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The opposition in China and South Korea to Japan's release of slightly radioactive water into the sea stems from a distrust of Japanese data that supported by the International Atomic Energy Agency says the discharge does not affect public health. By next March 2% of the accumulated water will be released. In all 1.2 million tons are planned to be released over 30 years starting August 24, 2023. That water contains small quantities of radioactive tritium which Japan says is less than what Chinese nuclear plants release into the sea. TEPCO which manages the Fukushima plant decommissioning says it will post the data on release and level of radioactive material on its website with comparison to the levels seen as not affecting health that WHO has set.

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The redevelopment of the classic Egmore railway station in Chennai at a cost of 734 crores is set to take off. It is a much needed renovation for Chennai and will take 36 months and bring it to international standards under PM Gati Shakti Master Plan for Inter Modal Connectivity. Egmore station handles 1.2 million people daily and is one of the oldest rail stations in India, and one that connects the south with Sri Lanka. Hyderabad based DEC is beginning the initial survey and plans to make this a showcase for other rail stations in India in the drive to modernization.

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Germany's state development bank KfW has signed a memorandum of understanding with German energy company RWE AG to build a new LNG terminal at the northern port city of Brunsbuttel. Netherlands infrastructure group Gasunie will operate the new LNG terminal. The Nordstream 2 $11 billion project is now set aside and Germany plans to use the LNG terminals and other sources outside of Russia. Germany commissioned its gas market trading hub to buy LNG of 1.5 billion euros. 

Germany will now fast track another LNG terminal on the North Sea at Wilhelmshaven. That terminal would be operational in 3 years. 

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As president Biden signs the biggest Climate Bill in history Jim Tankersley says there is still more to be done. In addition to the work remaining for children, women and families, he mentions the Civilian Climate Corps with financing for $10 billion that is patterned on the Civilian Conservation Corps set up during the Depression by FDR, which is still to be passed. This would form "the next generation of conservation and resilience workers," says Biden. Much like the 3 million people who helped build parks, cut trails and planted trees around the US in the 1930's and 1940's under FDR.

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NYT's Brad Plumer looks at the assessment of a report from REPEAT (Princeton), MIT, and Rhodium on how well the Biden Climate laws are building renewable energy- how well this is working to tackle climate change goals. The goal set by BIden was a 40% reduction over 2005 greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. Electric car sales are moving at a pace that is consistent with the goals but renewable energy instead of being at an average of 46 gigawatts of carbon free electricity for 2023 and 2024 is falling short as it was at 32 gigawatts carbon free electricity for the US in 2023.

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China's efforts to rescue the housing industry and construction industry will be limited as the government is now concerned not to set off another bubble like that in the past. Assistance will be limited to unsold apartments which local governments can now buy to use for affordable housing, and $42 billion is provided for a central government fund to buy apartments that are unsold. This will reduce excessive inventory and the government will stop at that point no wanting to create new bubbles. Attention is now focused on increasing manufacturing of electric vehicles for export and other manufacturing in solar, renewable energy.

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The knowledge that the virus  caused human to human transmission and that it spreads to wide parts of the population very quickly were critical pieces of information that remained with Chinese epidemiologists, doctors and medical researchers, and were suppressed by local authorites in Wuhan.  Yet China's version of the U.S. CDC, China's Centre of Disease Control and Prevention, modeled on the U.S. control efforts worked effectively to identify the problem. Virologist Gao Fu, heads China's CDC. This report in Germany's Der Spiegel says Mr. Fu made it a habit to scan China's internet before bedtime for any signs of possible disease outbreaks. On the night of December 30 he came across rumors of an internal memo from the Wuhan Health Commission of an outbreak of a vaguely worded lung disease. When he called the Wuhan health authority he found their answers to be evasive which alarmed him. The next morning December 31 Mr. Fu sent the first of three teams to Wuhan which is how China was able to identify the problem, in the sense that Chinese authorites in Beijing were to rely on Dr Gao Fu to overcome the problem of Wuhan provincial authorites. He informed the World Health Organization Beijing office on that day. The Der Spiegel report says "shortly afterward," the Seattle Times in its report says this was about New Years Day 2020- Mr Fu made a call to Dr. Redfield, head of the U.S. Centre for Disease Control, who was on vacation. Redfield is deeply disturbed on hearing this from Fu and they have conversations over the next few days to the point that Dr. Gao Fu is in tears about what has happened. On January 1 Taiwanese public health authorites shared the information with WHO that the cornonavirus was a human to human transmission, would the Taiwanese authorites not have shared it with the U.S. the same week during calls from the U.S. CDC or other public health authorites alarmed about the situation. (The WHO was proving useless by Jan 14 when it contradicted Taiwan's more reliable assessment  on Jan 14 going by the letter from president Trump to WHO). On January 6 a few days later Dr Redfield and Dr. Azar head of Health and Human Services ask China for permission to send a team of CDC U.S. experts to China. This is cited in the U.S. letter to the World Health organization- the lack of human to human transmission information being given to the U.S. officially early by China. A risk that could have been a topic of conversation between the U.S. and China heads of CDC. That letter from president Trump also points out that the team of experts the U.S. planned to send was not accepted by China till Feb 16, one and half months after that series of conversations between Dr. Gao Fu of China CDC and Dr. Redfield of U.S. CDC in an alert message.  In effect removing one of the key defences for the U.S. and Europe in making their own defensive actions and plans, laying the basis of the worldwide coronavirus pandemic affecting millions of people. Dr Redfield is a AIDS researcher at the University of Maryland who spent most of his life trying to control spread of HIV and was appointed by president Trump to head CDC agency in 2018. He set a goal of eliminating AIDS by 2030 and is more comfortable with aids patients and research than the bureaucratic nature of agencies- CDC has about 11,000 employees. Once it was clear that a team of U.S. experts was not given permission to make its own assessment in Wuhan in the few days after January 6 offer to sent the team to China by Redfield of U.S. CDC and Dr. Azar, would it have alerted the U.S. that something was seriously heading the wrong way for a epidemic risk. That letter of president Trump cites how the head of WHO during the first SARS crisis in 2003, Dr. Harlem Brundtland acted when she faced China's lack of cooperation during that crisis by saying openly that this was a danger to world public health and millions. Could CDC in the U.S. and the other connected health authorites have taken the responsibility and filled Dr Brundtland's role in this crisis, that the WHO failed to perform?    ...

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The Haqqani network based in Afghanistan and Pakistan is a key part of the Taliban forces in the tribal areas along the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan. It has ties to Pakistan's Intelligence Service. The Haqqani network was behind an attack on the U.S. embassy in Kabul on Sept. 13, 2011.

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A labor shutdown that nearly shut down the US economy says the Washington Post is a result of policies set by the BSNF management for attendance on freight trains by engineers and other workers. It resulted in a tragedy. Hiles, 51, suffered a heart attack on June 16. He missed a doctor's appointment because he was called back to work. Not showing up could have invited penalties under strict attendance policies of BSNF, one of the largest rail carriers in the US. Aaron Hiles told his wife he felt different, then he made an appointment to see a doctor. On June 16 the locomotive engineer suffered a heart attack and died in an engine room on a BSNF freight train somewhere between Kansas City and Fort Madison, Iowa. President Biden has stepped in and arranged an agreement that includes time off when needed for medical reasons and a 24% increase in pay by 2024.

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The size of the stimulus package announced at 4 trillion yuan ($586 billion) involves only 1 trillion yuan in new spending according to analysts, the larger number was announced to bolster consumer and company sentiment. Export order are falling quickly from 27% increase in 2007 over 2006, to 21% increase in Sept 2008, to 19% increase in October 2008. over same month prior year. But imports are falling more quickly which is not good news for European exporters like Germany and for American exporters except for infrastructure exporters, and for commodities exporters like Brazil, Australia and Canada. In October imports slowed from 21% in September to 15% in October, which actually increased China's trade surplus from $29 billion in September to $35 billion in October. Exports of iron ore from Australia and Brazil are down and machinery from Germany. For China's urban middle class and rural poor the one relief is in inflation for fuel and food, the consumer price index rose 4% in October compared to 4.6% in September and down from a peak of 8.7% in February 2008. The spending will come in infrastructure including railways. Railways construction spending will be increased from 300 billion yuan in 2008 to 350 billion yuan and double to 600 billion yuan in 2009. This is expected to create 80,000 new jobs to replace jobs lost in the toys and furniture export sectors and other job losses. ...

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The US central bank the Fed's Powell leaves interest rates unchanged July 30, 2025- as he waits to see what happens with inflation following tariffs action by DJT to level playing field with EU, Japan, China. A tariff of 15% is set in US Trade Agreements with Japan, EU and South Korea. Powell says the impact on US consumers will be minimal but not zero, with some effects expected even though EU, Japan and South Korea will not attempt to pass through the tariffs and risk the other benefits of trade access to the US market.

Overall both the European Union and the US have a good economy, with inflation at 2% and the the unemployment situation the best it has been in some decades near 6% in EU and near 4% in the US. 

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The impact of HSBC's large deposit base on the banking operations. HSBC has $1.2 trillion in deposits and $1 trillion in assets, and $100 billion still there for lending before it hits the 90% loan to deposit ceiling set by the bank. Nixon says this large deposit base may have led HSBC into a badly planned international expansion and the disastrous acquisition of Household Finance leading to loss of $15 billion.

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Anna Botin, new CEO of Banco Santander says she is acting on the three goals she set for the bank- to increase the number of independent directors on the board, bring in new management, and strengthen its capital cushion. Santander moved to increase its capital cushion to 10% under Basel III rules by selling 1.2 billion shares at 6.18 euros each to raise $8.8 billion in Jan. 2015.

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Unemployment in Fort Wayne, Indiana, is 6.8%, and 14,600 workers are looking for a job. Peters and Wessel talk to employers in this midwestern U.S. city and find that employers are looking for people in manufacturing with just the right set of skills, in other cases the benefits and parttime local school system jobs paying $8-$12 per hour with no benefits go unfilled because of the lower wage.

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UK's Keir Starmer makes 6 pledges to the British people- "Living standards should rise so that growth was felt by everyone, everywhere." Real household disposable income per person, GDP per capita by 2029. Build 1.5 million new homes in 5 years and fast track 150 planning decisions on major infrastructure projects. 92% of patients have to wait no more than 18 weeks for routine operations and appointments by March 2029. 29,000 officers for neighborhood policing and stopping anti-social behavior-1 for every 8000 people. 95% of low carbon electricity generation by 2030. 5% gas generation kept in reserve for unanticipated situations. It is Boris Johnson's target from 2022 in contrast to DJT's reverting to oil and gas to 2027 with industry following its continued but slower shift to gas and wind/solar. A pledge on living standards as the goal not growth is what Starmer sees as the dire need today. Growth that would put the UK ahead of all countries in the G7 is put aside for raising living standards for ALL the British people. A recognition that the two can mean very different things. Under the current plan fufilfillment of pledges is seen in the growth rate of 0.5% a year that is set in 2024. ...

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Prime minister Edouard Philippe of France sets out the detailed plan for reopening the country in phases starting April 28.

Key points-

Masks will be compulsory, travel between regions will be restricted.

New method of social distancing on subways operating at 70% of capacity- leaving an empty seat between 2 persons both wearing masks. Reduced trains scheduled between regions.

No gatherings of more than 10 people.

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The US government shutdown ends with Republicans + 8 Democrats in Senate voting to end shutdown on November 10, 2025. This keeps the filibuster voting rule which requires 60 votes to pass. Support of some Democrats was essential to make this happen. After bipartisan negotiations 7 Democratic Senators and Angus King Independent from Maine split with their party leaders Schumer and Jeffries of New York who called for a 1 year extension of Obama ACA healthcare subsidies which the Republicans opposed.  Democrats ensured the funding for SNAP benefits continues to Sept 2026 and the 4000 federal layoffs would be reversed and prevent future layoffs in the federal workforce. Democratic Senators voting with Republicans were Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen of Nevada, Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire. Tim Kaine of Virginia and Dick Durbin of Illinois joined the Senators from New Hampshire and Nevada. John Fetterman who has voted independently of the Democrat party to meet views of Pennsylvania constituents supported the move. This splits New Hampshire, Maine, Nevada, Illinois and Pennsylvania from the Schumer-Jeffries leadership from New York. Tim Kaine voted with Republicans by getting them to agree to reverse federal workforce layoffs, get back pay and stop layoffs. King, Hassan and Shaheen formed the core of Democrats who believed there was no chance Obama ACA subsidies would be extended for another year as long as shutdown continued whereas there was some chance after it ended. Both Senators from Nevada Rosen and Masto were following the needs of their constituents, and so was Fetterman of Pennsylvania. ...

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Public health experts warn that it is essential that countries reopening their economy have a reproduction ratio of much less than 1.0 so that the rate of increase is under control. Germany's Robert Koch Institute which advises the German government says the reproduction ratio which was 0.70 in mid April is now up to 0.96 after creeping back up. This is based on a mathematical model and extrapolated from infection numbers several weeks back.  It doesn't reflect the change by recent easing of lockdown measures starting with reopening smaller stores. This validates the careful approach adopted by France which was put forward by prime minister Edouard Philippe in his address to the National Assembly. The Assembly approved the plan 368 to 100. More legislation will back up the French government's authority to ban non essential travel between French departments and the creation of a large brigade to perform contract tracing. That involves finding testing and isolating everyone potentially infected, using dedicated locations. Detailed restrictions on travel, work and gatherings will take effect when France reopens partially on May 11.  France is also putting resources behind its testing program to test every person having coronavirus symptoms, and all they are in contact with. That means about 700,000 tests a week. Officials will generate a color coded map from this with red areas facing more restrictions than green areas. Student size is capped at 115 per class. Cafes, restaurants, movie theatres and large museums will remain closed. Gatherings of more than 10 banned. Those who can work from home asked to do so. Public transit users will be required to use masks, and marks on platforms will indicate the social distance required. Only essential travel is allowed more than 62 miles from home. These rules remain till June 2, when new ones will be set. Large music festivals and sporting events are canceled till the fall. Mr. Philippe says "these efforts will not be in vain and should allow us to arrange for a better summer season." ...

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!5,000 of the 25,000 coronavirus cases recorded in India on March 14, 2021 are in the state of Maharashtra, with the rest mostly in 6 other states, including Kerala. 

A team sent by the government in New Delhi to Maharashtra found the increase in cases in the state due to- "lack of fear of the disease," pandemic fatigue, missed cases, super spreading events from recent panchayat elections, marraiges, reopening of schools, and crowded public transport. The report  says that these factors are not unique to only Maharashtra and apply for other affected states also, including Kerala, Punjab, Karnataka.

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This article in Zeit Online tries to provide the facts behind Merkel's decision made in a period of 24-48 hours to let refugees marching towards Austria from Keleti station in Budapest, Hungary, September 5, 2015, to enter Germany. Other reports pointed out that too little time was given to make the decision and that it was purely done on humanitarian terms. And made during that short window of time, in which a decision had to be made to turn away the refugees going on foot for hundreds of miles or to turn them away. Given Germany's earlier history the choice was a difficult one but erred on the side of being humanitarian. Though Merkel's selfie with a refugee at a hostel on Sept 10, would seem to suggest otherwise, Merkel has said her decision was made with so little time and little opportunity to understand all the ramifications of this. It was not an open invitation to refugees to come to Germany. 

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Daniel Henninger of the WSJ says the state of opinion that asks does it matter, about the terrorist attack on Benghazi, is misplaced. He watched the movie "13 Hours" on what happened at Benghazi, and says a terrorist group had made plans to attack the American consulate, the depiction in the movie fairly accurate, and the Obama White House version with the 2012 election in two months not accurate. Henninger cites the indictment by a federal grand jury in the District of Columbia of Abu Khatallah. In June 2014 Khatalla was captured by Special Forces for the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi. The indictment says Khatallah and militias "launched a violent attack on the U.S. mission on Sept. 11, at 11.15 pm.." following this up with an attack on the CIA annex.

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Pakistan's foreign currrency reserves of $8.14 billion as of Sept 27 and falling for 14 straight weeks, falling from $16.39 billon in November 2007, are creating a situation in which Pakistan may have to turn to the IMF for emergency assistance. Especially because this covers hardly 2 months of imports of food and oil.

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The structure of the deal that is coming up for a vote in Congress on August 1st, a day before the August 2 deadline. A deal put together mainly by Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell and Vice President Biden after other deals failed. It gives the government $400 billion immediately and another $500 billion in the fall for raising the debt ceiling. Another 1.2 trillion will be added in 2012. The entire burden for raising it falls on Obama. Obama will be able to get the debt ceiling raised without another long struggle before 2012 elections. On spending cuts- agency spending will be cut by $900 billion over the next 10 years. A new legislative committe will be set up to come up with $1.2 trillion in additional savings by the end of 2012. The mechanism that would force the committe to act or make sure spending cuts were taken if the committee failed, was set up as one in which the trigger is to force automatic across the board cuts. The automatic across the board cuts would be for $1.2 trillion to agency budgets for the next 10 years, and split this half and half between domestic programs and defence. Programs aiding the poor including Medicaid and Social Security would be exempted, but Medicare payments to providers could be touched. No new taxes are part of this deal....

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Air pollution concerns are leading China's National Development Reform Commission to set a higher goal for cleaner energy. The NDRC plans a 52 gigawatt increase in installed capacity for green energy in 2013, an increase from 36 gigawatts in 2012. This includes 10 gigawatts for solar energy. Clean energy will take up 57% of additions to installed capacity in 2013, compared to 35% in 2010, according to Tian Miao, an energy anayst at NSBO.

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Mervyn King, Governor of the Bank of England, wants to see stricter requirements than Basel III on capital reserves for U.K. banks. The Bank of England has expressed its strong disapproval of UK banks lobbying activities in Brussels to push for a dilution in Basel III standards. The British government and the Bank of England want to have the flexibility to set their own stricter standards and not to be bound by a relaxed standard set by the EU. The risk to British taxpayers is a principal concern. In the U.S. Fed governor Daniel Tarullo is pushing for capital reserve requirements stricter than Basel III's 7% requirement- calling for a requirement of 10-14%.