LyrArc Article Gist
Britain's FSA takes the initiative to put in new liquidity rules to prevent afuture banking crisis. It puts pressure on financial services firms to buy 110 billion pounds of government bonds that would remain liquid in a financial crisis. The rules would be borught in over several stages over the next few years. A week earlier the British government met with executives of the 5 largest banks to agree to install limits to bonuses laid out at the G-20 Summit. THe British are the first to take these steps.

LyrArc Article Gist
Perino, the White House spokewoman says the automaker's plight won't be a blight on President Bush's legacy, such is the mood at the White House and among Republicans. But reading the comments of readers on this piece and next to it. people of all political views oppose helping the automakers so its a popular stand, and practically all think the management and boards has to go and the union contracts have to go so the depth of feeling about this issue is real. Most everyone sees the fault as Detroit auto companies own fault.

LyrArc Article Gist
While German car fleets have reduced fuel consumption by 25% from 1990, BMW suffers from impression of higher fuel consumption with sporty cars. One environmental group shows BMW in 2005 sold cars that have an average 192 grams of CO2 per kilometre above industry average of 162 grams of CO2 per kilometre. The climate change issue is explosive in Germany and the German industry's main lobbying group's president resigned over its image and failures in commnications with public opinion on climate change.

LyrArc Article Gist
Germany is introducing a 49 euro monthly transport ticket for this winter as a followup to the 9 euro transport scheme that was used in the summer months. This will enable users to travel at lower cost on short and long distance public transportation. A one-off payment for gas bills will be introduced for households and businesses in December.

LyrArc Article Gist
The Biodiversity Summit COP15 in Montreal in December is covered in this report in the Guardian. It was meant to be held in Kunming, China but was shifted to Montreal, Canada, because of China's zero Covid policy. China, US, EU, India and other Asian, African, Latin American nations are strong supporters of restoring biodiversity on the planet.

LyrArc Article Gist
A 35% increase in capital spending by the Indian government and crowding in private investment will be the basis of growth in the Indian economy says India's finance minister Ms. Sitharaman at the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meetings in Bali, Indonesia. Sitharaman said evidence based policy making was vital for resilient economy in India.

LyrArc Article Gist
This report in DW.com looks at planting trees pledge of COP26 Glasgow. It says in planting trees it should be done using trees native to the land and the region so that water guzzling trees are not planted and water is conserved. Also important is to protect forests and restore habitats. Grasslands and peatlands are also ways to soak up carbon.

LyrArc Article Gist
Abut 77% of South Koreans support the pardon of the vice chairman of Samsung which will be announced on Liberation Day Aug 15 when Korea was free from Japanese colonial rule.His release will help address the economic crisis in Korea. It also comes as Samsung makes billions of dollars of investments in renewable energy, semiconductors and other products.

LyrArc Article Gist
Big Tech's hiring of US inventors in large numbers can be a problem because once hired they are less productive, says this report in the WSJ. Big companies can discourage innovation because of the number of approvals needed, the corporate bureaucracy, and the need for promotions, more incentives for being cautious than being bold and taking risks.

LyrArc Article Gist
Ezra Klein of the NYT looks at proposed US, EU and Chinese regulatory framework for AI. He points out the problems with the EU- too specific, US- too broad, and China's - state oriented. Klein gives specific points that need to be considered carefully including setting up the regulatory agency like the FDA to strictly regulate AI systems and companies.

LyrArc Article Gist
The need to extend the life of products as this DW.com report points out. It says the world is drowning in rubbish. The concept of a circular economy is to follow nature as a model and ensure that all material be recycled and reused. Five billion tons of plastic have been thrown away since 1950- doing things the wrong way.

LyrArc Article Gist
Some excellent ways to cope with growing stress and anxiety during coronavirus and the elections. The important thing is to move to something else, to take a break and think of something beautiful. A short burst of exercize, a walk can be very helpful. Practice rhythmic yoga type breathing. Try doing some other things that are on your work list.

LyrArc Article Gist
This WSJ report shows ways in which companies are attracting and retaining employees by building homes. One company shown here is building the homes to keep costs down using subcontractors. Costs are kept down so that houses can be built at $200,000, to make them affordable at $1000 a month mortgages for workers earning $40,000 to $100,000.

LyrArc Article Gist
The bursting of the Kakhovka dam leaves the Dnipro river uncrossable and shifts the Ukraine counteroffensive away from the Kherson region and into areas that focus on the land bridge to Crimea. Russian forces in the Kherson region may be moved to other areas. WSJ shows the counteroffensive in different maps of the area around the Sea of Azov.

LyrArc Article Gist
About 24,000 Chinese people from China took the route through Ecuador to the Darien Gap and then to the US border with Mexico. This is the fourth largest group after Venezuelans, Guatemalans and other migrants entering the US. Out of 1.3 million people in the US with orders to be deported 100,000 are Chinese, says this report in NYT.

LyrArc Article Gist
The Indian Express looks at the impact on children for learning and education of the coronavirus pandemic. More children in areas that have lagged behind economically are unable to read in second grade. In some states the number of children who are not able to read second grade text has more than doubled. This can be seen across other grades.

LyrArc Article Gist
Foreign investment at high rates helped China build its middle class. In the first quarter of 2023 it dropped to $20 billion from $100 billion a year earlier. This means about $80 billion will be going elsewhere to increase incomes and the middle class through investments in the US itself, and in countries such as India and Vietnam.

LyrArc Article Gist
If all goes well the U.S. spacecraft Perseverance Rover will land on Mars February 18 after traveling 300 million miles. The nuclear powered Perseverance craft is on a 2 year mission. After 6 weeks from the landing the rover will unpack an experimental robotic helicopter called Ingenuity which will be flight tested in the first powered flight on another planet.

LyrArc Article Gist
The damage tabloids can do in a democracy is covered in this report in NYT. When aspects of the tabloid culture enter the mainstream media the damage can be serious creating an acceptance culture of previously unacceptable behaviors. NYT reports that National Enquirer average weekly sales have fallen from 2 million in 1999 to 56,000 in 2024. 

LyrArc Article Gist
Both Harris and Trump favor increasing Border Security in October 2024. A tough approach being taken by Harris as well as Trump and in Mexico by president Claudfia Sheinbaum in her first 100 days to fight the crime and cartels at the Southern Border.

LyrArc Article Gist
Unlimited water can be drawn from wells in Arizona. How this is affecting the state's water supplies under the ground is shown here in the NYT- with alfalfa grown to ship to Saudi Arabia.

LyrArc Article Gist
Heeding Pascal is the best bet, words from Welch on global warming issue. Instead of taking sides how should business respond. It makes sense to do what Welch says. Now does this apply to other issues such as Hybrid cars how aggressively should one push hybrid technology. There are many aspects including that of image of being first in new technologies and being environmentally conscious, all of which can help in marketing. But hpw many will be sold? It depends on the price of gasoline? Again one will never know for sure what the price of gasoline will be just as one is not sure of global warming. But its a safe bet that companies that push these technologies will be in the best position in the years ahead even as prices of gasoline fluctuate.

LyrArc Article Gist
Small farmowners hate to see good fruit and vegetables go to waste just because of odd shape and appearance, even if it is just as nutritious. EU standards across Europe for fruits and vegetables made it difficult to get this farm produce to consumers. EU standards are now being revised, but supermarkets set their own standards and continue to accept fruit and vegetables only with "a slight defect in shape and development." A study by the Dutch and Swedish governments show Europe wastes 89 million tons of food a year and the two governments called on the EU "to reduce the amount of food waste caused by its labeling system." In Portugal as much as a fourth of the fruits and vegetables are at risk of waste because of such rules, according to small farm owners. Ugly Fruit, is a company trying to get this produce to consumers at lower prices in Lisbon. Farmowners say the idea that quality can be measured only by appearance is a mistake, as nutrition levels and flavor can be the same.

LyrArc Article Gist
Prices of gasoline for automobiles is in the range of 8 dollars a gallon. In France its about 1.40 euros a liter or about $8.20 a gallon. In Spain gasoline costs 1 to 1.25 euros a liter. The cost of a liter of gasoline is up 17% in the UK, 15% in Austria and 8% in France and 7% in Russia, compared to 12 months prior. So are Europeans used to paying higher taxes on gasoline and higher prices for gasoline complaining. Forthe first time gasoline prices are becoming a serious issue in Europe. And there have been strikes across Europe by truckers, fishermen, port workers, farmers and others asking for tax rebates or tax reduction. While Sarkozy in France called for the EU to cap fuel taxes, Gordon Brown of the UK is not in favor of this idea. Many European countries depend on gasoline taxes to support their budgets. European Commission's position is that artificially lowering prices would not help energy conservation and efficient use and is supported by consumer groups. The European Commission said last week that short term relief should be focussed on the poorest families. On the other side the German Federation of Consumer organizations is lobbying the government to spend 5 billion euros in public transportation and 10 billion euros in subsidies to households that install energy saving devices. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
DW.com looks at what it means for first Finland, and then Sweden joining NATO. For Finland the invasion of Ukraine where people speak Russian and have close cultural ties comes as a reminder of past history. Under the treaties that ended the war with Napoleon in 1815 after the Congress of Vienna, Finland was given to Russia and Norway wrested from Denmark was given to Sweden. Jens Stoltenberg now head of NATO is a former prime minister of Norway. Russia invaded Finland in 1940, and Germany invaded Norway during that war. As a result there are historical reasons why 62% of Finns support joining NATO.  What this means for NATO- This means NATO's border with Russia will double from 1300 to 2600 kilometres. Finland would be different alone compared to being part of the NATO alliance. For NATO this means 280,000 Finns in its army if mobilized under Finland's compulsory military service would be added to defending the border. Finland already is training with US equipment and training since 2015 and is in a joint defense plan with NATO. Sweden's situation is quite different. It has benefitted from neutrality and never been occupied by any power in the 500 years of European wars for balance of power in the region. In the last 200 years Sweden has acted as a neutral state and stayed out of 2 world wars and other conflicts. For Sweden to join NATO it has to change this historical neutrality and has to be convinced that the invasion of Ukraine and the immense destruction in Ukraine with over 4 million refugees mostly women and children is an event that has changed everything. If Sweden were to join NATO not much could be expected for ground forces as Sweden has a small army. Sweden also has no land border with Russia. Sweden is on the Baltic Sea which is also a border for Russia. Sweden does bring 100 modern fighter aircraft and 8 modern submarines that would secure the Baltic Sea.  If one or both countries were to join NATO this would happen by June and both countries would join NATO immediately after 30 NATO member countries approve this.  ...