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This visual in The Guardian shows how the center of gravity for carbon emissions has moved from Britain, to the US, and now to China.

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U.S. frustration with China as coronavirus toll reaches 300,000 deaths worldwide. President Trump says- "They could have stopped it in China where it came from. But it didn't happen that way. " Worst hit are countries in Asia and Africa with food security threatened. After the coronavirus he says of the trade deal he signed in January- So, I make a great trade deal and now I say this doesn't feel the same to me.The ink was barely dry, and the plague came over. And it doesn't feel the same to me." Under that trade deal the China agreed to buy $250 billion in additional goods and service for 2 years in an effort to correct a huge trade imbalance - built up on the advice of American economic theorists and experts who advised American presidents for three decades that it was of no consequence - in exchange for a roll back of American tariffs in stages of part of the tariffs. 

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Stuart Broad's remarkable achievement of 500 wickets as England beat West Indies in the Third Test at Old Trafford. He joins Glenn McGrath and James Anderson in an elite club of bowlers. He was made man of the match and of the 3 Test series after taking 10 wickets in the Third Test and hitting a quick 62 runs. 

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US stock markets June 27 2025, after Israel-Iran war and NATO Summit in Hague. The rapid de-escalation after strikes on nuclear weapons development  sites was similar to the India- Pakistan war within days the US after strikes of its own on Fordow and Isfahan called for a ceasefire and an end to the war.

In briefings following the US strikes Lt Gen Dan Caine showed extraordinary composure and professional skills that were displayed throughout the crisis unlike anything seen in recent American military history. His rapport and connection with junior military officers was something that gives new confidence to the armed services of the United States.

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The Indian prime minister talks in his radio program Mann Ki Baat (Talking our Mind) about Indian athletes at the Tokyo Olympics and overcoming any hesitancy for vaccines. He remembers athletes from the Olympics past- Milkha Singh India's fastest runner, who worked hard and emerged from the partition bloodshed as a survivor in 1947 to compete in the Rome Olympics in 1960. Milkha Singh was the first Indian male athlete to reach the finals of the Olympics when he barely missed the bronze medal by 0.1 seconds in the 400 metres race. He remembered for this years Tokyo Olympics hockey player Neha Goel, race walker Priyanka Goswami, javelin thrower Shivpal Singh, archers Deepika Kumari, Pravin Jadhav, badminton player Chirag Shetty. Pravin Jadhav is a laborer's son from Satara district in Maharashtra who is competing in archery. The prime minister talked about two people from Betul district, Madhya Pradesh, with vaccine fears from spread of disinformation. He pointed out that over 300 million people have been vaccinated and this includes his own 100 year old mother. He urged India to trust science and scientists. Sometimes, he said, people get a mild fever, that lasts only a few days. "Avoiding the vaccine can be very dangerous, you are not only putting yourself at risk but also  your family and the entire village." In the new phase of the vaccination drive vaccines are made available for free in all states and union territories. ...

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It is the biggest change for lives of women in India- the 100 millionth connection of cooking gas LPG connection in India. Nothing like this change has been seen in centuries of history where 100 million women from poor households and their families have been thrust into the modern age. The two videos shown here show the outlines of the Ujjwala Scheme for cooking gas launched in 2016. The prime minister visits the home of the recipient of the 100 millionth cooking gas connection at her home built under loans for new homes under another scheme. This is taking place as Indian Railways has increased its investment in India's largest state of Uttar Pradesh to Rs.17,000 crores, $2 billion for 2023, with complete electrification of rail lines.

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How crude oil flows are affected by the narrow waterway Straits of Hormuz if blocked, Kuwait's lack of storage, Iraqi production going from 4.3 million barrels a day to 1.3 million. China could use more coal, it has 300 days of oil inventory, US is self sufficient. Asia will have problems- India, Japan and South Korea.  Europe also faces a shortage of oil supplies. How will this be tackled? 

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The campaign in German schools "Smart ohne phone" or "Smart without a phone"  for school children in 2025. One student at Dalton High School in Alsdorf, North Rhine Westphalia, Klara Ptak, is cited in this report by  Oliver Pieper in DW.com. Klara 17 years old says- "A total of 51 phones were seized — that's a fairly significant number considering we have 700 students. And you can really see a difference, especially in the younger kids. They used to stand around in a circle staring at their screens, and now they are playing football, badminton, or board games together. It's a dramatic shift." A survey by the Körber Foundation, and pollster Forsa, says that parents of children ages 12 to 18 complain that their children's time spent on social media is out of control and is their leading source of stress. The German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina is for banning phones upto tenth grade, it wants to keep children under 13 away from the internet for social media completely. It is interesting to note that the younger student are fine with it and adapted quickly seeing the benefits. This shows that a new generation of student can be trained for a different lifestyle. Today in the Washington Post Linda McMahon and RFK Jr. team up on an article saying just this that time spent on screens lifestyles along with nutrition and food fail school children badly, reminding people about the saying in Latin since the 2nd Century by poet Juvenal -"a healthy mind in a healthy body." ( Latin -"mens sana in corpore sano").   ...

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US frustration with Russian intransigence on ending the war. By October 2025 DJT administration pushes for an end to the war with hopes for a Budapest summit. This is delayed and the US announces sanctions on Russian oil companies on October 22, 2025, when Russia shows no interest in ending the war except on its own terms.

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Chase bank investments in strategic companies of the US with the US government in a Jamie Dimon effort October 2025. Chase Bank CEO Jamie Dimon says- “It has become painfully clear that the United States has allowed itself to become too reliant on unreliable sources of critical minerals, products and manufacturing—all of which are essential for our national security." 

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Merkel tells Hungarian news portal Partizan that the Baltic States and Poland made efforts to reduce efforts for dialogue with Russia, and that this dialogue and meetings were also made difficult during the Covid pandemic. Merkel did not address other issues of EU and US relations with Russia over the decade when Russia was not integrated into European structures as a Northern European power. Britain and Netherlands also supported Poland and the Baltic States in efforts to keep NATO as a force and counterweight to Russia in Europe, something Merkel did not cover. Merkel appears to have been selective in covering only this issue in EU-Russian relations and not the larger issues that Merkel never addressed of ending the Cold War structure of NATO that Britain, Netherlands and Poland had favored. The result is that without German or US leadership the Cold War structure of NATO favored by Britain, Netherlands and Poland has been expanded to include Sweden and  Finland, and without a clear resolution of the Ukraine issue created a new situation. This situation is the return of the Cold War in another form with Russia and China, losing the opportunities presented to both sides to use trade and improvements in standards of living to create a durable peace for economic development and addressing the problems that have led to deindustrialization of US and European Union countries. ...

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PM Modi talks about the changes since 2014 and the difference in India now compared to before 2014, during his visit to Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, a place that is close to his heart. His visit is for the "Garib Kalyan Sammelan" for the many schemes launched by his government for the benefit of ordinary people. "Before 2014 there were headlines in the newspapers, debates were taking place on TV channels regarding loot corruption and scams. But time has changed, now the talk is about benefit of government schemes. The World Bank too talks about ease of doing business in India. The Government prior to 2014 regarded corruption as a necessary part of the system. That government succumbed to corruption instead of fighting it. The country then was watching money for schemes being looted instead of going to the needy." With the combination of Jan Dhan, Aadhar and Mobile Modi said money was directly reaching the beneficiary account. Previous governments had accepted that money would not reach the beneficiary and development would be looted. "We have taken the initiative to make 100% benefits reach 100% of the beneficiaries. The government has taken the pledge for reaching the saturation of beneficiaries. 100% empowerment means ending the discrimination, every poor person gets the full benefit of government schemes." "Earlier there was compulsion to suffer because of smoke from the kitchen, today there is the facility to get LPG cylinders from the Ujjwala scheme. Earlier there was the shame of open defecation, today the poor have dignity of toilets. Earlier there was helplessness to raise money for treatment and hospitalization, today the poor have the benefit of Ayushman Bharat." PM Modi talked about how the Northeast was alienated before 2014, and now it was connected by heart and by infrastructure. During the pandemic India sent medicine and vaccines to 150 countries. India stretched out its hand to help other nations. India, he said, has shown that it not only has the potential, it is also a performer. International organizations are accepting that poverty is coming down and there are more facilities for the people. ...

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Italy which imported 40% of its gas supplies from Russia has shifted rapidly to Algeria as a source of its gas replacing its own supplies from Russia and even sending supplies north to Austria. Algeria, Africa and other gas producing countries Azerbaijan and Turkey are winners in the closing of the Nordstream pipelines to the EU from Russia. Algeria is making the largest contribution to EU gas supplies. Low Russian gas prices for a decade kept Algerian gas in the ground. Algeria is expected to send 100 billion cubic meters of gas to the European Union making up 65% of the 160 billion cubic meters the EU imported from Russia. Much of this gas is produced by the Italian gas company Eni and Sonatrach, Algeria's oil and gas company. Pipelines from Azerbaijan and Turkey deliver gas from that region to the EU. Azerbaijan plans to double its gas production.

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The current economic expansion in the U.S. in April 2014 is at 58 months from the beginning of recovery in 2009. In this exceptional account Josh Zombrun of WSJ compares the current expansion to previous expansions since 1950, with the views of experts such as Stan Hall of the NBER committee, which studies turning points. This expansion is forecast to go for 90 months into 2016 by the U.S. Federal Reserve, and 102 months into 2017 by the CBO. Sooner or later, says Stan Hall, some adverse unpredictable event takes place that ends the expansion. So far the expansion has been slow and protracted, as predicted by economists Reinhart and Rogoff from previous financial crises in the last century, giving it room to grow as corporate earnings continue to improve. Fed chairwoman's sense of slack in the economy also provides room for employment and incomes to grow in the later stages of the expansion. This is good news for the emerging market economies such as India and China, and for the European Union, faced with slowing growth. So how does this expansion compare with earlier ones. The expansion of the 1991-2001 of the tech boom was 120 months, 1961-1969 of the Sixties 106 months, 1982-1990 of the Reagan era 92 months. The controversial one on shaky foundations is the recent housing boom 2001-2007 of 73 months ending in a huge bust with the 2008 financial crisis. The shorter expansions are the 1975-1980 Post-Vietnam one for 58 months, and the 1970-1973 spurt before the OPEC price surge. Figures are from the NBER, CBO and the Federal Reserve's Summary of Economic Projections....

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Surat in India's state of Gujarat is the 14th of 15 cities in Guardian's Megacities series. Other cities from India are Kolkata, Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad. This city is at the point where the Tapi river meets the Arabian sea and is prone to flooding. The city is spending about $400 million on projects including live tracking of buses, new water treatment plants, solar and biogas generation, automated LED street lights. Some of the funding comes from India's Smart City Initiative launched in 2015 for 100 cities.