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Exceptional bowling by Jasprit Bumrah and batting performances by Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli put India on top in the World Cup Cricket 2023. India scored over 300 runs and bowled South Africa out for 83 runs in the last match.

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Chappell cites Virat Kohli's passion for test cricket as the reason he means so much for the game. Test cricket is under severe pressure from the one day and other formats. Yet it has some dimensions that the one day format lacks such as the excitement that goes into the Ashes contest between Australia and India. Kohli is also seen as handling the pressure from having a lot of the excitement of the hundreds of millions of fans in India  watching him and behind him without getting in any way ruffled.

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Geoff Lemon compares the  youngest batters on the Indian and Australian Test cricket teams and their graceful batting, Shubman Gill and Cameron Green. Shubman Gill's century gave India a good start against Australia leading to superb batting from Kohli with 186 and his partnership with Axar Patel in the fourth Test match against Australia.

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Australian cricket captain Aaron Finch is only 6 runs short of Indian Virat Kohli as the highest run scorer in ODI one day cricket. His batsmanship has revived the Australian team with 6 centuries and 8 half centuries since the beginning of 2019 and a total of 1739 runs in 35 games.  Only Rohit Sharma comes close in centuries scored.

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Kohli, Sharma, Rahul and spinners Kuldeep, Chakravarthy get India the win in Champions Trophy 2025 defeating Australia and New Zealand.

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Kohli, Rahul, Iyer, Chakravarthy and Shami Indian players in Champions Trophy team.  Santner, Phillips, Ravindra and Henry NZ players in Champions Trophy tournament team.

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Batters Kohli against Australia and Sharma with Rahul against New Zealand, with the help of spinners Chakravarty and Kuldeep set India on the path to win Champions Trophy cricket games in 2025.

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Dirk Kurbjuweit of Spiegel says Merkel needs to show strong leadership to overcome the challenges with the rise of right wing populists in the U.S., Britain and France. He points to the leadership shown in the latter part of Kohl's term in office to promote German reunification after the fall of the Berlin Wall. The challenges include talking to the German people directly in a convincing way, and meeting the day to day challenges of life for the people with investments in education, health care, infrastructure so that people see real significant improvement. It is even necessary to reorder priorities such as the shift from nuclear energy so that this challenge is met. It is not enough to hope that more Christian Democrats turn out to vote than Social Democrats, that the fifth of Germans who feel the economy is not working for them and feel threatened by immigration see real changes being made to address their concerns.

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Bowler Jayant Yadav, batsmen Mayank Agrawal and Shreyas Iyer, show India's incredible bench strength in cricket, says Abhishek Purohit in the Indian Express. Axar Patel was good at both bowling and batting. Every so may years these players get chosen for a Test Series and keep their skills in a state of readiness. Yadav was playing in a Test after 5 years in the second Test against New Zealand, at Wankhede stadium, where India won by its biggest margin- 372 runs. Captain Virat Kohli says of these players that to play Test cricket one needs "passion and intent" and Indian cricket is in safe hands when you have so many players who are eager to play Tests well.

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Angela Merkel announces her decision to run for reelection as chancellor on Nov. 20, 2016, saying she will "fight for our values and our way of life." About 55% of Germans support Merkel. After 11 years in office Merkel if reelected would exceed the record in office set by Helmut Kohl from 1982 to 1998. Germany does not have term limits for the position of chancellor. The changed political situation in the U.S. and Britain has made the role of Germany much larger in international affairs.

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Kohls online retail sales show margins of 4% compared to 10% for in-store sales. Wal-Mart is losing money on online sales as it invests in technology and infrastructure for Web operations. Best Buy's margins are thin on online sales. Shipping and handling, higher returns, and lower prices lead to lower margins on online retail sales. The lower costs from not having to maintain an actual store network with real estate and labor costs is offset by these costs which can run as high as 25%, according to industry analysts.

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France and Germany agreed to begin talks on a common nuclear umbrella in Jan 1997 as reported here in The Washington Post on Jan 25, 1997. 

The post cites Le Monde- "Our two countries see themselves exposed to the same risks. We are ready to open a dialogue on the role of nuclear deterrence in the context of European defense policy." Says the document signed by Germany's Helmut Kohl and Frances Jacques Chirac on Dec. 9, 1996. France had clashed with the US under De Gaule and De Gaulle had pursued an independent nuclear deterrent. Chirac took up this stance in 1996 with nuclear tests in French Polynesia and offered to share its nuclear deterrent with Germany.

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Brinkmauer and Pfister of the German magazine Der Spiegel interview German Chancellor Angela Merkel in September 2017. The interview covers a range of topics from whether Merkel is addicted to power, why she chose to run for a fourth term, revolving door for CDU politicians as lobbyists for the automobile industry, the AfD right wing party, the refugee crisis and the CDU's historic policy of controlled immigration, and whether democracy is losing strength.  In characteristic Merkel fashion the chancellor takes up the idea of her addiction to power by saying she is careful not to let this happen to her by reading critical articles in the press and having her staff bring critical reports. Her discussion with her constituents in her electoral district are also frank and open, more so in 2017. About the idea that Helmut Kohl's fourth term as chancellor being not good for Germany and for the CDU, Merkel responds that she has given it considerable thought. She found that she still has the intellectual curiosity to learn new things, understands that she has much to learn about how the country and the world is changing. This has been decisive in her decision to run.  Merkel believes that someone who has worked in politics should be able to work in private industry following historic practice in Germany. On the government links with the automobile industry Merkel says her approach has been to look at what was best for an industry employing 800,000 people in Germany, yet deplores the diesel emissions cheating at VW. Has democracy lost momentum after the U.S. elections and the refugee crisis? Merkel says democracy is still strong, and that she will do everything to strengthen democracy in Germany and other parts of the world.  Merkel's view is that it is important that there be counterweights in democratic systems. In this way democracy is strong in America, and also in Poland and Hungary. The chancellor cites high voter turnout of 82% in 1998, 79% in 2002, 78% in 2009. Since then she says in 2009 it dropped to 71% and 2013  72%, yet  expects that with the issues in this election people will come out to vote in larger numbers.  For many years Merkel is seen as co-opting the issues of the left parties and the SPD, being careful to move to the centre. Der Spiegel puts this idea forward to the chancellor by asking her if she is the best SPD chancellor Germany ever had.  In her matter of fact style Merkel responds that voters do not think of it this way, simply expect her to her job as best as she can possibly do it.       ...

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Mike Atherton looks at the Australia India series and sees hope for England. He says Bumrah had too heavy a burden to carry as a fast bowler missing the second innings of the last Test. Starc and Cummins are getting older now. Lyons was there but not by much. No batsmen looked confident. Not Smith or Labuschagne. Only Australia's Head and India's Jaiswal were good and consistent. Kohli and Sharma disappointed the Indians. Indian fielding was not at it's best at critical moments. 

The public responded to the contest with 833,000 coming to the Test matches in Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth and at the MCG, SCG Final Test.

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German chancellor Merkel and France's president Hollande meet in Notre-Dame de Reims cathderal for a service that commemorates the 50th anniversary of a mass held at Reims cathedral. That Mass was held at Reims in May 1962 with the hope for a lasting reconciliation between Germany and France in a region affected by recurring wars, and was attended by Konrad Adenauer and Charles de Gaulle. The service in July 2012 brings together two leaders after tense discussions at eurozone summit meetings on the future of the eurozone and austerity measures. It is also a reminder of the deeper ties that bring the two countries together after a century of conflict, and the resilience in the face of difficulties shown by a previous generation of leaders in building these ties. It needs to be remembered that it was German chancellor Kohl, Angela Merkel's mentor, one of the postwar leaders who promoted European unity during the period of German reunificaton, who speeded up the agenda for the creating the eurozone and euro currency without the necessary underpinnings of deposit insurance and a eurozone financial regulator with powers to examine the books of European banks and exercize financial supervision. ...

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Olaf Scolz, Germany's Vice Chancellor and Minister of Finance, since 2018. He  wants to counter the myth that individual success is always self-made. As candidate for the Social Democrats he is the leading candidate to succeed Merkel. Scolz believes in genuine "respect." If elected chancellor he will take Germany in a new direction after the Merkel years marked by neglect of infrastructure, increased division among Germans and fragmentation of parties, addressing euro currency issues left behind by her mentor CDU chancellor Helmut Kohl, poor migrant policy that divided German opinion, lack of social mobility for working class Germans, and failing families in childcare, other services.  Biden in the US, Scolz in the European Union, could offer an opportunity for combining the strength of Europe and the US in tackling the problems the world faces today- restructuring supply chains, reducing divisions sown through neglect of families and the working class, climate change, competing with an assertive China using western technology and resources. ...

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How German political leaders view the Euro currency and the European Union. German history and the need for fiscal discipline and the European Union. The constant between Chancellors Adenauer, Kohl and Merkel- a sense of European unity as part of the fabric of the new Germany. A desire to find a way through the sovereign debt crisis of 2010-2012, by introducing fiscal discipline into the structural framework and preserving the hard won gains for the Euro currency and the European Union.

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This report in the NYT looks at the support for the AfD stalled at about 11% nationwide but closer to twice that in East Germany where years of neglect have led to voters shifting to far right parties. The view is presented that there is a core hard right of 10%. Yet it ignores or prefers to overlook what happened in the east which provides the real clues to what happened, so that future policy could be designed to address social goals in a way that never happened in Germany. This is in line with developments in China where president Xi is addressing social goals after years of tech and infrastructure expansion that neglected rural areas and urban poor. It is in line also with the same action taken to address social goals in US president Biden's $3.5 trillion workers and families plan. Social Democrats under Mr. Scholz and a younger generation represented by the Greens have the same challenges facing them to come up with the plans to correct these problems in Germany and with a plan designed for the neglected eastern part of the country. Helmut Kohl pushed for reunification of Germany. With the collapse of the Berlin Wall the momentum was set for this to happen. Yet looking back over that period since 1990, German chancellors and administrations for three decades from both CDU and SPD have failed to invest and create opportunities in eastern part of Germany. It makes German reunification an empty concept looked at from outside. The previous administrations including Kohl and Merkel relied too much on market capitalism to do what it has been shown not capable of doing- tackling social goals and economic crises, much less  political storms such as creation of GDR following Soviet army entering Berlinin 1945. Much commentary on the issues in east Germany show people there left to themselves after mass migration out of the east to the west leaving older people and pensioners in the east, and a sense of being ignored or forgotten. US president Biden said today in ther UN General Assembly- "Our shared grief is a poignant reminder that our collective future will hinge on our ability to recognize our common humanity and to act together." And he went on to say the next ten years to 2030 "will quite literally determine our futures."  The Social Democrats under Scholz and the Greens under Baerbock and Habeck have to come up with plans and programs that will increase ease of living and opportunities for a thriving eastern part of Germany, after the failures of market capitalism in its unregulated form during the Merkel years and predecessor administrations. ...

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Scholz loses a no confidence vote in parliament that he called so that new elections are held in 60 days according to federal German law.  He says it is a fundamental choice that German people need to make between pensions and investments for the future with support for the armed forces vs the policy that doe not plan to invest in the future with a debt brake limiting investment. The Free Democrats opposed SPD and Greens efforts to invest for 4 years. Why did Scholz continue. in this way with FDP CDU's Merz asks directly, was Scholz on another planet.  This has happened three times before- in 1972 when Wily Brandt got support for his Ostpolitik policy of better relations with Soviet Union and GDR and new mandate after planning a no confidence vote for a new election. He won with 46% of the vote and 91% of eligible voters voted. In 2005 Kohl was reelected after a no confidence vote he planned on his government to get a new mandate. Kohl of CDU won. In 2005 Gerhard Schroeder's social and economic reforms affected working class Germans- he called a no confidence vote to get a new mandate. This one Schroeder of SPD lost and it started Angela Merkel of CDU's 16 years in office. ...

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German politicians are critical of Finance minister Schauble's remarks comparing Putin's takeover of Crimea to Hitler's annexation of the Sudetenland. Merkel distances herself from the remarks considering that a singular event. Former chancellor Kohl tells the Bild newspaper, "there's been a lack of sensitivity in dealing with our Russian neighbor, especially President Putin." Decades of hard work in building relations with the Soviet Union since Willy Brandt initiated engagement, followed by Schmidt, Kohl and Schroeder, are seen as being put at risk by the German public and government. Business interests are also at stake. Polls show 60% of German's oppose sending the German air force to NATO's eastern borders, and German foreign minister Steinmeier said there was no way for Ukraine to join NATO. A former German ambassador to the U.S., head of the Munich Security Conference, Wolfgang Ischinger, says Germany not the U.S. would suffer the most from a deterioration in relations. Companies like Siemens and Deutsche Bahn put a high priority on de-escalation of the crisis....

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Matthew Kaminski gives his assessment of Angela Merkel's years in office. He cites a former German chancellor Helmut Schmidt's words: "People who have a vision should go see a doctor." She is no Konrad Adenauer or even Helmut Kohl. A scientist by training she is dispassionate, intelligent, diligent and takes the time to understand the details of the financial situation from her advisors, then sorting out the situation in her own mind. She gets less credit for bold action than she deserves because of her down to earth manner.She gave banks no option as bondholders to share losses in late night meetings at EU headquarters, called the president of Italy and secured a change in government after Berlusconi lost the confidence of the EU. In the current impasses between the Bundesbank and the ECB's Draghi over sovereign bond purchases with Jens Weidmann, Germany's representative at the ECB, supporting Mario Draghi's position, she has navigated the fine line between the German public's reluctance to take on the debts of its neighbors in the eurozone and the need for lowering the borrowing costs of Italy and Spain to save the euro. After the visionaries from Adenauer to Monet, todays eurozone leaders are focussed more on the nuts and bolts of making this idea of Europe work, requiring the skills and ability to learn and grow that she has demonstrated....

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Germany's Chancellor, Angela Merkel announced that she will not seek reelection. She will finish her term in 2021 and retire from politics. She led the CDU party for 18 years and Germany for thirteen years. She started out as a youth leader in the communist German Democratic Republic shortly before the collapse of the Berlin Wall. After reunification she was given roles in the government by Chancellor Kohl of the CDU, and was favored by Kohl.  During her years in office the CDU moved to the centre adopting some of the policies of the Social Democrats party. Merkel's last two terms were marked by her leadership of the European Union in tackling the debt crisis in Greece and other countries. Her leadership of the CDU was challenged by conservative leaders from Bavaria of the CSU party who had different views than Merkel on immigration and accepting wartime and economic refugees. By the beginning of her current term in office the CDU and the Social Democrats Party which alternated in running Germany in the postwar period had lost support as voters shifted their allegiances to parties on the right such as the AfD opposing immigration, and parties on the left, and to the Greens party advocating environmental issues. One of the main drawbacks during this period were the austerity policies during Merkel's terms in office that were implemented in the EU leading to higher unemployment before a tenuous recovery, and the lack of building infrastructure. The acceptance of a large number of refugees the official tally being about 890,000 entering Germany in 2017 and 200,000 in 2018, has strained the system and created tensions in society. About 480,000 had applied for asylum in Germany by the end of December 2017. Merkel defends her decision to accept refugees in these numbers, yet she says she was wholly unprepared for the influx of refugees that happened in 2017 and the year before. She says she wishes she had many more years experience to prepare herself for handling a crisis of this kind. The decision has created dissension in Germany especially in the eastern part which was part of the former communist German Democratic Republic.  ...

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The Editorial Board of The Financial Times (UK-Japan) says Germany needs leadership to fix problems, not just manage crises. The Merkel years were marked with Angela Merkel fixing the euro crisis- itself a legacy of missteps under her mentor chancellor Kohl who pushed too fast for entry into eurozone of countries such as Greece without meeting requirements. As Annalena Baerbock points out the actions taken by Merkel are still being questioned such as the austerity policies. Baerbock says in a rare interview- "The major lesson from the eurocrisis is that austerity can end up suffocating an economy, which is why fiscal reform was needed. Germany and Europe needs to become the engine room for innovation again." A fuller and more objective reassessment of Merkel policies by the German people is likely to happen after the elections. Merkel only moved away from austerity policies after the pandemic, committing to European solidarity and sharing the burden of aiding the economies of southern Europe in 2020. This happened at the end of her administration following 10 years of austerity, a period in which Germany invested little in her infrastructure or modernization. Much of the goodwill for democratic practice and forms of government among German people generated by Adenauer and Wily Brandt in the early postwar years was wasted with her migration policies which were also reversed by 2019, as Mr. Biden is doing in 2021 in the US. The potential for good with new direction of a combined Biden administration in the US and a Scholz-Baerbock  administration in Germany and Europe is immense and sorely needed. ...