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An attempt to keep Iraq together as one nation even as it splinters into 3 with the Kurdish north and the Shiite south containing all the oil fields, by having a oil council at the central government which work with oil governmental organizations in the Kurdish north and one similiar to be setup in the Shiite south. Does it give Sunnis some hope for a share in the revenues and incentive to work within a national framework which increasingly is agoal only of the US and Britain only and possibly only given lip service by the elected government as the mostly Shiite government also prepares in the background to US presence for an eventual partitioning of the country. Remember many of the Arab states were creations of he British and French empires in the 20th century, and not necessarily natural divisions. Culturally and by religious beliefs parts of Iraq that are Shiite are brethren to western Afghanistan round kandahar and to the Shiite centres of religion ad culture in Iran, and have been so for centuries before Europeans had a presence here in the 19th and 20th centuries, and this won't simply go away especially when the post war modernization that occurred in Iraq whatever its appearance was of the worst type that exacerbated religious tension and did not bring communities together....

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The key role being played by Xi Jinping and advisor Liu He in developing economic policy and top down changes for China in 2013-2015.

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Apple provides about 40% of Taiwanese company Pegatron revenues. Starting with older iPhone models, the company now supplies the new model iPhone 5C. Revenue in the 4th quarter 2013 for iPhones and tablets increased 20%, as sales from televisions and PC's declined. Operating margins increased slightly to 1.9% in the 4th quarter 2014 from the prior year quarter 1.6%.

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Linda Thomsen is out as Director of the SEC's enforcement division since 2005, as she resigns. Robert Khuzami, a lawyer for a bank dealing in securities, Deutsche Bank, is her replacement. In the current environment with serious concerns about the independence of regulatory agencies and the different mindset needed for regulators, the new SEC enforcement chief will still have the mindset of someone working in a bank which was involved in the same risk taking practices that got the banks into trouble.

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Susan Jaccoby brings up a major issue facing healthcare in America from personal experience. A third of the Medicare budget, she says, goes to the last year of life, and a third of this goes to the care in the last month. At the same time public opinion polls show Americans see the problem being too much medical intervention rather than too little. Especially when there is no hope except to prolong life for the patient with an highly deteriorated qulaity of life for a few months or a year, doing no service to the patient or future generations who may see their basic services cut when they most need it as a result of the unaffordable spiralling cost of Medicare. A Pew Research Center poll in 2006, shows 22 percent say a doctor should not always make efforts to save a sick person's life, and 70 percent believe that patients should be allowed to die in some situations, when it only prolongs life for a few months for instance and patients live in pain. The problem only gets worse in future years as an estimated 8.5 million Americans are expected to be over 85 years in 2030 with these same choices facing patients, their families, Medicare and the country....

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Anxiety in financial markets about exposure of French banks to Greece pulled down French bank stocks on August 10, 2011. Societe Generale shares were down 15%. A British tabloid the Daily Mail published an article on Societe Generale saying that it was in a perilous condition, and on the "brink of disaster." The Daily Mail later retracted its report. The rumors spread quickly in a jittery market, reminiscent of the rumors that affected Morgan Stanley at the height of the U.S. financial crisis in 2008. Sanford Bernstein analysts say in a report that the selloff in French banking stocks was based more on anxiety and the rising price of insurance of thinly traded credit default swaps, and not based on rational concerns about earnings and raising capital. Societe Generale says it has no exposure to Greek bonds maturing after 2020 on its books- to deflect fears of additional bank bondholder haircuts beyond 2020- and has taken a 395 million euro provision against losses on Greek sovereign bonds maturing upto 2020. The jittery condition of markets was also affected by rumors that France was about to be downgraded. Moody's, Fitch, and S&P reaffirmed that French credit ratings of triple A and stable outlook would not change....

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Japan's new prime minister told the Japanese Parliament in a policy speech, that a crisis like that in Greece was possible in Japan, if trust in national bonds was lost and the policy of public spending to lift the economy was not reversed. This speech followed the resignation of Shizuka Kamei, as banking minister. Kamei was seen as an advocate of continued public spending. He cautioned that a policy of relying heavily on issuing debt could not be sustained for long. Japan has government debt of $9.7 trillion, which is close to twice its gross national product in 2009. Much of this debt is held by the public in Japan, but analysts have cautioned that with the aging population, it is possible that people who retire will need the cash from bonds, requiring the government to turn to the debt markets for financing. Among the proposals Kan suggested is raising the 5% sales tax to pay for rising social welfare costs for an aging population. Satoshi Arai, the new national strategy minister, says the government will draft a plan by June 22 to address the public debt. He said the government would not exceed $500 billion in bond issuance for fiscal year ending March 2012....

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The role of the Judiciary in Pakistan in acting as a check on corruption in the Zardari government, and a check on the army's interference in Pakistan's democratic process. For the first time in Pakistan's history a peaceful tranistion between elected governments is planned in 2013.

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CEO Shigetaka Komori of Fujifilm Holdings Corp. describes how Fuji responded to the technological changes that made photographic film obsolete. Kodak recently filed for bankruptcy protection. Fuji made the transition to other products to cope with the change. Komori became president in 2000. He says one of the responses was to reduce costs. In 2005 and 2006 Fujifilm reduced costs by $2.5 billion mostly in photographic film. Fuji's management asked the question what technologies the company possessed and how they could be applied in new business areas. This led to new businesses in making the films used for making LCD panels used on PC's, televisions and other devices. These materials generate 10% of sales. The other areas are in medical equipment, drugs and cosmetics. Fujifilm acquired health care companies Toyama Chemical for $1.4 billion in 2008 and agreed to buy SonoSite for $995 in Jan. 2012. Health care now makes up 12% of sales.

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For the first time the Census Bureau reported the number of non-Hispanic white American deaths exceeded the number of births for that group by 12,400. White births declined by 13% in 2012 from 2007 levels, partly because of the difficult economic situation following the 2008 global financial crisis. Experts say this could reverse with higher fertility rates for whites in future years with an economic recovery.

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This editorial in the WSJ says Obama's silence when it comes to the jailed opposition leader in Malaysia is one more silence when it comes to issues related to suppression of democratic freedoms. When this issue was raised in June the WSJ reports it drew the Obama comment: "democracy is hard." This is all the more astounding now says the Journal, after the WSJ report about corruption in the Najib Razak government related to the $700 million from a state owned investment bank. This editorial says about the record of the Obama administration on going silent when issues of freedom and suppression have come up from Iran in 2009 to many other events and Malaysia today- that this is one of the most puzzling aspects of the Obama presidency. It also points out this is is one of the most discouraging aspects of how the U.S. is seen in the world under the Obama presidency, when it comes to protecting freedom and freedom of speech and expression.

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Louis Gallois, CEO of EADS gives his views about reviving European industrial competitiveness.