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LyrArc brings in selected articles from many of the world's top publications.

Articles are selected by experts and you can see the gist of the important articles.

Older Workers Have a Big Secret: Their Age

  
WSJ - 11.18.2019 Original article ›
Carol Hymowitz
LyrArc Article Gist
Problems older workers face as they try to remain active, stay healthy with active participation, contributing to the economy. In societies like the U.S. where age has different meanings compared to Asian societies, older workers have to conceal their age. This goes against the need for greater workforce participation of older workers to make up for the effect of aging societies and fewer younger workers.

It is a good thing that labour force participation rates of workers in their 50's, 60's and 70's are growing, good for the health of the workers, good for their financial health nearing retirement and good for the productive contributions to the economy. Imagine all that experience going to waste.

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Original article 8 minutes, gist 1 minute

The rise of Japan's 'super solo' culture

  
BBC News - 07.26.2020 Original article ›
LyrArc Article Gist
More flexible attitudes about how lives can be lived and independent attitudes are leading to more people in Japan doing things alone on their own. For people to travel, go to concerts or events alone, and take part in other activities alone, is becoming more acceptable in Japan, a country where doing things together was once the only way. About 50% of people in Japan now do things independently, as society changes and demographics adds another factor of single people in retirement. The term used for this is ohitorisama in Japan. There is even karaoke for one person on his own, and eating by oneself at a restaurant or at work is now ok, quite acceptable.

 

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Covid Live Updates: Global Vaccination Effort Faces New Challenge

  
NYTimes.com - 05.20.2021 Original article ›
Bryan Pietsch
LyrArc Article Gist
The world's larges vaccine supplier Serum Institute of India syas it will not be able to meet its target production of 2 billion doses for 2021. It says vaccines will not be available for export from the Institute till the end of the year. The Indian government has initiated an effort to diversify its vaccine production by distributing it among many suppliers in India's large pharmaceutical industry so that constraints at any one supplier would not affect the overall supply for use inside India and the production that can be sent overseas.

Another setback was seen in the US as 100 million doses of J&J one dose vaccine at a Baltimore plant are being checked for contamination.

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India-China border: No change in Ladakh, military brass brief PM and Rajnath

  
The Indian Express - 05.27.2020 Original article ›
LyrArc Article Gist
In a video interview the Indian army chief says the tensions at the India China border in the mountainous Himalayan region arise from different perceptions of where the border is, with each side patrolling the area based on its perception of the border. In random situations both sides are patrolling the same area leading to tensions. This has happened before and is likely to happen again. Cross border discussion mechanisms between the two sides have been setup to tackle the situation of patrols.

The Indian border is defined by the McMahon line for India, and set during British times. China has its own perceptions of the border and China was further away from the Indian border till it moved into Tibet in 1950.

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Original article 1 minute, gist 1 minute

Back to school: ‘If you believe it’ll work, you do everything to make it work’

  
The Times - 06.01.2020 Original article ›
Harry Shukman | Rosemary Bennett, Education Editor
LyrArc Article Gist
Harris Primary Academy in southeast London is a primary school that shows how reopening can be done safely. The primary school's head teacher Mr. French says nothing was left to chance and the logistics detail were handled carefully. The children practice social distancing with games and "helicopter arms."  

Parents and teachers feel comfortable in the carefully set environment. Children have all they need at their tables which are set a distance apart and stay in "bubbles" of ten children. Not all children are back but for the parents who felt it was right to start their children at school it has been a good experience, and one that can be emulated in other places.

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Original article 1 minute, gist 1 minute

Zara to Close 1,200 Stores as It Outlines Post-Coronavirus Future

  
WSJ - 06.10.2020 Original article ›
Saabira Chaudhuri
LyrArc Article Gist
Spain's global retail chain Zara will close 1200 stores or 16% of its outlets worldwide, as it shifts to selling more online. Zara says it will close smaller stores or stores where sales can be shifted to online. Spain says it will spend 1 billion euros on digital investments over 3 years. Inditex the company running Zara stores is known for its quick design and sourcing process which is done close to its Spanish headquarters.

About 78% of Inditex stores are now open, and sales which were down by 51% in May are now down 34%. For Inditex  online has done well, up 50% for the quarter and up 95% in May over April.

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Original article 4 minutes, gist 1 minute

Japan’s quiet hero | The Times & The Sunday Times

  
The Times & The Sunday Times - 12.07.2020 Original article ›
LyrArc Article Gist
The Japanese Consulate in Lithuania is about to close in 1940. Jewish people from Poland have moved to Lithuania. As the Germans move across Europe the vice consul in Kaunas, Lithuania says he has to do something to help Jewish people to get to safety. Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Japan had authorized issue of visas to applicants. He uses this authority to issue 2100 visas, one visa sufficient for each family. 

It will be an extraordinary journey. From Lithuania to Vladivostock, Russia., and from there by boat to Japan. In Kobe the Jewish community there gets the 10 day transit visa extended so that a final destination can be planned. The journey then begins to to other parts of the world.

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Opinion | It’s Not Really a ‘$3.5 Trillion’ Bill

  
NYTimes.com - 09.23.2021 Original article ›
Peter Coy
LyrArc Article Gist
The $3.5 trillion bill of president Biden to help America get back on its feet after the pandemic and after years of neglect of infrastructure, manufacturing technologies, child care, health and education, is that much only if offsetting tax increases and spending cuts are not included. When this is taken into account the US is spending about $871 billion to rebuild its economy and for a better life for Americans. That is the estimate provided in the report September 13 by the Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation.

Experts say that if president Trump's bill- Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 was calculated without offsetting cuts and tax increases the same bill would be $5.5 trillion package.

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India's grand ambitions in second Moon mission

1 Groups   
BBC News - 09.06.2019 Original article ›
LyrArc Article Gist
India's second moon mission will land a rover on the lunar surface near the South pole on September 7. The mission includes an orbiter, a lander named Vikram, and a six wheeled rover named Pragyaan. The orbiter was launched on July 22, entering the moon's orbit a month later in tricky manoeuvres, followed by the lander being set off on September 2. The last 15 minutes of the mission, the landing itself on the lunar surface is critical to the mission. During this operation the speed has to be brought down quickly for a soft landing. 

India has accomplished this with low budget. Chandrayan 2 mission cost is about $150 million. 

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Original article 5 minutes, gist 1 minute

How to Succeed in Business? Do Less

  
WSJ - 01.12.2018 Original article ›
Morten T. Hansen
LyrArc Article Gist
Intense devotion to a few high priority tasks gets better results and is a way to work smarter, says Hansen in WSJ. Research shows high achievement comes from being more focused in what you do by selecting the tasks that are most critical and concentrating the most attention on these tasks to get it right. Merely working long hours no matter how talented you are is not the best way to get things done. Having clutter actually hurts a presentation and one slide can get more accomplished because it is the critical one to present. 

Getting things done means often doing less, being selective, and instead of longer hours simplifying to get what really matters most done.

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Original article 12 minutes, gist 1 minute

Oil Falls Most Since 2015 on Fears of Oversupply

14 Groups   
WSJ - 11.13.2018 Original article ›
Dan Molinski, Amrith Ramkumar
LyrArc Article Gist
Oil prices in the U.S. drop to $55 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, and $65 a barrel for Brent crude price. Earlier expectation of the impact of reimposed sanctions on Iranian oil shrinking global oil supplies have been reversed with increased production from Saudi Arabia, Russia and the U.S.

Another new development that caused this reversal in sentiment is that the Trump administration granted waivers to some buyers of Iranian crude oil. The U.S. trade dispute with China has also added to this with lower growth forecasts. Unlike in previous years OPEC or Saudi Arabia cannot by itself shrink global supplies with production cuts. The U.S. and Russian output also plays a significant part.

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Original article 4 minutes, gist 1 minute

Google Fined $1.7 Billion by E.U. for Unfair Advertising Rules

  
New York Times - 03.20.2019 Original article ›
Adam Satariano
LyrArc Article Gist
With the latest fine of 1.7 billion euros, the third imposed by the European Commission since 2017 for antitrust violations, total fines exceed 8.4 billion euros. The latest fine is for unfairly excluding competitors in contractual provisions for third party use of Google's search bar.

Google says it is making the changes to give visibility to rivals such as Microsoft and Yahoo. It is appealing the rulings. Meanwhile the European Competition Commissioner Margarethe Vestager who has taken action for violation of antitrust rules, is now completing her 5 year term, is open to continuing for another term. She is also a candidate for President of the European Commission, after European parliamentary elections in May 2019.

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A Select Few Prepare to Pick Next U.K. Prime Minister

1 Groups   
WSJ - 06.13.2019 Original article ›
Brittany Bernstein, Max Colchester | Photographs By Jeremie Souteyrat For The Wall Street Journal
LyrArc Article Gist
Less than 1% of the electorate or 160,000 members of the Conservative Party in Britain that are now electing a new leader to lead Britain are supposed to decide British policy. This happens as the COnservative Party wins only about 11% of the vote in the European parliamentary election. During the last election the Conservative Party needed the support of a small party from Northern Ireland to form a government.

Here the WSJ shows how a group of older voters in the Conservative Party are choosing a leader to lead Britain. There is a sense that this group fails to reflect the views of the country of 60 million leading to a short lived Conservative government and fresh elections.

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Original article 5 minutes, gist 1 minute

Sandra Boynton Writes Children’s Books That Don’t Condescend

1 Groups   
WSJ - 02.07.2020 Original article ›
Warren Bass
LyrArc Article Gist
Sandra Boynton is unique in children's books because of her avoidance of what she calls the "cutesy tedium and arrogant condescension" of children's books and children's music. She is simple but can adapt difficult words or ideas to sound simple. She has also avoided television because she says TV outlets merely want the rights and a children's product that makes it to a hit that will then turn up on hit toys, you know the commercial kind, and backpacks, then lunchboxes!

She lives in the foothills of the Berkshires mountains with the farm to table food, outdoor activities and fall foliage, and is married to Jamie McEwan, Olympic medal winning canoeist.

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Original article 7 minutes, gist 1 minute

With Inflation Not Letting Up, Shoppers Cut Back on Staples

  
WSJ - 04.04.2022 Original article ›
Sharon Terlep
LyrArc Article Gist
Lower income households in the US are buying in smaller quantities, buying less well known brands, and hunting for deals on staples, as consumers pullback from costlier name brands during a period of high inflation. 

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Japan’s Next Prime Minister, Yoshihide Suga, Emerges From Behind the Curtain

  
NYTimes.com - 09.14.2020 Original article ›
Motoko Rich, Makiko Inoue
LyrArc Article Gist
Japan votes for continuity as the LDP party elects Mr. Abe's cabinet secretary, Yoshihide Suga, as the new prime minister. Mr. Abe resigned because of ill health after serving for a long period.

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Coronavirus: How to stop it spreading into your home | #InThisTogether | DW | 19.04.2020

  
DW.COM - 04.19.2020 Original article ›
LyrArc Article Gist
A very useful video from DW.com on how not to bring the virus contamination from grocery stores and supermarkets, shopping areas, into ones homes. It gives 7 useful tips that can help one manage this risk.

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Jobless Claims Hold Steady as Economy Slowly Reopens

  
WSJ - 06.04.2020 Original article ›
Sarah Chaney
LyrArc Article Gist
Unemployment claims held steady at 21.5 million in the U.S. at the end of May 2020, according to the Labor Department. New applications for unemployment claims dropped below 2 million a week for the first time.

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Original article 4 minutes, gist 1 minute

Heat exhaustion, apocalyptic scenes: what it’s like fighting the US’s biggest wildfire

  
The Guardian - 07.17.2021 Original article ›
LyrArc Article Gist
What is it like being a firefighter for a blaze that has burnt through 200,000 acres (312 square miles). This Guardian report is from a firefighter fighting the Bootleg fire in southern Oregon in the US.

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Everyone in South Korea Is About to Get One or Two Years Younger

  
WSJ - 06.27.2023 Original article ›
Timothy W. Martin, Dasl Yoon
LyrArc Article Gist
South Korea is adopting the international aging system as the standard where on the day a child is born it is at year zero not 1 year old by the traditional system in South Korea.

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US oil sanctions on Iran anger Asian powers

12 Groups   
The Times - 04.22.2019 Original article ›
Richard Spencer, Middle East Correspondent
LyrArc Article Gist
The Trump administration proposes a zero policy for Iranian oil imports which says the U.S. will grant zero exemptions to countries importing Iranian oil.  Big importers China and India are likely to resist this policy.

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Original article 1 minute, gist 1 minute

A-level results day 2019: more girls than boys study science for the first time

1 Groups   
The Times - 08.15.2019 Original article ›
Rosemary Bennett, Education Editor | Ryan Watts
LyrArc Article Gist
Girls made 63% of A Level entries in biology, and 54% in Chemistry. In Physics girls made 23%. This shows increased women's participation in the basic science subjects after years of effort in Britain.

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Original article 1 minute, gist 1 minute

Auto Makers Grapple With Worker No-Shows as Covid-19 Cases Surge

  
WSJ - 07.14.2020 Original article ›
Ben Foldy
LyrArc Article Gist
No- show and absences are affecting the two shifts in the auto industry in Kentucky and Missouri for Ford and GM plants. Workers on third shift are taking the place of missing workers on earlier shifts.

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Original article 4 minutes, gist 1 minute

In France, the Pain of Rating Downgrade Is Especially Acute

2 Groups   
New York Times - 01.13.2012 Original article ›
Liz Alderman, Liz, Alderman

Read Trump’s Letter to Turkey’s President

1 Groups   
NYTimes.com - 10.16.2019 Original article ›
The New York Times
LyrArc Article Gist
A copy of the letter Mr. Trump sent to Mr. Erdogan of Turkey telling him " don't be a tough guy... don't be a fool," to invade the Kurdish zone in Syria. He says history will judge him, that he should "not let the world down." 

Turkey sent forces into the Kurdish zone even after the letter from Mr. Trump. Mr. Trump said that it was a bad idea getting involved in the Middle East that trillions of dollars had been wasted. He made exceptions for keeping the Straits of Hormuz open and flow of oil from a commercial standpoint in providing assistance to Saudi Arabia and Aramco, something the U.S. has done since FDR administration.

It also says Mr. Trump has worked hard to help Turkey. And admonishes Erdogan saying "I don't want to be responsible for destroying the Turkish economy- and I will."

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