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Nicholas Maduro Venezuela's president, on why the U.S. should not impose sanctions on Venezuela, and not support the opposition movement's efforts to oust his government. He calls for better relations with the U.S. and exchange of ambassadors.

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Riots in Riga, Latvia's capital as economic conditions worsen. The President Zatlers says he may dissolve Parliament and call for areferendum if the government does not take the necessary steps to improve economic conditions and restore confidence.

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The President is looking to revive the Nuclear cooperation pact of 2007 that gets Russian cooperation in nuclear matters and for controlling nuclear proliferation. He is also resuming the Nato-Russian dialogue through the Nato Russia Council.

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Getting a bipartisan bill designed by Senator Lindsay Graham, Republican from South Carolina and a bipartisan group of Senators  through Congress is now a priority for the Biden administration. President Biden promises to close the Border the day this is passed into law. It faces hurdles in the House with Speaker Mike Johnson not supporting it. This also stalls progress in aid to Ukraine and other priorities.

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In proposing the constitutional amendment called "No One Is Above the Law Amendment,"  Biden says in today's Wash Post op-ed “This nation was founded on a simple yet profound principle: No one is above the law. Not the president of the United States. Not a justice on the Supreme Court of the United States. No one.”

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Opposition of Republican Senators and the limited political capital of the newly elected president lead Matt Gaetz to withdraw his nomination for Attorney General. Gaetz 42 years, is Congressman from Florida. After a  report on Gaetz was about to be released by the House Ethics Committee looking into allegations, and Republican disapproval in Congress, it was clear that controversial choices would be rejected.

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U.S. president Obama in his speech at the Democratic National Convention describes Hillary Clinton as someone "who has been there for us- even if we haven't always noticed."  He warned against "home grown demagogues," and said " there were no serious solutions to pressing problems" at the Republican convention that was "not conservative, and wasn't particularly Republican."  

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This editorial in the WSJ points to Bernie Sanders 15% lead over Donald Trump in a Jan. 2016 WSJ/NBC poll- with Hillary Clinton having a 10 point lead- as proof that Sanders should be taken seriously. It says that electability of Sanders is no longer an issue, especially because the 2016 election is coming up with many surprises, including a changed election environment. Other possibilities raised in the editorial- the possibility that an independent like Bloomberg might run if Trump is nominated, further increasing the chance for Sanders to be elected president. By splitting the Republican party a Trump or Cruz nomination could also put the House in jeopardy for the Republicans, removing the House as a check if a Democrat is elected president.

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President Obama uses the solemn occasion in memory of the victims of the 9/11 attacks to lay flowers. 60 relatives of victims attended the ceremony days after the killing of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. In an effort to bring closure to the event the President used the occasion to show respect to the victims with silence and no speeches or remarks were made except for a short private address at the "pride of Midtown" firehouse. It was a time to reflect. It was in sharp contrast to the days after the attacks. Not much moved, the cranes on the construction site were silent, only the leaves on the limbs of the pear tree known as the Survivor tree rustled in the wind.

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The U.S. commander in Europe, Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, says Russia respects strength, and the U.S. must add capability in this situation where Russia is no longer a partner with the U.S. and Europe as it appeared to be previously. He sees the U.S. as ready to meet all its commitments and protecting democracy. He also says Twitter is not the best way to communicate policy as president Trump does, and that he receives his instructions through the chain of command.

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The Washington Post's veteran Middle East correspondent, Jim Hoagland, says there are some important lessons to take from the experience in Libya. The Arab rulers who entrenched themselves for decades wasted the bulk of their oil wealth. It was right for Palestinians to disassociate themselves from these regimes. The French took the brunt of the fight in helping Libya free itself from the Gaddafi regime. This is an understatement as without Sarkozy's initative and Cameron's unflagging support, without France and Britain's early support, Gaddafi's forces would have overrun Benghazi and ended the struggle for democracy in this part of the Arab world. U.S. President Obama and Defense Secretary Gates did little in the early days when there was dire need. Germany's chancellor Angela Merkel continuously resisted supporting France and Britain in Libya. The U.S. Obama administration and Turkey gave their support only after the perilous period- when the fate of the rebels fighting for freedom hung on a thread- was past. Hoagland calls Gates view of "feckless Europeans" shortsighted. Hoagland sees this as an opportunity for Europe to take a larger more active role. ...

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Mitt Romney describes his experiences with different companies he worked with at Bain Capital and how he would use that experience in his job as President. One approach he emphasizes is proactive problem solving and tackling problems early.

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Gerald Seib says both Joe Biden and Paul Ryan framed the choices facing voters in the 2012 U.S. presidential election clearly, fervently and well. He says Biden may have overcompensated after president Obama's performance in the first debate.

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Nawaz Sharif's government's handling of foreign affairs and the armed forces is taken away by the Pakistan military in August 2014. Disagreements between the military and Sharif on the prosecution of former president Musharraf led to increased tensions.

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Steve Mollenkompf, chief operating officer and president of Qualcomm, is made the new CEO succeeding Paul Jacobs. Jacobs is the son of the company's founder. He will be the executive chairman, a new position to guide Qualcomm strategy.

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Governor Newsom and the LA riots as events unfold in immigration enforcement of the nation's laws under the mandate received by the president in 2025. Newsom as governor is playing to the politics of standing up to a president seeking to fulfill a mandate that has received support in most parts of the country including California, to make all immigration legal. 

California's sanctuary laws set it up in a collision course with the Nation's immigration law enforcement. This is also true of other states. No matter how it is presented, including peaceful protests, the policies under Obama and the deterioration with open borders under Obama appointed Mayorkas and Biden's egregious lack of proper oversight in 2023 with the largest flow of 2.3 million illegal migrants across the border, have created problems for the Nation that will take time and patience to correct.

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Events before and after the hacking of emails during the U.S. presidential election of 2017 and contacts with Russia of Republican party leaders and campaign officials for the Trump campaign are discussed in this report by the BBC.

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This piece in the WSJ misses a deep understanding of India just as the US media failed to understand China in the years of Japanese imperialism in Asia. India with 1.4 billion people and Indonesia with over 300 million people form 1.7 billion people moving towards modernization by 2047. Much of this will accelerate and be achieved by 2037 by which time India will have the third largest economy in the world and have one that is likely to surpass China in its dynamism and youthful energies. DJT's first responsibility was to America and the World- to bring a quick end to the war in South Asia, and the presence of nuclear weapons is a factor too important for the president to not take this responsibility seriously. DJT also made it clear that the economy is where it is all going to happen- the modernization of India and Indonesia in the way the US had helped each of these nations modernize- Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, China, and now India over 1900-2037. The people of South Asia fully support the US president in this endeavor. ...

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Mark Landler describes the situation on the Syria-Turkey border and Turkey's position. On the same day U.S. Senate leaders McCain and Graham pointed to the contradictions in U.S. president Obama's policies in Syria and Iraq leading to the serious problems in the Middle East. Turkey says the U.S. needs to resolve the contradictions before it can actively commit its forces especially asking the U.S. to establish a no-fly zone in Syria.

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Major changes in NATO-Soviet relations as President Medvedev is invited to join in the NATO summit, and proposals are made for Russia to participate in European missile defence. A meeting in Deauville, France, between Sarkozy and Germany's Merkel.

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The election of Bill Blasio as Mayor in New York, followed by the challenge to Rahm Emmanuel in Chicago, shows the changes in the Democratic Party since the heavily funded 2008 and 2012 election campaigns of U.S. president Obama.

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The European Commission is making efforts to reduce the influence of the ratings of credit ratings agencies. ECB president Mario Draghi says- "We should'nt make too much of these ratings changes by the ratings agencies." With the poor performance of the ratings agencies in putting warning flags on the credit boom in Greece- leaving it to the IMF's Dutch official Bob Traa to sound the warning in mid-2009- there is considerable concern about the reliability of ratings in correctly evaluating risk.

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Though tens of thousands of workers in the French rail network are protesting in the streets about changes in the labor laws, the atmosphere in the National Assembly where president Macron has an absolute majority is different. In the National Assembly most of the legislators are young, inexperienced and there for the first time after the recent elections. Most owe allegiance to president Macron and his party En Marche. The labor code changes were passed without much discussion and on a thumbs up or down vote.  Legislators from Mr. Macron's party are seen by older surviving legislators from an earlier period in French politics as arrogant and do not consult with older legislators. The entire sociology of the National Assembly is overturned and presents a complete culture shock, says a leader of Macron's party who selected members for seats in parliament. Three fourths of members are here for the first time, 60% in Macron's party En Marche. About one third never held public office before. These members spend a whole week in parliament instead of the few days during the earlier Assembly. Yet for all the work and enthusiasm these members act as more of a rubber stamp for Macron's policies instead of offering healthy discussion so that policies can be modified where needed to better accomplish the goal of changing the French system where it can be improved. The result is a form of government that critics increasingly see as autocratic. For Macron this means the lack of a process of consultation that could improve legislation and increase consensus, creating larger support for the changes to the labor laws and the pension system. ...