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DW.com's Ines Pohl says the U.S. presidential election campaign in 2016 with Donald Trump is a reflection of the state of American society today. She says lets not kid ourselves, what is happening is a reflection of the changes in society, demagogy as a reflection of the society we live in- people's lack of interest in serious issues, the loudest getting heard, less interest in checking the facts, and looking for a good show or entertainment in the debate. She points to problems in today's society, new technologies in media, that have fostered a new kind of shallowness. This includes fragmented social media groups, media that allows scapegoat theories to thrive, and elites or people in authority that lack the ability to respond to the challenges posed by this. She rightly points out that it goes beyond this campaign season and will continue into the future till it is resolved. What would Abraham Lincoln think of this, or what would George Washington or Thomas Jefferson think of this? LyrArc has frequently quoted these lines from a letter by Washington to Jefferson in Feb. 1783, and in the First Letter from the Editor- "To merit the approbation of good and virtuous citizens is the height of my ambition;  and will be a full compensation for all my toils and sufferings in the long and painful contest that we have been engaged." Washington told his countrymen in his draft of the First Inaugural Address that "there is no truth more thoroughly established, than that there exists in the economy and course of nature, an indissoluble union between virtue and happiness, between duty and advantage, between the genuine maxims of an honest and magnanimous policy, and the solid rewards of public prosperity and felicity." This has profound meaning and is truly applicable in meeting the challenges America and Europe face today.   ...

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Le Monde shows Fontainebleau Forest just 60 miles from Paris as a adaptable forest with ONF help 2025. ONF is the National Forestry Office in France, and its regional unit's deputy head, Mr. Boudin, describes how ONF has made this forest a lab for adaptable forests management. Its DEPERIS protocol puts drones over the forest to categorize 765 trees in categoreis from A to D. About 40% of the forest is suffering effects of shortage of water as the forest is on a sandy plain increasing the effects of drought and heat in summers. Another ONF plan is to plant 60,000 seedlings of downy oak, beech and other saplings each year, protecting areas of trees that need protection. In this way it is 20 years of other forests in other parts of the world.

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A open conversation with the NYT's Baker, Schmidt and Haberman by president Trump in mid July 2017. This conversation of the president with the NYT is remarkable for its frankness about people close to the president during the election campaign, particularly Jeff Sessions of Alabama. Sessions was the only leading Senator in Congress who supported Mr. Trump from the beginning. Southern states came out heavily for Mr. Trump as part of the traditional Republican base. Trump says of Sessions that had he known Sessions was going to recuse himself from the Russia investigation he would not have appointed Sessions as the new Attorney General. About Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein Trump says he should never have appointed Mueller as Special Counsel. The president also says Mueller should stay only with information related to Russia and not stray from that to delve into Trump's finances. During the election efforts were made to get Mr. Trump to disclose more about his finances as a real estate businessman- most of these efforts failed and not much is known about president Trump's finances. The president says he never said he would order the Justice Department to fire Mr. Mueller, yet he left open this possiblility, according to the NYT, as the president feels it has affected the first 6 months of the Trump presidency. This interview with president Trump was published on July 20, 2017, the day after an editorial in the WSJ by the Editorial Board of the Journal on July 19, 2017, calling for transparency from president Trump on the Russia investigation. This was an exceptional and powerful editorial by its editorial board telling president Trump that he must tell everything he knows now or face the risk of losing public confidence, and risk his presidency. It said that president Trump was wrong to think that his larger than life personality and social media role could insulate him from the effects of this lack of transparency. ...

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Real Madrid wins the Copa del Rey for the first time since 1994. It now heads into the Champions League. Many of the players are of vintage quality from Karim Benzema, Danny Carvajal, Luka Modric, Toni Kroos, Marco Asensio, and are a match for Pep Guardiola's winning team at Manchester City.

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Across the US a high percentage of people have seasonal allergies- over 25% in adults and 19% in children. A research institute at University of Utah found that higher temperatures from climate change leads to higher pollen counts. A warmer winter and warmer temperatures earlier than usual have worsened allergies in 2023.

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The Guardian's analysis of what the Sunak austerity budget means for the Labour party, as it prepares alternative policies for growth and a better standard of living for the British people. Can failed Tory policies, favoring certain interests, still lead to dismal results for Labour, asks The Guardian.

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A prolonged war increases world food insecurity says this report in DW.com, including a danger of famine in some parts of the world. Ukraine and Russia together provide about a fourth of the world's wheat and other foodgrains. Many Middle Eastern countries and African countries face food shortages.

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Jacinda Ardern quits as New Zealand's leader citing burnout. She loses the support of provincial New Zealand after two years of lockdowns created strong sentiment against her. Ardern was prime minister for 5 years yet failed to implement many of the progressive reforms of the Labour party.  

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US president Biden's State of the Union address comes at a new inflection point in history for the US, the European Union and India. The Ukraine crisis and setting the US response, as well as US response to the neglect of infrastructure, healthcare, social cohesion during the last two decades.

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The city of Sheffield, a major city in the days of Britain's industrial revolution in the 19th  and early 20th century is where the game of soccer started. An effort to revive the city. NYT tells the story of soccer in a bygone era and its role in Sheffield.

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Prasar Bharati takes the DoorDarshan archives to give this excellent rendering of the Nehru speech announcing India's freedom "at the stroke of the midnight hour when the world sleeps India awakes to life and freedom."  "A moment comes which comes but rarely in history..." 

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Ukraine's effort to cut into Russian lines and divide them in two by reaching for the Sea of Azov has stalled. Russian offensives in the north and east are also stalled. Russia has set itself in a war economy and mobilized 400,000 soldiers giving it an advantage in numbers. 

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Rosalynn Carter attended Cabinet meetings and took notes. She said "If I did'nt, there is no way I could discuss things with Jimmy in an intelligent way." In some ways she was more active and advised on decisions made by the president than Eleanor Roosevelt with Franklin Roosevelt FDR.

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Germany's second quarter GDP drops by 10.1%. For the year 2020 a 2.8% drop in GDP is expected. The jobless rate held steady at 6.4% unchanged from June. About 6.7 million people are enrolled in a German state funded furlough scheme in May up from 6.1 million in April.

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Israel informed the US 6 hours before military target strikes on Iran. This followed 180 ballistic missiles launched by Iran against Israel. This report says Israel has followed president Biden's advice not to strike oil targets. Biden said if I were the Israelis I would not strike oil targets. 

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Tim Walz shown as a local music fan in this report by Marc Tracy. A fan of Bob Dylan and the Prince. Did you know Bob Dylan was from Duluth Minnesota? And of Bruce Springsteen - specifically "Nebraska- Reason to Believe" a favorite of Nebraska's own Tim Walz. 

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French parliament passes 2025 PM Bayrou Budget. Two no confidence motions are defeated from Insoumise party of Melenchon. Parti Socialiste and National Rally RN support the budget to get it passed. France passes through uncertainty as the Bayrou government is in it's first year and the National Assembly is divided.

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The possibility that Marie Le Pen would support Jean-Luc Melenchon's France Unbowed party on the left for a no confidence vote against Francois Bayrou, the new PM of France appointed by president Macron. Socialists under Francois Hollande and the Greens say they will wait to see how Bayrou performs.

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South Korea's crowded hospital environment and Asian culture of being in continual close proximity for caretakers lets the MERS virus spread. The government's failure to alert hospitals of known cases means doctors are totally unaware of the MERS outbreak until many patients with MERS were transferred to larger hospitals in Seoul. The result inhaled droplets of MERS virus and rapid spread. The government feared there would be panic in the neighborhoods and acted too late. The known cases of MERS virus reached 95 cases, and 2500 people are being monitored. All this happened in a few days- The first infected patient was at an hopital in Asan, south of Seoul on May 12-14, 2015. He was sent to a larger hospital St Mary's in Pyeongtaek, near Seoul, with no one knowing he had been to Saudi Arabia and the UAE. From there he was transferred to Samsung Medical Center in Seoul, and he was diagnosed for MERS virus on May 20. By this time 37 people at MERS were infected, and one of them admitted to Samsung hospital in Seoul infected a large number of people there. President Park Geun-hye's Gallup Korea approval rating dropped six percentage points to 34%, and the government moved to make an "all-out response."...

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India's ruling BJP party wins 103 seats and is leading in one more seat in the 2018 Karnataka state assembly elections. This compares with 40 seats in the last election in 2013. The Congress party won 78 seats down from 122 seats in the 2013 election. A regional party Janata Dal won 37 seats. 113 seats are needed to have a majority and form the next government. The elections here could influence the national elections in 2019. India's tech city of Bangalore is the capital of Karnataka state. For the BJP Party is was critical to win the state as it prepares for the national elections in 2019 to advance its rapid infrastructure development program in India, and increase foreign investment in India's economy.

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Rinku Singh cricketer from Aligarh who hit six sixes off the last 6 balls in a IPL cricket league game in Ahmedabad for an improbable win over the Gujarat Titans.

"I hadn't even started playing cricket when I was asked to take up a job along with my brother. It was to mop the floor of a coaching center. I refused. I did't have academics to back me. Yet I chose cricket."

"I have worked really hard on my game. I only wanted to play cricket as I knew there was nothing else for me. I focused only on cricket. It is paying dividends now."

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The Iran nuclear deal of 2015 begins to unravel as the European Union takes the first step towards the reimposing of sanctions. Britain, France and Germany triggered a dispute settlement mehanism in the agreement which can result in the United Nations reimposing international sanction on Iran's economy, banks, and top officials within 2 months. This follows Iran's resumption of nuclear activities banned under the agreement. Earlier the U.S. withdrew from the agreement and the European Union tried to save the agreement. Recent tensions and the U.S. insistence on the renegotiating for a new agreement have led to this collapse of the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran.

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After China's economy shrank by 6.8% in the first quarter the outlook is looking increasingly uncertain. Premier Li Keqiang stated at the start of an annual parliament meeting that China will now scrap the annual economic target due to the huge uncertainty from the coronavirus, and the world economic and trading environment. New tensions over Hong Kong's autonomous status are adding to the trade tensions between the U.S. and China, and tensions over early handling of coronavirus by China. China recently announced new national security legislation for Hong Kong, and Mr. Trump says the U.S. would act "very strongly" against any effort to gain more control over Hong Kong.

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The 2018 budget deal brings Democrats and Republicans together by increasing defense and domestic spending both by about 10%. Spending caps are to be lifted by $500 billion over 2 years with 60% of this going to defense spending increases to bolster America's defense capabilities. Defense spending is a top priority for Republicans.  For Democrats this means staving off some cuts in Medicaid and Medicare, more college affordability funding, and 4 year extension of the Children's Health Insurance program that had expired, funding community health centers for another 2 years.

This also shows that both sides can reach agreement even with divisive rhetoric and serious differences over policies.

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A power outage at its Atlanta headquarters leads to cancellation of 650 Delta flights on August 8, 2016, and disruptions to its airlines reservations system. Older technology that was not updated during the airline's lean years, a problem affecting most airlines, is seen as the cause of the problem. Airline experts say that after the merger with Northwest Airlines older systems of one airline were integrated with older systems of the parent airline. This disruption follows one at Southwest Airlines and shows the need for updating the obsolete technology. Delta's hard won reputation as one  of the better airlines has suffered as a result.