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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.


WSJ Original article ›
LyrArc Article Gist
The US policy of assistance to Israel balanced by the need for deterrance not to lead to regional conflict in the Middle East. The US was close to an agreement with Saudi Arabia and Israel, following earlier accords with UAE and Morocco. These agreements provided a way forward for bringing the Middle East out of a conflict ridden period. Internal divisions in Israeli politics have also played a part in not reaching a lasting settlement of disputes in the region.

WSJ Original article ›
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Delayed elective procedures and surgeries are a serious problem during the pandemic. To get some idea of the magnitude of the problem- Britain had 6 million on the waiting list for elective procedures at the end of October 2021. This is up 41% over March 2020 when the coronavirus was first detected, according to data collected from Britain's National Health Service. The same data show 300,000 were waiting for over 1 year compared to 3000 in March 2020.

France 24 Original article ›
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France is tightening up on vaccine passes making them mandatory and imposing bigger penalties for fake passes. Fine of 5 years in jail or 75,000 euros for use of fake vaccine passes and stricter penalties for stores not checking the pass. Vaccine passes are mandatory in stores, public transport and venues in France. The goal is to get the remaining unvaccinated to get vaccines as omicron variant of the virus reaches 200,000 new cases a day in France. 

The Indian Express Original article ›
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In his speech to the Indian  parliament following the Motion of Thanks for the President's address Mr. Modi points to gains in infrastructure, in addressing the pandemic, building India's new role  in the world's supply chain,  Gati Shakti Master plan for development. He says this was a way to make Gandhi's dreams for India to come true by the 100th year of India's independence in 2047.

The Indian Express Original article ›
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India has managed to keep inflation down to 4.5% compared to US at 7.5%, Sitharaman tells parliament in the Budget session., The Budget is seen as a far sighted document meant to concentrate India's capital investment resources on the infrastructure and other projects that will accelerate India's progress into an advanced industrial nation by 2042. It is also meant to increase employment in every way possible getting industry to do its part in Team India effort.

NYTimes.com Original article ›
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Paul Krugman says the movie Oppenheimer reminds him of the role played by immigrants and intellectuals in the scientific part of the war effort, in radar and atomic research. He describes the role of Isaac Rabi in the cutting edge research at MIT's Radiation Laboratory that gave the US a radar system the German submarines could not detect, leading to protection of the sea lanes and winning the Battle of the Atlantic in 1943. 

WSJ Original article ›
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In rural districts remote teachers are becoming a permanent part of classrooms because of a teacher shortage. WSJ looks at a remote classroom in Prescott Valley, a desert town in Arizona. Spanish teacher Jessica Paloma is in her home in North Carolina as she talks to students. Many are full time teachers who want to work flexible hours or retirees who want to work for a shorter time. School districts can spend over $1 million a year for virtual teacher contracts.

NYTimes.com Original article ›
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Petrilli of the Fordham Institute calls it a national emergency. Former NY Mayor calls it "a five alarm fire with no elected officials responding," others call it a long education Covid. Two thirds of 4th graders cannot pass the ACT reading comprehension test in 2022 is a reflection of the ability to read and write at all grade levels. A separate look at Readers Letters in NYT on the Petrilli article is also shown on this page.

The Guardian Original article ›
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The Guardian looks at work culture in Sweden, with 15 minute coffee or fika breaks, zero overtime, the German practice of feierabend of cutting off from work at 5 pm, holiday allowance for taking holidays. Employees can control their own hours in a flexible way, working longer some days and shorter other days. This kind of healthy work culture actually increases productivity of employees. Better the health of employees, better is the output of work they can perform.

WSJ Original article ›
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It is a serious problem when big banks such as JP Morgan Chase offer 1-2% in interest on deposits when the Fed has increased market rates to above 5%. The average for all banks is only 0.73%. Consider that JP Morgan Chase made $14 billion in profit in 2022. This reduces the interest earned by the vast majority of average Americans who have savings at American banks and reduces their wealth further increasing inequality in the US.

WSJ Original article ›
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Most Ameicans 60 plus years plan to stay in their bigger homes and not downsize surveys show. These older Ameicans occupy 28% of these homes. Millenials families with children occupy only 14% of homes with 3+ bedrooms. Boomers don't want to give up their lower rate mortgages. They own about 50% of $32 trillion home equity in the US. The result is to make housing supply for families with children tighter than it would otherwise have been.

The Guardian Original article ›
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Canada does better with only 28,000 cases of the virus compared to 3 million in the U.S. by early July 2020, 300 infections a day compared to 28,000 a day. Three things Canada got right are its health system that provides universal health care to all Canadians, not having culture wars about accepted practice such as face covering and social distancing, and Trudeau adopting an approach of bringing Canadian opinion around a common fight against the virus.

NYTimes.com Original article ›
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The need for relief in student loans and the 50% of the $1.6 trillion in student loans in forbearance as young people facing high cost of living and accumulated loan interest struggle to make a living. Student loan relief is one of the cost of living actions taken by president Biden. It is one of a series of cost of living actions taken by president Biden including helping ordinary workers and families meet the rising cost of living.

WSJ Original article ›
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The high cost of housing as affluent people from the northeast moved into southern Florida during the pandemic doubling the price of housing by 2024, is covered in this report in WSJ. This is pushing average Floridans making about $66,000 to leave the state or stay in far flung suburbs with long commutes over 2 hours a day. Unemployment at 2.7% is low yet making it in Florida and affording pricey housing is a struggle for many Florida residents.

The Guardian Original article ›
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Hundreds more should expect to be arrested say police chiefs after the UK's riots following a children's theme party stabbing incident in Southport. Social media misinformation played a role in the riots and prime minister Starmer called this to the attention of the British people saying social media "is not a law-free zone." Britain's top prosecutor for the Crown knows a thing or two about the rule of law in Britain.

Washington Post Original article ›
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Shira Ovide shows when it comes to new iPhone 16 deals everything you need to know and how not to fall for an upgrade if you don't need one and can change the battery for battery life, or get a recent model just not the 16 at lower cost, or simply stay with your existing one. It helps cut the cost. The AI features on the 16 may not be there or not worth that much.

France 24 Original article ›
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Vietnam rail link to Kunming China will cost $8 billion for Vietnam section in 2025. Vietnam is building 3 new rail lines in places where the old French railways built rail lines. The project has Chinese concessional loans. 45 agreements for cooperation were signed during Xi's visit to Hanoi. Xi also visited the memorial to Ho Chi Minh in Hanoi. Vietnam is practicing a delicate balancing act between negotiations with the US and cooperation with China.

NYTimes.com Original article ›
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The White House faces alarm as the U.S. president's valet and vice president Mike Pence's press secretary tests positive for the coronavirus. The cramped quarters at the White House and lack of the recommended social distancing at meetings of the U.S. president, most of the meetings being conducted maskless, are also cause for concern. 

Admiral Gilday of the Joint Chiefs will quarantine for one week. Self-isolating for 2 weeks are Dr. Fauci, Dr Redfield head of the CDC, and Dr. Hahn head of the FDA.

A senior economic adviser to president Trump, Kevin Hassett, says on CBS television program "Face the Nation" that it is scary to go to work now.

The New York Times Original article ›
The Hindu Original article ›
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India reaches $400 billion in exports for 2021-2022. This is a significant increase from the pre covid export figure of $330 billion in 2018-2019 which slipped to $313 billion in 2019-2020. Frequent lockdowns marked the period of the pandemic.

India's industrial sectors play a large role, including cotton yarn and the apparel industry. With the global supply chains being restructured and shifted away from China, India is gaining a more significant role. Australian exports are up 94% and US exports up 47%. India is making an effort to become a key part of the new supply chain arrangements of US and Europe, along with Vietnam and Japan. As part of the supply chain India is increasing imports from other countries with imports reaching about $600 billion, up about one third in 2021-2022.

NYTimes.com Original article ›
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A Hank Aaron phone call in 1967 to Dusty Baker's mother gets Dusty Baker to join the Atlanta Braves when Baker prayed that he did not have to go to the Deep, deep South. Dusty Baker, 72 years, is now the manager of the Houston Astros in the finals of American World Series baseball between the Astros and the Atlanta Braves. Dusty Baker says it was the best thing that happened to him because he met Hank Aaron, who broke Babe Ruth's record in 1974 with 715 homers. 

This started a long friendship with Hank Aaron. Of Hank Aaron Dusty Baker says- "He really taught me discipline. This guy was the most disciplined guy, most hard working guy, most concentration guy I ever met."

WSJ Original article ›
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The first flight on Mars will happen in April 2021 with the Ingenuity helicopter flying about one storey high for 60 seconds. It is part of the Perseverance mission rover that has already landed on the planet Mars. This video in WSJ shows how the Ingenuity helicopter was developed by NASA using a contractor Aeroenvironment which specializes in unmanned flight vehicles. The development process took 7 years and testing was done at the JPL Labs. JPL Labs has a vacuum space that can be filled with CO2 similar to atmosphere on MARS. 

Engineers doing the work for the helicopter say flight on MARS is challenging because of the thinner air. This will be a first in planetary flight compared to Wright Brothers first 120 second flight.

The Guardian Original article ›
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Better cycling infrastructure, well defined cycle paths away from other traffic, well lit paths, helps women get safer transportation and improves fitness. Infrastructure for cycling is especially important for women says Kate Jelly in The Guardian. A 2019 SusTrans bike life survey shows only 6% of British women bike regularly compared to 21% of women. The figure for women cycling regularly is 55% in Netherlands and in Copenhagen. It is much higher than UK for women in Paris and Lisbon after new cycling infrastructure has been placed in the two cities.

Similar issues exist in other cities around the world, in India and other countries where cycling was once a major form of transportation but has dwindled with the emergence of other forms of motor bikes and heavy traffic in cities, and the lack of cycling infrastructure.

WSJ Original article ›
LyrArc Article Gist
 Franco German differences are growing as Macron of France and Merkel have serious differences on NATO, Russia, EU expansion with Balkan countries, and a eurozone budget. Macron has called NATO brain dead. Merkel disagrees. The personal relations between the two leaders never close have worsened. 

On climate change Macron's push to cut in half greenhouse gas emissions in Europe was supported by Merkel but only after much wrangling within Merkel's own coalition government. German conservatives in the CDU fear it disproportionately hurts a heavily industrialized country like Germany. And most Germans are wary of the Macron idea of more EU integration after the experience with Greece and Italy, suspecting that Germans will have to pay the bill. EU officials say personal relations between Macron and Merkel now border on animosity.

The Guardian Original article ›
LyrArc Article Gist
Even with Brexit out of the way the Labour party has to worry that over 60% of people over the age of 65 years voted Conservative. The high percentage of older voters voting Conservative in ever larger numbers cannot make up for the young vote that Labour attracts with stands on climate change and other issues such as wages.

Older voters even in towns in the north of England, including pensioners are much better off and not that much different than traditional Conservative voters in their cultural attitudes. This will remain an obstacle for the Labour party in Britain after losses in three elections. After the NHS funding and infrastructure spending issues were neutralized by the Conservatives under Johnson, issues around cultural attitudes and patriotic sentiment play a big part particularly for older voters.


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