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The US and Mexico launch a massive effort to welcome 100,000 refugees from Ukraine. FR24 gives this story on how Ukrainians already in Mexico and the US, who migrated many years earlier, are volunteering to help new refugees feel welcome.

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Contrast the slow US vaccine export response with that of India, Russia, EU and China. Only in May 2021 after India's daily Covid cases were close to 400,000 a day did the US make a serious offer of vaccines to other countries in need of assistance. U.S. president Biden says that 80 million vaccine doses would be exported by the end of June 2021. The WSJ says citing Airfinity, a London research firm, as of May 10 more than 333 million doses of vaccine were produced by the US and only 3 million vaccine doses were exported. Contrast that with the European Union which has shipped 111 million doses overseas one third of its total production, Russia which has exported 27 million doses.  India has exported 66 million doses according to the Ministry of External Affairs website as of May 17, 2021. This includes 4 million doses to Brazil, 4 million to Nigeria. Within its own region Bangladesh received 10 million and Sri Lanka 1.2 million doses, Afghanistan 1 million. Mexico received about 1 million doses. In Africa the Democratic Republic of the Congo which has suffered from many epidemics including Ebola virus received 1.7 million doses, Nigeria 4 million doses, Kenya 1 million, Uganda 1 million. Of the 66 million about half of it is a direct grant assistance and Brazil, Mexico, Morocco received all vaccine as grant assistance, 70% of Bangladesh's is grant assistance. The list on the Ministry of External Affairs site of the Government of India shows 95 countries including many of the most struggling nations of Latin America and Africa, bringing hope to countries which are struggling to hold onto hope for a better life beyond the pandemic. Sending help overseas through vaccine supplies is suspended for the moment but will resume in July after India has pulled in all of its pharmaceutical manufacturing industry under a government guided effort to go all out. Never has so much help bringing much needed hope gone to so many countries of the world in the twentieth or twenty first century from a nation that is struggling to meet its own needs. The US in pursuing a US first policy of vaccinating all its citizens has not taken into account the need to bring this evolving vaccine technology into the hands of as many qualified pharmaceutical manufacturers as possible. This in a rapid response to expand manufacturing capabilities to meet world wide demand. The risks of not doing so were not taken on early- the very same way the virus spread in January to March of 2020 can be repeated as people travel around the world particularly for tourism, business family reasons. This risk takes on anew dimension of contagious mutations of the virus which are 50% more- the Indian variant being 50% more contagious by some estimates than the UK variant, which itself was estimated to be 50% more contagious than the original one.  The result a pandemic that stretches out indefinitely unless billions of doses are made in a short timetable to beat the timetable of Nature through the coronavirus. India is doing this for the first time with plans to produce billions of doses by engaging the whole of the Indian pharmaceutical manufacturing industry in the effort in a rapid response so that July to December would see 1.2 billion people vaccinated. The US effort, the European effort is left to the individual effort of pharmaceutical makers in the US and Europe, not a government guided effort to engage the entire pharmaceutical industry of the US and Europe in a rapid response timetable of 2-6 months.  ...

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The Hunter Biden investigation for non payment of taxes and illegally carrying a firearm was done under the US Attorney for Delaware David Weiss in 2018 appointed by Republicans, and extended into the Democratic Biden administration with Attorney General Merrick Garland. It ends in a plea deal. WSJ says this protects the Biden administration from any claims that it was helping the president's son.  He is the second son of Joe Biden and Neilia Biden. His mother and sister were killed in a car accident when he was a child. The only survivors Hunter and his brother Beau. Beau died of cancer in 2015. Hunter suffered a decline after that period leading to a divorce with Buhle in 2017, a troubling period for the whole Biden family she says. Hunter is a graduate of Georgetown and of Yale law school. 

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Andy Burnham of Labour says "I am Ready." He also told Labour and the British Nation: "I have a Plan." Even before he assumes office The Burnham Programme is on the web. Burnham has implemented it in the North in the Manchester Region. He is now bringing it to the whole of Britain. What Thatcher did in Britain had reverberations in the US with Reagan. What Boris Johnson did in Britain had reverberations in the US with DJT. What Andy Burnham does in Britain will have reverberations in the US. At Lyrarc.com we had sections on Renewal America, Renewal Europe and Renewal India from its founding period. The US (and Britain) is on the cusp of a national renewal, so is India among the English speaking nations of the world. Modi's work in Gujarat state for industrialization and modernization is similar to the work for reindustrialization and modernization undertaken by Burnham in Manchester region. Like Modi Burnham can now take it to the whole country. For the countries UK and Britain that led the Industrial Revolution, and for India that adopted all the parliamentary and democratic processes of Britain and the UK, there is new hope amid the rubble of factionalism, corruption, and deindustrialization. ...

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After winning the Nation's League final over Netherlands next we will see her playing soccer in the Olympics. Aitana Bonmati talks about her life and experiences. Bonmati has given a boost to women's soccer with her talents, hard work and resilience, and by reaching out to fans all over Europe and the world. Alex Ibaceta interviews Spain's Bonmati in The Guardian. She started out playing with the boys because there were no girls to play with. She signs up for the town's football team Club Depotiu Ribes and Club de Football Cubelles playing with boys. As a cadete (14-15 years) she had to switch to playing on women's teams. This was a change at first as she had to learn to interact with girls. She says we had worse general conditions in life simply for being girls and even more in football. These were years when there was no professional women's soccer. She thought she wold play for a few years and then go to the US for studies, considering the University of Oregon. This is when she gets called to the women's first team. Bonmati talks about her mentality, not just the talent and hard work, but the mentality of sacrifice, resilience, fight and want to be better every day. To every young girl trying out a new sport, she describes this- it is a journey that is not pretty at times, there are bad moments, but these bad moments are what make you better as you learn to keep improving and know how to keep getting better. And to take on difficulties as opportunities. When she was goinghome from training with her father, they would use public transport and get home at 1 am. Looking back to where she is now idolized by young girls , what she has been able to accomplish she says it was not down to luck but all the hard work throughout the years. ...

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GST revenue increase is important because it finances healthcare, education, infrastructure building, jal ghar and cooking gas, Digital India initiatives, housing programs in a way that has never happened before and is needed for modernizing the Indian economy. The same approach is being taken by president Biden in the US to finance his climate and tax bill of $369 billion. It is the biggest climate action bill in history and revenues to finance renewable energy transition are coming from a 15% minimum corporate tax that is being agreed to by all countries in the world including US, Britain, European Union and India. Just today the WSJ the largest biotech company Amgen in the US paid 3.5% effective tax rate on revenues for 2013 when tax rate under federal law was 35%, and the IRS is working on getting $10.7 billion back in payments due over a decade. Much of Amgen's profits of $24 billion had been shifted to a location in Puerto Rico says a report in WSJ. The development work of the free world countries including US, EU, and India cannot happen without this. Without this the US, EU and India cannot even remain competitive with China or tackle national security threats. ...

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Strack of DW.com reports on the 2016 CDU convention where Merkel received 89.5% of the vote. Merkel receives applause for the burqa ban, and her denunciation of populist hate sentiment, of Islamism and parallel societies, parallel cultures. The best passages of Merkel's speech says Strack, were about reunification, about how she started in politics from the natural sciences, her start at SPD, then shifting  quickly to the "Democratic Beginning" leading to the CDU. "Head into the open," "that is where freedom is," and says Strack she had the hall listening to a chancellor speaking with emotion when in the past she has been cool and reserved. Parallels to the 1994 campaign of Kohl for a fourth term when enthusiasm came only from "generation" Kohl are being made.

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"Saving America's Story" by the White House Domestic Policy Council - getting America's story told right and protecting its heritage and aspirational values, the issue the Nation faces in 2026. A new report "Saving America's Story" is issued by the administration as a result of an executive order DJT signed in March 2025.The report’s “central finding” - that “museum leadership has explicitly adopted an ideological framework that no longer treats the American story as a shared national inheritance to be taught or celebrated, but as a political instrument to divide, dispirit, and discourage our citizens.” “To the extent that there is a story told at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, it is not one of ‘the victory of freedom and genius of our country’ but one of regret, tragedy, and shame." Why is this important- seen from the outside world the ideals set out in the Declaration of Independence are the best ideas of the Enlightenment in Europe, have inspired the French Revolution in the 1790's, have inspired billions of people in Asia, Africa and Latin America in 1800, in 1900, and in the 1950's in the fight against Colonialism of the European Empires, leading to billions of people and many nations gaining freedom. Washington, Jefferson, and Lincoln are not just the founding fathers of America but also in a way founding fathers of the principles that inspired these people and who created the Modern World we know today. ...

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Guy Scott, a Britisher from Livingston on the Zambezi river in what was then Northern Rhodesia, was a leading white member of Zambia's government. He served in Zambia as Agriculture Minister under Kaunda and Vice President under Sata. Guy Scott helped tackle a drought in Zambia to prevent famine. He died at 82 in Lusaka where he has a farm for strawberries. Guy Scott studied Economics at Cambridge in 1965. In 1986 he studied for doctorate in cognitive sciences at the University of Sussex. His father was a Scottish born physician, lawmaker and newspaper publisher, his mother a English nurse. For a 90 day period in 2024 after the death of Sata he was president of Zambia. Guy Scott is one of a long line of Britishers who helped people in Asia and Africa during the transition to home rule that started with the British agent in Rajkot, Gujarat, Sir Frederic Lely, who helped Mohandas Gandhi get accepted to study law in London. When India emerges as a modern industrialized economy by 2040-2047, the largest democracy in the world, and with Indonesia by far the largest country in the world given their shared heritage and modernization, it is important not to forget the role played by well meaning and good British people. Britishers who understood and respected the country and culture, that were both part of and separate in their aspirations for an independent India from the colonial establishment. Guy Scott will be one of these well regarded Britishers in the modern history of the world. ...

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To do this involves not just going to bed earlier. It involves shifting the circadian rhythm to earlier in the day.

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US inflation drops below 5%, the lowest in 2 years. It was lower than February's 6% increase and the lowest since May 2021, the Labor Department reported.

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Medicare Supplemental insurance (also called Medigap) covers out of pocket cost that are not covered by Medicare Advantage. Over long period of retirement thes plans offer the best protection from unanticipated costs. The Plans use alphabetical leters A B C D F G K L M N with F discontinued. And are standardized, meaning regardless of insurer or state you are in they are the same being set by the US federal government. These plans are sold by private insurers the largest being AARP plan by United Healthcare. One can join when enrolling for Medicare Part B when premiums are usually better yet one can also join afterwards. About 36% of Medicare holders have Medicare Supplemental or Medigap policies for health insurance.

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The simple fact that other countries are subsidizing heavily the early period for building a new industry, as Taiwan has done in semiconductors, China in solar panels, and European governments in other industries, had serious industrial implications that were ignored for too long. US president Biden is following the same approach to bring back American leadership in manufacturing of semiconductors - supporting and nurturing American manufacturing. The unavoidable fact is that tens of billions of dollars are needed in risky bets on semiconductor manufacturing that is feasible only with the help and cooperation of governments. The choice is do this or lose leadership in one sector after another autos, semiconductors, renewable energy, and so on. What many fail to understand is that loss of this leadership leads inevitably to dependence, and loss of national sovereignty or economic security in some form or other. The path to leadership comes through gaining a storehouse of knowledge and technologies which makes it harder for new entrants including ones such as the US who have ceded this position of leadership completely as in semiconductors manufacturing. ...

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The importance of opening doors, windows, to let in fresh air is emphasized as a coronavirus protection effort. This is particularly important in reopening schools and colleges.

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Following the Gaza conflict in mid 2014, the situation in Nov. 2014 is one of continued unrest among young people in the West Bank. Here Rudoren and Kershner give a exceptional account of the feelings of Palestinians at the Askar refugee camp in the West Bank. With no prospect for a way out or the way ahead, and lack of confidence in the leadership, no peace talks, Palestinian young people engage in random acts of protest or violence. A decade of protest has put Palestine further behind in development, jobs, and economic progress. A decade of conflict has not reduced Israel's sense of insecurity, even as it has evolved into an advanced technological society. The situation of Jerusalem divides the two peoples, just as it did a decade ago under Palestinian leader Arafat. No novel or out of the ordinary solutions for Jerusalem that would preserve Jerusalem as a city open to Muslims, Christians and Jews, without a preeminent status for any one community, have been tried.

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How the efforts of parts suppliers to get back some of their pricing power is affecting car manufacturers efforts to reduce costs from purchasing parts. Collins and Aikman's decion to shut down a Ford plant on a pricing disagreement shows that parts makers at the urging of hedge fund investors are becoming assertive on pricing issues. Bankruptcy of many suppliers is also making it difficult to achieve cost reductions for Ford, GM Daimler. This will affect their efforts to reduce costs.

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Goldman Sachs Group is in negotiations with the U.S. government to admit responsibility for its role in the 1MDB corruption scandal in Malaysia and pay a $2 billion fine. The WSJ reports that Goldman raised $6.5 billion for 1MDB, or 1Malaysia Development BhD. Money raised was intended to be used for development and infrastructure in Malaysia. WSJ points out that it was misused by Malaysian government advisors under the government of Mr. Najib Razak, and 2 Goldman bankers. Goldman pursued $600 million in fees and ignored red flags that this misuse of funds was happening. Malaysia's newly elected government of Mr. Mahathir Mohammed is trying to clear up the mess of the previous government of Mr. Najib Razak, and has charged Goldman in a separate criminal investigation including 17 former and current employees of Goldman offices in Asia. Mr. Mahathir Mohammed came to power on an anti-corruption platform. The WSJ was the first to look into problems at the development fund, which it has continued to do for many years, helping Malaysia redirect development finances for growth. ...

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U.S. Health and Human Services Department officials say one has to be "appropriately paranoid" about protecting the vaccine from theft in transit and at distribution centers. Very tight GPS tracking and even dummy trucks are planned. Hospitals vary in their approach to safety with some practicing normal security lockups and some treating the vaccine as they would a controlled substance with multiple checks before release. 

Brazil and Mexico followed by Peru and Argentina have experienced the most pharmaceutical theft incidents. The U.S. is also in the top five countries for pharmaceutical theft. U.S. marshals will accompany shipments of vaccines. Five large hospital systems in the U.S say the challenge is still keeping the vaccine refrigerated at extremely low temperatures and getting people vaccinated than theft.