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The British Council in Colombo, Ceylon, as far back as the 1960's, has shaped the founder of Lyrarc.com's knowledge of Britain in shaping the ideas of the Modern World we know today, knowledge of its parliament and democracy, that are vital in shaping society in China, India, and other nations in Asia, Latin America and Africa to this day. For this reason the closing of the British Council facilities around the world to pay a loan it had taken years ago under the Conservatives during Covid, is to be seen as a major blow. This report in The Guardian is about fears the world's leading soft power agency, which is more than that a transmitter of ideas that shape the Modern World and all our democracies in Europe and America, Asia, other parts of the world, will disappear in a decade. The Madrid building which houses the British Council in Madrid at 13 Paseo del Martinez Campos in Madrid's Chamberi district, has been put up for sale to pay Covid era debt. About 5000 Spanish students attend classes in English and prepare for exams in 35 classrooms. Over the years hundreds of thousands of Spanish people passed through this building. 320 jobs will be lost, employees with passionate dedication who it will be difficult to replace. Another center in Barcelona also is expected to close. This comes at the wrong time when Britain needs to make its voice heard in the world, when a mediocre level of British parliamentarians and leaders since Blair and David Cameron have allowed this to happen. English language classes in Italy at the British Council are also being shut down. Paris building may also be sold, and shrinking operations in the Baltic Republics, Croatia and Austria. This will be a major blow to helping spread knowledge of British parliamentary traditions, its history and participation in shaping the Modern World we know today.  It is now hoped and this is a message to Labour's Andy Burnham who studied English at Cambridge, to restore Britain's image and the value of its parliamentary and other lasting contributions to the Modern World, to the benefit of all nations, to cancel this debt and give the British Council new leadership for the next 2 decades. Neil Kinnock, a Labour leader, and a chair of the British Council says- “The British Council does not want to make these cuts. They are being forced into it by the conditions required by the Treasury." “I sympathise very much with the staff, so does the leadership,” he said. The British Council had “camped out” in the Foreign Office for last three or four years and put up a “hell of a fight”. Kinnock said: “What the government should do is either find a way of cancelling the debt, or even rescheduling the debt. Because it’s to absolutely nobody’s advantage to lose the British Council.” A desperate effort to pay an outstanding £197m debt from a Covid-era Conservative government emergency loan on commercial terms, with interest to be repaid by September, is what is causing this massive destruction of a century old institution that belongs to Europeans, to Asians, and to the world at large for better societies through knowledge. Who runs Treasury in Britain? Rachel Reeves, who has no concept of the role constructive Britons have played for two hundred years from the time the British agent at Rajkot encouraged Mohandas Gandhi (Gandhiji) to study in London in 1888, a role that the British Council has played since its founding. His name Sir Frederick Souter, who wrote the letter of recommendation for Gandhi to enter the University College, London. Sir Dingle Foot, Solicitor General of the UK, another Labour leader, played that role for a youngster of 22 years at the University of Baroda in India, for Law School at the University of London in 1969, after years of educational experience at the British Council in Colombo, Ceylon. Now the founder of Lyrarc.com. We call upon Andy Burnham to make this one of is first priorities to put Britain First, and India, other European nations, the US, to assist in this effort, to preserve one of Britain's brightest contributions in throwing light on the brave scientific, educational and industrial endeavors that built the Modern World. ...

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After the turnover of administrations and prime ministers in the last decade, a new wave is taking place. By 2010 with prime minister David Cameron mediocre leaders are running Britain, and after Boris Johnson, Truss, Sunak and Brexit politics, a new wave of Labor party unraveling is taking place following the Conservatives unraveling and falling apart. This is reflected in the Mandelson affair and the lack of firm direction on immigration policy with boatloads of migrants entering the country and filling up hotels in rural areas of the country. The ECHR (European Commisssion of Human Rights) written for different situations by Europeans who had little grasp or respect for the British public's attachment to their own history, culture and traditions, were being applied by British Labor leaders such as Keir Starmer to migrants who had no connections to Britain. Migrant crime and protests about migrants has weakened a Labor government, weakening the British state and its economy. Within hardly 1 year after winning  elections for a majority government British prime minister Keir Starmer faces the prospect of stepping down. ...

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A video tour of Zhonghanhai Compound of China's leaders and DJT on the tour as guest of president Xi. See the ancient trees including two cypress trees with their trunks growing together called 'Lianli Bai.'

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Canada's pitch to the US before tough negotiations with Jamieson Greer to preserve Canada's automobile industry, its aluminium industry, dairy industry with benefits gained in the past. US had also put forward its pitch for 82% North American content and 50% of it from the US for all automobiles sold in the US. Carney takes a positive approach presenting Canada as a strong partner that would Make America Great Again by offering its vast mineral resources, and its resources of oil and LNG. It says LNG will double from 2030 to 2040 from 50 million to 100 million tonnes of LNG annually. 56 critical minerals agreements with $18 billion in investment, doubling the electricity grid for lowest cost power and second lowest emission in OECD countries. Canada is an anomaly in trade says Sir Ivor Jennings in his book on the British Commonwealth. Its trade east to west is an anomaly when if it was truly apart of the North American economic region it would trade north to south. This is the result of Montgomery's failure to take Quebec during the War of Independence as Washington planned the war with Britain. For instance Ontario would trade with Vermont and New Hampshire and New York near its borders. Instead the dairy industry in Canada operates in competition with the US and sends product east to west. Washington and Oregon are not trading normally with neighbors British Columbia instead shipping product back to eastern Canada. For years the US allowed Canada and Mexico benefits in trade that hurt is own auto industry. Jamieson Greer is expected to change this so that US manufacturing can compete with China and European Union on a level playing field. ...

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The expected resignation of Tulsi Gabbard who never fit in with the US recommitment to the Monroe Doctrine in its Good Neighbor version of FDR and Alliance of Progress version of JFK for peace in the western hemisphere through the rule of law, democratic process and peaceful cooperation with the United States. Under DJT it also means reassessment and revisiting of the original reasons for the Monroe  Doctrine that were forgotten under the Reagan,Carter, Bush, Obama and Biden administrations for five decades. That of the US keepingout colonial powers of Europe from the western hemisphere bent on recolonization under president Monroe in 1824.  In the last 5 decades it was the involvement of Russia and China that created the conditions for Cuba, Venezuela and a bad form of governance, failures in the rule of law, through drug cartels operating in Mexico, Colombia, and other Latin American countries.

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Report from Smart Ageing Summit at Oxford 2026. It rejects the notion common in society that physical decline is inevitable with age. It puts the responsibility of good health on healthy living which means about 80% of the responsibility is on each one of us to maintain good health. Things that are important says this report are completely abstain from alcohol, avoid processed foods (what RFK Jr is telling us as Health Secretary), prioritize sleep, cultivating a "not-meat" mindset, not eating after 6.30 pm. Other studies such as the Oxford Population Health with half a million UK participants show environmental exposures and healthy living habits have far greater importance than biological ageing and inherited genetics. Which also supports this conclusion that it is upto each one of us to build a better quality of life as we age. We assume here that the society we live in is healthy and there are no natural disasters such as climate change or human made disasters such as wars and conflicts, human exacerbation disasters such as not investing in healthcare, education and infrastructure for good public services such as transportation, parks and recreation. Yet that cannot be taken for granted and it is also important for our own healthy living and our spiritual health to invest some of our time and put our money into making sure that this investment takes place in building a healthy society and environment to live in. We do this in our civic life, as parents at parent teacher meetings, as custodians of the environment, being active in our neighborhoods, in business practices, and in supporting and monitoring investments in education and healthcare for our communities. ...

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Xi's "Great Rejuvenationof the Chinese Nation" compared favorably to DJT's "Make America Great Again" by Xi Jinping during DJT visit to Zhonghanhai Compound of China's leaders in Beijing. Xi Jinping says during DJT visit to Beijing May 14 2026- “Through strengthened cooperation, both China and the United States can promote their respective development and revitalization." This is important to grasp if one wants to understand China. Much of the media focuses on this or that smaller aspect of the DJT visit to China, including the NYT when it shows DJT invited to a walk on the garden grounds of the Zhonghanhai Compound. It does not accept that president Xi Jinping finds little that is relevant to China today and its aspirations in places like Iran and the Middle East. That Xi admires the US efforts for reindustrialization and renewal in the same way he sees the rejuvenation and renewal of the great Chinese Nation and sees this as shared goals for betterment of their people's lives.  ...

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Joao Fonseca of Brazil in a 5 set win at Roland Garros French Open over Djokovic. The victory, 4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5, 7-5, after 4hr 53min almost 5 hours got to the point where Djokovic was utterly exhausted. Fonseca is 19 years old Djokovic 39 years and this showed as Fonseca took the last 3 sets to win. Fonseca's self-belief helped him and he said in a post match interview; “I just played. I just enjoyed being on court. What a pleasure it was.”

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Okamoto Tao wins Best Actress award at Cannes 2026 for Hamaguchi Ryusuke's film "All of a Sudden."

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DJT arrives in Beijing China May 13 2026. Topics that will be discussed are - the Iran War and how to resolve it, trade with China, tariffs, and US Taiwan policy. China continues to run trillion dollar surplus in trade with the world with lower trade surplus with the US after DJT tariffs. From $295 billion in 2024 under Biden the new DJT administration with DJT, Bessent and Jamieson has lowered this to $202 billion by 2026. In that same period the world trade surplus of China has increased from $992 to $1.19 billion. It is not clear whether some of the drop in the US figures is from China sending product through channels to Mexico and Vietnam that is then shipped to the US. DJT showed results in his policies by lowering the trade imbalance by 32%, while trade imbalance with the rest of the world has worsened (increase in trade surplus of China) by 20%. What does this show? We can safely assume that excessive trade imbalances are not in either China, EU, or America's interest. China increases trade and political friction by doing so, and it leaves its own policy weak by overdependence on exports, too little effort to increase domestic consumption and living standards.  FOr the US and EU trade imbalances with China of over $1 trillion reflect misguided policy at the top by US and EU decision makers and governments. By exposing their manufacturing base they are losing valuable jobs by the millions and creating a situation where the few with good jobs in select industries live in large cities and the rest of the country in smaller towns and rural areas suffering from lack of amanufacturing base. This weakens the investment base for public services and leads to lack of investment ininfrastructure. This is called deindustrialization which the DJT and Biden administrations both fight hard to reverse for the last 10 years since the disastrous years of the Obama and Bush administrations 2000-2016. For this reason we can say a good Republican is as good as a good Democrat, a bad Republican is as bad as a bad Democrat, political labels are just that labels. The media in US and EU are on a wrong footing and still fail to cover this the way it should be covered to shake off the lethargy in public sentiment in the US so that a rapid drive to reindustrialize and build new new infrastructure on top of the old that was built after World War 1 can take place. In today's world India is stepping up with major infrastructure building just as the US and EU ramp up their rebuilding.  ...

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Reeves wants to remain UK Chancellor (Finance Minister) and is campaigning for the job. Yet there are questions whether she is the right person. Kiran Stacey of The Guardian asks does Andy Burnham need a clean break from the Starmer administration considering the missteps on disability benefits, cutting winter fuel payments, and other actions of Rachel Reeves. These missteps were not necessary and clearly eroded support for what Labour should be standing up for and doing. The idea that she has something that keeps the bond markets happy is a complete myth- in which case the Tories could do just as well or better. Labour was elected not to be like the Tories but to enact its own program. Clement Atlee was elected in 1945 even after the popularity in the war of Winston Churchill. He could not have done what he did without the clear confidence in himself that Starmer clearly lacks, with the added problem of Reeves instincts in the wrong place for a Labour government elected to enact its own program. If Labour cannot believe in its own programs fro the working class how are working class people in Britain supposed to believe in Labour? That is the problem of the Starmer-Reeves running of the British economy and addressing problems of cost of living, the shrinking of opportunity in Britain, mismanagement left by the Tories.  ...

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The media in US and in Europe presents the US and China on a confrontational course little aware that there is quietly emerging a new trend encouraged by both leaders of the two world powers. "Strategic Stability" in US -China relations instead of China seen as a rival and a threat- is now the goal of Xi Jinping of China in 2026 US-China dialogues and meetings. This was abundantly clear during the DJT visit to Beijing August 14 2026 and will continue to shape relations during Xi's visit in September. This is different from the confrontational attitude taken by both DJT in the first administration and Biden in his four years in office. The result is that these tensions are being gradually brought down which started in 2014, were exacerbated by Covid pandemic in 2019, and were put to the test in 2025 with tariffs policies of the incoming DJT administration. A decade of mistrust now being replaced by  buildup of cooperation, establishing a sense of trust and friendship. Partly out of necessity and partly from choice.This was not secured by giving up on issues the US or China saw as important. US did not concede anything on issues of fentanyl entering the US from Mexico, and tariffs for reducing trade deficits. Similarly China did not concede much on issues it saw as important, mutual respect for China as a significant power, and seeing China's different system of government and industrialization as legitimate and worthy of respect. On Hong Kong and on Taiwan both sides decided to see ambiguity and live and let live as the best option. So that in 2026 nothing, not the Iran War or anything that happens in the Middle East is to be allowed to deter both sides from making the educated good and decent choices that are available to them based on attitude of mutual respect.  ...

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Cordoba and Perez in WSJ on the desperation of the people of Cuba looking for a better life. It covers not just Havana, but also the interior Santiago de Cuba and Camarguey different regions of Cuba all desolate and in complete disarray with lack of running water, electricity and inadequate food supplies. Cuba is clearly a failed experiment and a warning to all Latin American nations that capitalist system as the US itself knows quite well has serious drawbacks that need the likes of Jefferson, Lincoln, TR and FDR, JFK and LBJ to correct but the rhetoric of Castro is not the answer, itself quite dangerous. And the answer has to come by developing new alternatives, studying what works and what doesnt, the need for inputs of capital, labor and technologies, the need for hard work, the need for scientific and technological cooperation and goodwill of the successul nations, as China has proven and India is proving today for upwards of 3 billion people in Asia.

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Zhonghanhai Compound of China's leaders in Beijing and American visitor DJT, guest of Xi Jinping, in May 2026.

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Heat wave at  2026 Roland Garros French Open tennis- 5 set matches lead to heat exhaustion. A player has to be carried out in a wheel chair. Calls for more matches at night.

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On the National Mall a large scale revival as prayer returns to national life in 2026, the 250th Year of the 1776 tDeclaration of Independence. "Large-scale revival, beginning with worship, testimonies, and music, and culminating in a powerful national moment of prayer.” It shows the “Church’s role in history and civic life.” (White House website). It is notable that the event also coincides with the 250th anniversary of a day of “humiliation, fasting and prayer” across the colonies, as it was declared by the Continental Congress in 1776.

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Wayne Mullins, the Senator from Oklahoma, is doing his best to restore the reputation of the nation's Department of Homeland Security, after the messy period under Kristi Noem who violated the department's norms and allowed all sorts of inappropriate behaviours for what is the nation's largest law and order organization. It is vital that the people have full confidence in the Department to have full confidence in the rule of law, and for internal security in the US at a time of illegal migrants by the millions crossing the nation's borders with impunity during the last administration.

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Thucydides, Greek historian on the Peloponnesian War between Sparta and Athens 431 BC, cited by Xi Jinping of China during DJT visit to China, May 2026. “Can China and the United States transcend the so-called ‘Thucydides Trap’ and forge a new paradigm for major-power relations?” "Thucydides Trap," is about one established power being threatened by another rising power, as Sparta felt threatened by a rising Athens in the Greek world around 431 BC, leading to a long over 30 years war.  “The Taiwan question is the most important issue in China-US relations,” Xi said, of Taiwan, an island near China's coast where ChiangKaishek set up his government after the fall of his government in Beijing in 1949 to Communist People's Army of Mao Zedong. “If mishandled, the two nations could collide or even come into conflict, pushing the entire China-US relationship into a highly perilous situation."  What China sees is a future of strong economic growth based on China having built its industrial strength and world trade to exceed 1.2 trillion dollars of trade surplus in 2026. Yet this is only the beginning. US and European Union, and India+Japan are three economic regions compared to the situation in Greek history. The combined three economic regions potential for scientific and industrial advances in the future till 2045 in a synergistic fashion one building on top of the other's advances, far exceed the potential of the Chinese economy and industry by itself. This is why any such conflict may over time fizzle away as three economic regions of EU, US and India advance, particularly the 1.4 billion people of India, which will see growth rates of 20% annually for 10 years to 2035 in Eastern Indian region of the size of the EU. That region extends from Lucknow and Patna to Vizag and Chennai. Another aspect of this concerns China itself which sees slowing growth of 5% in 2026. Growth could slow further as US, European Union and India/Japan push back on Chinese exports during a period of reindustrialization in US, EU, Japan and rapid industrial development in India to 2040. China's development is only midway in terms of per capita GNP which lags most of Europe and the US, Japan. Thus the main concern in China is that China will not be able top go beyond middle income country as its demographics and aging population look more like Japan's over the period 2026-2040. China needs the US EU trade and markets for it to meet the needs and aspirations of its 1.4 billon people as the other engines of development such as housing construction, infrastructure building, have lost momentum. ...

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Long Island Railroad workers in New York State on a busy transit route get a 9.5% retroactive pay increase and a 4.5% increase for 2026, as NY Governor Hochul looks for fair wages and still keep transit passenger cost low,

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China's 15th Five Year Plan with shift to robotics, semiconductors, EV's, renewable energy, and lower investment in education, healthcare- the shift to a slowing economy, job losses. GDP per capita one third of the US much lower than most of southern Europe or Eastern Europe. China is still a middle income country. Unlike Japan which surpassed most of EU countries  GDP per capita, China with 1.4 billion people is a vast country. The shift in the emphasis in the 5 year Plan means economic growth  of 10-12% is now only 5%. With the collapse in housing construction and slowing manufacturing facing tariffs in the US means job losses.

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Putin visit to Beijing follows DJT visit by 2 weeks May 2026. China must carefully assess its interests in a trade relationship with the US and the EU, vs good relations with Russia and access to oil and gas supplies.

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Guardian's Essay on the War and how it has undone Iran pushed it back by decades with internal suppression of dissent, the diversion of vital resources that could be used for building the economy and standards of living, failing to build a sovereign investment fund like Norway and other countries setting aside money for a rainy day. Much of the young educated voters and business in markets is in the cities in Asia and this class has to be integrated into development to create advanced developed nations instead of a small class of people controlling the nation's resources under an ideological or religious sectarian leadership. It failed in Spain in the Franco years, and now in Venezuela and Iran, Pakistan, because it does not grasp what happened in Asia- in China, in India, in South Korea where even under communist (China), military (South Korea), the integration of the students, middle class business, all sectors of society, leads to all sections of society building advanced societies improving education, healthcare, and modernization infrastructure, joining Europe and the US to build the future of science and technology. ...