meaningful job creation. (1)

Unemployment, he noted, is drifting higher even as it remains historically low.

"Even if the Iran war winds down and oil prices recede quickly, the fallout will ensure there is no GDP pickup or job growth this year," Zandi wrote. "Unemployment will rise further, and already considerable recession risks will worsen." (1)

Deutsche Bank's Jim Reid reinforced the concern, noting that investors are now "pricing in a more protracted conflict," with longer-dated oil futures climbing to their highest levels since the standoff began. (1)

For ordinary Americans, El-Erian's four-to-eight-week window is the one to watch. Whether it's the price of a tank of gas, the rising cost of groceries or the stability of a job market already showing cracks, the outcome at the Strait of Hormuz is expected to land close to home.