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This BBC report says the Russian Black Sea fleet is reduced to little more than a coastal flotilla and the fleet is now adopting a defensive posture after heavy losses. This also makes an attack on Odessa unlikely. Odessa and other Black sea ports are where grain shipments leave Ukraine for Africa and other parts of Europe. This means shipments using Turkey and UN sponsored deal can now safely be routed from Odessa. 

It also means Ukraine is in a better position in the south in and around Crimea.

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In a strange situation at the Russian border with Finland and close to where the Nordstream 1 pipeline starts a Russian LNG plant is burning about 9 million dollars worth of natural gas, according to BBC News. The burning of gas on this scale and in this manner hurts the environment and increases climate change. Russia has cut supplies to Germany on its Nordstream 1 pipeline and the Germans facing a natural gas shortage are scrambling to get LNG supplies from US and Qatar. 

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With pools closed swimming outdoors in natural settings became popular during the pandemic . BBC looks at this trend which was also called wild swimming or swimming in wilderness environments. Across Britain in lakes and along the coast it became popular to take a swim sometimes in temperatures that were quite cold. Wildnerness swimming could be at normal temperatures and as a definite value for mental health, just as is shown for barefoot walking on grass as shown on this page by German wellness guru Kniepp. 

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The former president Donald Trump and Rachel Scott of ABC Q&A session turned into controversial remarks about Kamala Harris. About not knowing she was black "until a number of years ago when she happened to turn Black." And now she wants to be known as Black."

Former Maryland Governor and candidate for senator from Maryland Larry Hogan says “It’s unacceptable and abhorrent to attack Vice President Harris or anyone’s racial identity. The American people deserve better."

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BBC News shows how Pam Bondi, former Attorney General of Florida, handled questions from Senators at her confirmation hearings for Attorney General. With a calm demeanor Pam Bondi comes as a relief after the withdrawal of Matt Gaetz.  She said- people want safe streets, people want "America to be safe again. Of course they want the good economy and cost of living. And that will make America Great Again, and I don't see how that has become a bad word."

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This report in the WSJ says Reince Preibus, Republican National Committee chairman, has told party officials on Oct. 8, 2016, to redirect party funds away from nominee Trump to down-ballot candidates. This means the Republican party will try to get Clinton supporters to vote who are likely to vote for candidates like Rubio in Florida and Portman in Ohio. Republican Portman has joined Senator McCain in withdrawing support for Trump. This is the result of a video showing Trump making lewd comments about women in a conversation with Billy Bush of NBC. Speaker of the House of Representatives, Paul Ryan, immediately disinvited Trump from a rally in Wisconsin and withdrew his support leading to a big outflow of support from Congressman and Republican leaders. A former chairman of the Republican party in California describes this as the biggest crisis for Republicans since Watergate. The Republican party now stops its mail program to voters that supported Trump and redirects it to down-ballot candidates. It also comes as the Republican party funds and party infrastructure are a necessary and vital  part of any Republican nominee's effort to get elected. The Republican strategy may now be to try and preserve its control of Congress, as a loss in Wisconsin, Illinois or Missouri, could give the Democrats control of the Senate and other losses reduce its House majority. This appears to be the backup strategy of Paul Ryan as Speaker, and the leading Republican after his overwhelming win in his Senate seat against a Trump supported candidate. ...

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Les Moonves, head of Viacom's CBS television network, was an actor in a television show from the seventies called "The Six Million Dollar Man." He moved later to Warner Brothers and headed the studio which developed hits such as "ER" and "Friends" during his period at the studio. Moonves retains the instincts from this earlier period as he helped develop programming that pushed CBS into first place among television networks, beating Disney's ABC, Comcast Corp.'s NBC, and News Corp.'s Fox. He joined CBS in 1995, when CBS was in last place of the three U.S. television networks. At CBS he pushed for developing shows at the network studio level. In 2000 he came up with "Survivor"- the first reality programming, and the police investigatory show "CSI." CBS was hit hard during 2007-2009 as the ad market fell sharply and net income fell 82%, the stock losing 82% of its value. Moonves has diversified away from dependence on ads with revenues from syndication sales of televisions shows such as "CSI," and licensing to Netflix of old shows such as "I Love Lucy." Major problems facing CBS and the other television networks is the decline in the number of people watching television, with competition from streaming online video, digital recorders, and on-demand viewing. Even though CBS has the most viewers in prime time in the U.S., 11.5 million viewers, this is seeing sharp declines. In the 2012 fall seaon there was a 10% decline in viewers compared to the prior year, and a 20% decline in viewers 18-49 years old. ...

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Indictment of Mr. Manafort by the Special Counsel Mueller's investigation in October 2017 is not the big story, says BBC News. The bigger story it says is that George Papadopoulos was found to have pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI investigators about his contacts with Russian nationals. This is seen by the BBC as a roller coaster ride in the Mueller investigation that is just beginning as deals are struck between those investigated and the Mueller investigation team.

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The National Maritime Heritage Complex as a World Heritage Site is shown here in the Indian Express, as prime minister Modi opens  the maritime site of the Indus civilization that existed in India in the period 2500 BC to 1500 BC. It was discovered in 1921 by Sir Hubert Marshall in the region that extends from Gujarat to Sind and the Punjab settled by the Harappan people. The four oldest civilizations are the Mesopatamian, Egyptian, Harappan Indus, and Chinese civilization, which makes this an important part of human history and cultural development.

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Stephen Bannon the controversial adviser to president Trump is removed from the National Security Council cabinet level principals committee at the insistence of the National Security Adviser to president Trump, Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster. In addition the chairman of the Joint CHiefs of Staff and the director of national intelligence, were added back to the principals committee of NSC, and the earlier decision to have them as occasional participants was seen as a serious mistake, with Mr. Trump having wanting to change this much earlier. Karl Rove was a senior adviser to president Bush, but like other advisers was not put on the National Security Council. The reversal of the Bannon appointment brings the NSC to its normal membership.This report in the NYT refers to the large role played by Mr. Bannon in the early days with Bannon pushing for the first travel ban that was struck down in the courts, and for the ultimatum in negotiations with the Freedom Caucus that worsened relations with Republicans in Congress. As a result Mike Spence stepped into a leading role in health care negotiations.  ...

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Hugh Schofield of the BBC gives this analysis of the televised national debate between Macron and Le Pen on April 20. BBC also gives a video of the debate. On the economy and cost of living- Macron said actions he has taken to put a cap on fuel prices and tax exemption for pay bonuses were fairer and more effective than Madame Le Pen's ideas. Le Pen said she would cut the VAT on energy. Macron said a cap on fuel prices was "twice as effective as dropping the sales tax." Le Pen said she will cut taxes, and no tax for under 30's.  On Europe and Russia- Macron said Le Pen was one of the first leaders to recognize Russia's annexation of Crimea. "You are speaking to your banker when you speak to Russia," Macron said referring to a bank loan from Russia. He also said that the French did not look to Russia for finance, when Le Pen said she was turned down by French banks. On the European Union- Macron argued that Le Pen's idea of "a Europe of nations" would spell the end of the European Union and that "you are selling a lie." Schofield says Macron avoided the trap of coming across as too arrogant or technocratic, sometimes even holding back.  ...

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Honda will run a CR-V commercial during the Super Bowl broadcast by NBC on Feb. 5, 2012. This is part of its effort to spruce up its image with a younger demographic. The ad will show a woman who is proposed to and says she wants to do some other things first before getting married such as the fun things - going on some amazing hiking trip, going sailing, mountain cycling, finish my short film and so on.

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U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton sees negative perceptions increase after media scrutiny of fund raising efforts in a WSJ/NBC poll April 26-30, 2011. The poll shows negative perceptions increased to 42% from 36% in an earlier March 2015 poll. The percentage of people who consider her honest and straightforward went down sharply from 38% in summer 2014 to 25% in this poll. Hillary Clinton still has loyalty within the Democratic base with 76% approval.

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Gerald Seib of the WSJ describes the huge wave of young supporters who helped Labor party leader Corbyn in Britain's 2017 general election. He cites an analysis by the Financial Times that shows young people backed Labor over the Conservatives by 51 points more than the national average. People over age 65 backed Conservatives by 32 points more than the national average. This points to a staggering age gap of 83 points, said the Financial Times. Young people failed to turn out in large numbers during the Brexit vote, and this was a large factor in the pro Brexit win. One exit poll shows turnout went up by 12% in 2017 compared to the 2015 parliamentary election. Only 26% of voters in a WSJ/NBC poll for ages 18-34 years say they approve of U.S. president Trump's performance, 64% disapprove. Seib says the movement of Corbyn is similar to the Bernie Sanders movement in the U.S. and has implications for a similar surge of support showing up in the U.S.

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This BBC report looks back at the Solomon Islands which were part of the Guadalcanal campaign in World War II and the importance of the Pacific. In 1943 a Japanese destroyer sank an American ship under John Kennedy in these Pacific ocean waters. About  80 years later his daughter Caroline Kennedy, ambassador to Australia in the Biden administration, takes a trip to this Pacific region and islands of Samoa and Tonga, with Wendy Sherman. China is seen as planning a base in the Solomon Islands which is on the southern sea route near Australia.

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Sebastian Kniepp is Germany's barefoot walking guru. A German wellness expert from the period of the Hapsburg monarchy in Eastern Europe he came up with different ideas for wellness, including nutrition with home grown vegetables and fruits a big part of the diet. He turned to barefoot walking and storking using it as a form of exercise walking on one's toes in shallow water. This BBC report is from a Kniepp spa a short drive north of the Slovenian capital of Ljubljana, which shows these ideas popular today are not new.

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Battersea Power Station in its heyday in the 1950's processed one mlilion tons of coal from Wales and England to power the UK with one fifth's of its electricity. King Charles pays a Christmas visit to the Power Station buildings that are converted into shops and where Apple has its UK headquarters. The singer Raye performs during the visit. The architecture design was done by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott. It resembles an upside down coffee table. The boiler house could fit St Paul's cathedral inside, says the BBC.

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BBC News on the Los Angeles protests as Immigration enforcement takes place against illegal immigrants in the US. ICE enforcement took place with arrests resulting in protests in Paramount a town 20 miles south of Los Angeles which is 82% Hispanic. Much of the protest activity took place in the city of Los Angeles itself near the Federal Building resulting in the president calling in the California National Guard.

 

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BBC reports on Iran protests January 2026. Protests happened with students, with women periodically over the last two decades. Iran over the years since the monarchy in the 1880's and democratic movements (parliaments) in 1900's, monarchy in the 1930's and 1960's, socialist governments 1960's. Cold War and restored monarchy in 1970's, religious theocracy 1990's till today has gone through many different governments. It was part of the British Empire (that included India/Pakistan) and Russia's buffer region in the 18th and 19th century.  After economic sanctions from US and Europe the economy depends on sanctioned oil exports. Its defense operations divert much of the funding from oil based resources away from economic development . Much of that was a result of the anticolonial socialist ideologies that spread from North Africa (Algeria, Egypt) to Iraq and Syria that led to wars in Egypt, Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan- which also led to Iraq's version the Baathist ideology invading Iran. Russia and the US have extracted themselves at much loss from these conflicts by 2025 and are posed at a historic rapprochement in relations. For Iran there is today no danger from the region or from European powers, and like the US the people and the country are asking questions about the economic and living conditions from so much in resources now diverted to external conflicts- like the US the people in the region of Iran and the entire Middle East apart from a few small oil rich regions with a tiny part of the overall population- maybe 5% in Qatar and UAE, and Saudi- feel the impact of little investment in rapid economic development of the overall region. A region with a population close to the European Union of 500 million but a tiny fraction of economic development investment for the vast majority of people in Egypt and other parts of North Africa and regions of Syria, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Sudan. Most of the investment of $1 trillion is concentrated in the 10% of the population of over 500 million people in oil resource Saudi Arabia, UAE/Qatar monarchies, the rest languishing in war, and now meaningless- in terms of living standards- of anticolonial ideologies or militant religious ideologies, or internecine/ethnic conflict. ...

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Bihar unemployment and West Bengal unemployment of 3-5% a fake number as the jobs counted include unstable temporary poorly paid work. Quality Jobs are only 10% of the workforce. These figures disguise huge problems. In Bihar and West Bengal youth unemployment is high and many youth simply leave the state for states in the western part of the country such as Gujarat and Maharashtra looking for work. In West Bengal the situation is particularly dire as the state government has blocked foreign investment and it is not an investment friendly environment. In addition the idea of a cut or a fee for everything and services, encouraged by the state government, leads to an entrenched climate of corruption that keeps out investment in industry and in infrastructure. The lack of cooperation with the federal government at the West Bengal state level leads to people in the state not having access to federal programs for housing, healthcare and water, sanitation. None of this shown in the media. When the media inside India and in the US or EU covers India, it fails to even give this importance. Probably because of the huge ignorance about India, its history and struggle for industrialization and modernization for the last 50 years. It is similar to the huge ignorance in America and Europe and inside China itself during the years of Japanese occupation of China in the 1930's, and through the efforts for industrialization in the 1960's and 1980's. A BBC article on fish is an example of this shown alongside this article on Bihar (and West Bengal). Both states were part of British Bengal, which is where the British based their Empire after the British East India Company secured rights to the revenues of Bihar and West Bengal by the 1780's, that had been take earlier by the Moghuls during their invasions from Afghanistan and Iran. This was the beginning of the destruction of West Bengal's economic structures in the way it happened in China by the 1850's with the Treaty Ports secured by the same East India Company of the British merchant Navy. The process of unwinding of this enterprise goes on today even 75 years after 1950 against the roadblocks to industrialization and modernization in India set by native corrupt state administrations. ...

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Lloyd Webber in this BBC News video says it is not normal that one would say I would like a drink and like to drive home tonight. Its completely wrong he says, and compares this drunk driving behaviour to vaccine refusers who endanger the lives of others who can get infected in the process of one individual's misconceived exercizing of his rights. Completely ignoring in the process his responsibilities in society.