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Intel Board members disagreements on how to run the company 2025. Lip-Bu Tan replaced Pat Gelsinger as CEO only a few months back.  Pat Gelsinger had a close relationship with Biden and also had close relations with VP JD Vance. Lip Bu-Tan has no such relations and is seen by DJT and Senator Cotton as "conflicted" in his ties to China as an early investor in Chinese chipmakers. DJT calls for Tan's immediate resignation as CEO of Intel in 2025. Lip-Bu Tan left the Board a few months before the ouster of Gelsinger. It now appears that the ouster of Gelsinger as Intel's recovery proceeded but only gradually was a poor decision of the Board.  This report also shows an acting head of Intel Yeary recently considering selling of the manufacturing business to TSMC which is a staggering revelation considering that the US is trying to build its own dominant chip making business in the US, which it had ceded to TSMC in Taiwan after inventing the computer chip. ...

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About 565,000 workers are missing in the UK workforce in December 2022. The Guardian asks the question- Will they ever come back? Many left under stress from healthcare work, from the hotel and restaurant business, and from manufacturing during the pandemic. Some took early retirement, some taking care of family members. A similar situation exists in the US. Jay Powell at the US Federal Reserve, its central bank, and Fed Governors including the head of the Federal Reserve for California are working on ways to get these people back. Brian Deese of Biden's National Economic Council is also working to find solutions including better child care and better benefits for workers. Settling the rail strike on terms attractive for workers and getting rid of onerous rules for workers who could not get paid heath care leave in rail companies, are ways the Biden administration is responding.

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Years of Tory cuts and austerity spending left the UK unprepared for the pandemic, says this editorial in The Guardian. The running down of the public sector was a policy choice says The Guardian. In the decade before Covid the Tories cut public spending as a proportion of the GDP from 46% to 39% leaving Britain exposed during the pandemic. Jeremy Hunt continues in a long line of Tory chancellors who are impervious to comprehension of the fall in incomes of ordinary households, the working nurses and teachers who turn to food banks. Hunt even talks about another 100 billion pounds of cuts over the next 2 years. And  turning Britain into a Silicon Valley, when Silicon and Tech is failing in the US, and when the US Justice Department is seeking the breakup of Big Tech with support from Republican Bill Barr. 

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King Charles has German ancestry and has visited Germany no less than 40 times on mostly private visits. Here DW.com shows pictures from these visits. During these visits Charles has developed a connection with Germany. He will visit Berlin and Hamburg, including a visit to Nikolai Church in Hamburg preserved in memory of Allied bombings that left 1 million people homeless. As Europe faces another war and its history of conflicts which involved much of Asia by the nineteenth and twentieth century it provides a period of reflection on what can be done to shape the future in ways that benefit humanity. In another first he will address the German parliament the Bundestag. He did this once before during Covid, this time it will be seen throughout Europe and comes as the European Union is struggling to establish its own identity.

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After severe weather related events in the last 4 years, droughts, fires, earthquakes, and floods, insurers have felt the brunt of climate change. Most insurers in the US have responded to this by cutting back on fossils, not State Farm and Berkshire Hathaway which are still betting on fossil fuels with multibillion dollar bets on oil companies, says this WSJ Exclusive report. WSJ reports that the fossil fuel holdings of casualty and property insurers are now $85 billion compared to $54 billion in 2014, now 4.4 percent of the portfolio of these companies compared to 3.8 percent in 2014. This is part of Lyrarc's Climate Change Action Guage, you can see other articles on this section clicking on Climate Change Action on the left bar navigation. It keeps track of a crucial part of American and World Renewal.

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Internal Bank of England data showing Britain inside European Union 6-8% higher GDP and 75 billion pounds of higher exports of goods in 2025. This is the only objective assessment one can accept in judging what would be best for British workers and their families.  Also lost on the 2014 -2016 period that led to referendum on Brexit in 2016 just three years later is that it came after the 2009-2011 period for recovery from the financial crisis, the first entry of Conservatives and sharp austerity cuts in public spending by 2012, and the period of Covid that followed just 3 years after 2016 in 2019. The process of improving productivity and increasing competitiveness that could have happened, is a cost Britain suffered from Brexit becoming topic No.1, skewing priorities from reindustrializing to debate on a non priority item Brexit- with a lost decade as a result in addition to the 8% of GDP and 75 billion pounds that could add to these numbers. In this way UK lost about 10% of its GDP and 100 billion pounds of exports that without the that  additional public investment  did not happen from 2009 financial crisis, from Brexit divisiveness, followed by Covid. The result is 1.5% growth in GDP in UK compared to closer to 3% in the US. The lower growth alone can mean additional losses in exports in 2025 than are seen in numbers, and additional losses in GDP. This is the economic weakness  that hangs over Britain as it tries out a new leader in 2026. Only a bold action plan under a bold leader can reverse this decline. As shown elsewhere on these pages in Lyrarc, this is why a new leader needs to articulate a bold and well thought out plan to execute with the support of the British people. Andy Burnham has the potential to make this happen starting in 2026 over the next 5-7 years. He has to build on the work he did in the Greater Manchester region, and like Modi in India applying the lessons learned in his home state of Gujarat, step by step, year by year, build the industrial and economic capacity of Britain by 2035. It is not a feat for the timid, struggles will abound, yet it can be done with one step following the previous step in a continuous stride. In fact Burnham can now work with India to add about 1% of GDP because of the close trading relationship and centuries long synergies with India to get closer to 3% growth in GDP per year. At that point public spending and investment would rise to propel further growth. It is in the interest of every sector in Britain to pull together, the same in India, to lift these two main countries of the Commonwealth by the bootstraps. ...

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Matina Stevis provides this exceptional account of 3 Greek leaders who fought hard for reforms to put Greece in the right direction for euro currency membership responsibilities, and lost. They tell Stevis they were savagely attacked in the media, by labor unions, and in their own party, so that the fight came at a high personal cost. The 3 politicians now mentioned inside Greece as having done the most to ensure euro currency responsibilities were taken seriously are- Alekos Papadopoulos, who as finance minister fought with Pasok party premier Simitis in 2002 about the dangers of cheap credit coming with the euro currency, Tassos Giannitsis who as labor minister was driven out of Pasok for proposing pension reforms in 2001, and Stefanos Manos who was driven out of New Democracy Party in 1998 after warning of risks in the economy from wasteful spending, including mismanagement of railways, and proposing changes. As Greece commits to a new program under the Syriza left government as a matter of "national responsibility," with reforms to pensions, fixing tax evasion to ensure the tax burden is evenly distributed, reduced military spending, and changes in other areas, the questions in the EU about Greece are about the degree of commitment to changes. In an intervew with WSJ's Bret Stephens Tsipras is candid about the situation when he says the country on its current course would build up the debt all over again, if the debt were to be written off. Problems Tsipras cited in that interview- bribery in health care, tax evasion, burden of taxes on the middle class and honest citizens, large inefficient bureaucracy. Yet 2 years after that intervew in the WSJ, Jan. 28, 2013, Tsipras headed a Syriza government that had no proposals on tackling tax evasion, aggravating the problem of moral hazard seen by the Europeans and the IMF under Lagarde. Stefanos Manos writes in the foreword to his book that its incomprehensible how the public good is ignored by so many people who seek only individual gain. ...

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IMF's differences with Greece and Germany on relative weight of tax hikes and cuts to pensions for the Third Bailout Program accepted by Greece in July 2015. The IMF wants to see further cuts in pensions, the Tsipras centre- left government in Greece is committed to protecting pensioners and the poor, and has agreed to tax hikes that do not put a disproportionate burden on the poor and working class. The IMF fears the relative weight on tax hikes for generating a surplus to pay down debt could hurt prospects for economic growth.

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Things slow down quickly. The next steps after the arraignment of Donald Trump in New York are the information exchange of the prosecution with the defense team with a first tranche of documents and then a second tranche of documents. This happens by mid June and gives the defense team time to size up the situation. Next are motions for specific relief. The defense may ask to transfer the case to Staten Island or ask the case to be pushed back to the Spring of 2024. At this time the next date for the appearance of Mr. Trump is December 4. Defense may ask that he not be asked to appear in person, and this is left for the Judge to decide.

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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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A government watchdog in Germany keeps track of what members of Germany's parliament the Bundestag earn in secondary income from speaking fees and other sources. The watchdog is called Abgeordnetenwatch or parliamentarian-watch. German parliamentarians are now required to list what bracket they are in with the highest at 250,000 euros with no ceiling set. One exception is for lawyers, consultants and farmers who can avoid transparency for upto 3.3 million euros. Unusually these professional backgrounds are left as exceptions. Still Germany is making an effort in this direction where such an effort is absent in the U.S. leading to a credibility gap for established parties and politicians, and leaving an opening for criticism from outsiders who can say they have no connection to lobbyists. German members of parliament earn an income of 9300 euros a month.

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Rebuilding in Ukraine is focused on destroyed bridges and infrastructure as Russia continues to destroy apartment blocks, and targets the electricity grid.  Many of the apartment blocks destroyed outside Kviv in Irpin in this story are hard to rebuild because of the constant attacks most recently with hypersonic missiles that are hard to detect. A couple fled from Donetsk, settled in Irpin in a new apartment only to have to flee again after a Russian missile attack left their apartment building in ruins. How do you build in the midst of a war is the question Ukrainians ask themselves every day. About 150,000 apartment buildings and half the electricity grid is destroyed, so also 1500 schools and 20,000 kilometres of roads. It would cost $350 billion to repair. It would require policy decisions on what quality of building materials and how many to apartment buildings to build and how quickly.

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This article in the Financial Times says during a time when income distribution in the US no longer works it is important not to repeat the mistakes made under Clinton and Obama. Biden's appointment of Omarova as Comptroller of the Currency is an effort by Biden to set a new direction. Omarova has considered the direct placing of digitally transferred dollars into the accounts of people in the US who have fallen behind in her paper "The People's Ledger." This is seen as an effort by Biden to get back to an America that works for ordinary Americans.

Anything less would be disastrous for Democrats and even some Republicans politically. A big part of the problem is that financial institutions and markets left to themselves no longer allocate capital in productive or even understandable ways that help the American people.

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This report in The Guardian says what India urgently needs is for the US to lift export restrictions on supplies for India's vaccine factories, and tools such as genome sequencing to identify and control emerging variants of the coronavirus.

The report also points out that of the 1 billion vaccine jabs about half are in the US and Europe and the low income countries have only a tiny fraction of vaccinations. India which sent 64 million vaccine doses to countries including Brazil and Morocco, Bangladesh, in 3 months prior is reported to have sent only 1.2 million doses this month.

The crisis in India also shows the need says The Guardian for an international approach to the crisis no a country by country approach. It says the Bush plan for Aids and the the 2014 plan for Ebola in West Africa are models of an international approach that is needed now.

 

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Republicans in Congress led by Speaker Johnson and Senator Lindsay Graham insist that a reform of the asylum and parole system for the US border is a must before an appropriations bill for the government to aid Ukraine and Israel, Gaza humanitarian aid can be passed. At a meeting at the White House Speaker Johnson came to an agreement on immigration reform of the asylum and parole system. A large number of people from Venezuela were admitted to the US in 2023 as the US has no agreement with Venezuela for return of people coming from that country. 2023 migrant entry could surpass 1 million as a result of this influx from Venezuela. This is a huge problem as 7.7 million people have left Venezuela of which 6.5 million are in Latin America, leading to the effort to cross the US border. About 286,000 Venezuelans crossed the border in 2023 by one estimate.

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The Guardian looks at Lachlan Murdoch's career and how he differs from his sisters and from his brother James. He is seen as closer to his father in his thinking than James which is why after leaving Fox News following differences with Roger Ailes his father tried to get him back. This happened with an absence of ten years. The family trust set up for Murdoch's four children shows all jointly share in the family stake. This means the others will also have an influence in the future and the direction prospects of this media business left by Rupert Murdoch. As the world moves to the internet and new ways of learning news this marks the end of an era in which a few people were able to move public opinion- Beaverbrook and Murdoch belong to a different century, the twentieth not the twentyfirst.

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The Biden Xi meeting brings together the leaders of the two countries for normal stable relations that as Mr. Xi says are for "the benefit of the two peoples and fulfill their responsibilities for human progress." Both leaders have learned from the errors of the past two decades that hurt both the US and China with excessive dependence on trade, supply chains and manufacturing on China that devastated American communities and manufacturing. The relationship was not managed well and left to business to determine and chart out that resulted in failure. Business simply pursued its own interests company by company not putting uppermost the common interest of the two peoples. Today there is new respect on both sides for the other ,and a cautious assessment of relations without the over enthusiasm and the rejection of the past. Now replaced by working in the interest of the two peoples and for the world.

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The BBC cites Mr. Trump's comments on Sean Hannity Show that Attorney General Barr made up his mind "right on the spot" after receiving the Mueller Report before even going into the Report's findings. It says this confirms that Mr. Barr had already made up his mind as stated in an unsolicited June 2018 memo to the Justice Department about presidential immunity from obstruction charges, a reason Mr. Trump chose Barr.

Mr. Mueller did not make a traditional "prosecutorial judgement" because he left it up to Congress as it was not the role of the Justice Department under which Mr. Mueller operated. At issue is also the 34 pages "redacted" by Mr. Barr from the Mueller Report, and Congress will want to see the full Report and all the evidence on obstruction before making up its own mind, says the BBC.

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In the first round of French elections June 2024 the RN National Rally and Alliance gets 33%. The National Front Populaire gets 28% and the Assemblement of Macron gets 20%, Les Republicains 10%, additional 2% of other Left parties, 2% of Centrist parties. To win in the first round one has to get over 50% of the vote and over 25% of the registered voters. Only about 60 seats were decided in the first round. In the second round on July 7 there will be tactical voting with the NFP dropping out of seats in which the Assemblement and Les Republicains have an edge. The same is likely to happen for the Assemblement and Les Republicains dropping out of races which the NFP could win. Most of urban France is with the Assemblement and the NFP, Les Republicains, rural France and small towns with the RN of Marine Le Pen.

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Olympic gold prospect for England who had her left side paralyzed from a horse riding accident before her GCSE's. Georgina Brayshaw says she could only use her right arm and smile with half her face. From that event and after her mom had a stroke Georgina persisted and looked for ways to carry on with her life giving it her all. She went on to continue her studies and not lose a year for her GCSE's. Georgina who is part of the 4 woman England team that won the World Championships for Rowing in Lucerne  is now set for the Olympics in Paris. She says she took up the sport of rowing in university as most people said she could not do it. She says what happened to her wasn't good and it wasn't bad, it was just life. And that she was always taught that you just get back on and try again.

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Left out in much of the media coverage is that Zelensky's popularity rating in Ukraine, after three years of war and everyone having lost at least one family member, is at a low of 16%, and most people prefer that he not run again for president, as reported in this In Depth report in The Times of London. After huge losses on the Russian side, Russia's economy on war footing and costs of the war, and on the Ukrainian side fatigue and losses with infrastructure badly damaged, there is only one way out with a negotiated settlement. Biden and NATO's support is mostly to give Ukraine a negotiating position for a settlement as a new president DJT takes office in the US, also looking for a settlement of the war not letting it drag on with nothing to gain for NATO or Russia.

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European has a completely different perception of events in Europe than the US which has distanced itself. EU president Von der Leyen says- “A new era is upon us. Europe faces a clear and present danger on a scale that none of us has seen in our adult lifetime … We are living in the most momentous and dangerous of times.” And it is has the room in its budgets and the willpower to back it up without US help. $30-$40 billion in EU aid to Ukraine when US aid to Ukraine ended this week by the DJT Trump administration. Part of the $650 billion in new defense spending found in the space left from lower spending for decades of less than 2%, from an increase of 1.5% in spending on defense. And the $150 in loans from joint EU borrowing on capital markets.

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The election of her close ally Kramp-Karrenbauer to head of the CDU party, protects Merkel's position as Chancellor till her retirement in 2020. Karrrenbauer is to the right of Merkel on social issues and to the left on economic matters. She is likely to take a different view on the migration policy that has let the CDU ratings drop and produced poor election results. The move stabilizes the CDU led government. Karrenbauer will try to rebuild relations with the party's conservative wing through her conservative views on social issues.

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David Ignatius reports from Syria as poorly armed Syrian students and people from the middle class are left to fight the heavily armed Assad regime.

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The US military is finally, after years of being left out and over 300,000 young Americans losing their lives from fentanyl drugs being brought into the US- after Coast Guard is overwhelmed by the scale of activity- is finally now being enlisted in the effort to save lives and restore the integrity of America's borders. The deaths in this war are more than 3 times that in the Vietnam War and Korean War combined which were about 100,000. Yet ineffective political leaders have not responded with American strength in the face of the magnitude of losses. And ignored or neglected the firm basis on which president Monroe proclaimed the Monroe Doctrine to keep colonial powers out of this hemisphere. The result is that America and the youngest of its people America's most precious resource, have paid the price. America can do a better job of protecting the interests of the people of this hemisphere because of its great traditions of good government over several centuries going back even to the British days- it is America's solemn duty and responsibility to do so to the people of this hemisphere. ...