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Starmer's visit to China and the result being halving of tariffs- it comes 8 years after Theresa May's visit 2018.  Starmer is following his intution  to set an independent course for Brtian's foreign policy. It makes sense as the US is using common sense in coming back to basics, to getting its own hemisphere policies right. How could there be a situation like that in Venezuela and Mexico as with the drug cartels operating as states within states- what would Teddy Roosevelt say about this? So we now have the Monroe Doctrine, the return of the Panama Canal, the restructuring of the oil industry in Venezuela, and other action. This also means Canada and UK, India, European Union can pursue policies that are common sense. It means for Britain a new openness with China after 8 years inward looking with Austerity, Brexit and Covid. For a smaller economy it makes sense for Britain to have agreements on trade as it signed with India, and now with China. Carney, Starmer and soon Merz will have worked out relations with China on trade and exchanges. For Europe and the US over concentration of making goods in China can be corrected while still engaging with China. For the EU the visits Germany's Merz made to the kite festival an India and Leyen/Costa of the EU following up with trade agreements are all part of common sense to not just reduce over concentration in China, but also to build a new partnership with India to form a 2 billion people market. All of which happened suddenly as European nations realized how to work out new arrangements following the war with Russia over Ukraine and China's support for Russia, taking up the cues from DJT common sense action in its backyard. "I'm a pragmatist, a British pragmatist, applying common sense," the prime minister tells BBC on the plane and says he wants to "make Britain face outwards again."  ...

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Thucydides, Greek historian on the Peloponnesian War between Sparta and Athens 431 BC, cited by Xi Jinping of China during DJT visit to China, May 2026. “Can China and the United States transcend the so-called ‘Thucydides Trap’ and forge a new paradigm for major-power relations?” "Thucydides Trap," is about one established power being threatened by another rising power, as Sparta felt threatened by a rising Athens in the Greek world around 431 BC, leading to a long over 30 years war.  “The Taiwan question is the most important issue in China-US relations,” Xi said, of Taiwan, an island near China's coast where ChiangKaishek set up his government after the fall of his government in Beijing in 1949 to Communist People's Army of Mao Zedong. “If mishandled, the two nations could collide or even come into conflict, pushing the entire China-US relationship into a highly perilous situation."  What China sees is a future of strong economic growth based on China having built its industrial strength and world trade to exceed 1.2 trillion dollars of trade surplus in 2026. Yet this is only the beginning. US and European Union, and India+Japan are three economic regions compared to the situation in Greek history. The combined three economic regions potential for scientific and industrial advances in the future till 2045 in a synergistic fashion one building on top of the other's advances, far exceed the potential of the Chinese economy and industry by itself. This is why any such conflict may over time fizzle away as three economic regions of EU, US and India advance, particularly the 1.4 billion people of India, which will see growth rates of 20% annually for 10 years to 2035 in Eastern Indian region of the size of the EU. That region extends from Lucknow and Patna to Vizag and Chennai. Another aspect of this concerns China itself which sees slowing growth of 5% in 2026. Growth could slow further as US, European Union and India/Japan push back on Chinese exports during a period of reindustrialization in US, EU, Japan and rapid industrial development in India to 2040. China's development is only midway in terms of per capita GNP which lags most of Europe and the US, Japan. Thus the main concern in China is that China will not be able top go beyond middle income country as its demographics and aging population look more like Japan's over the period 2026-2040. China needs the US EU trade and markets for it to meet the needs and aspirations of its 1.4 billon people as the other engines of development such as housing construction, infrastructure building, have lost momentum. ...

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Misinterpretation of his remarks by the media with commentary presenting it incorrectly as criticism of DJT, says Pope Leo. Leo said that his speech in Cameroon “was prepared two weeks ago, well before the president ever commented on myself and on the message of peace that I am promoting.” “It was looked at as if I was trying to debate again the president which is not in my interest at all.” A lot of unnecessary commentary was made on this in the media exaggerating the Pope's comments to make political points about the opposite side in political discourse. When the Pope says he is going to talk loudly on the message of the Gospel in his visit to Africa, visit to Algeria, Anglola, Cameroon, it is clear he is talking about the domination of the colonial powers and the huge loss of life in these countries and about " the grossly "unequal distribution of wealth," in these  and other countries of Africa.  ...

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July 4th for the 250th of America was celebrated in the Badlands of North Dakota under Mount Rushmore and the carvings of Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt, the presidents who defined this Nation. "There is a silence over the Badlands and the whole universe over Kansas was still by the whisper of a prayer," these are the opening lines of the Song of the Badlands by Rich Mullins. Senator Cramer of North Dakota said these lines with much emotion as he opened the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in Meduro, North Dakota for America 250th on July 4th. This is the region under God's skies, land stretching out forever under the sky in stillness, almost desolate till the sun rises and it all comes to life. The region Teddy Roosevelt went to as a young person for healing in the 1880's  (1884-1887) after the loss of his mother and first wife within days. Relevant Magazine shows in this description of the North Dakota territory what the place does in inviting prayer. TR then took this silence and this prayer into the vast project of building America as the leader of the nations of the world by 1900 and the turn of the century. This is the inspiration for America on the 250th, this July 4th. ...

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Migrants and Jihadist tendencies in Europe in the years 2016-2026 a period in which Europe put up with attacks on crowds across European cities. Laurent Raviot was the judge of the Paris Criminal Court for the Nice Attack by a Tunisian migrant on July 14 2016 ramming a truck into crowds in Nice killing 86 people, injuring 458 people gathered on the English Promenade on Bastille Day celebrations. On the 10th anniversary of that attack and after many such attacks across Europe Le Monde interviews Judge Raviot, who describes his own emotions while judging this case. A minute silence for the people killed to honor those who died that day was held before the Spain France soccer World Cup game today. Judge Raviot says he hasn't completely recovered from judging such a huge case, he says- "I want to go to the Promenade des Anglais, to see it in the sunshine, filled with joy, telling myself that it's over, that we've moved on and that life is regaining its colors, its light." This is something that the whole of France, the whole of Europe, needs to recover from, this mindless exercise in letting in so many migrants and others who radicalized from remote parts of the world. ...

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Rodrigo - what he does is "indefinable" being in the right places at the right time- winner of best player in World Cup Soccer 2026. He is tall but not imposing. He is not the super athlete. In a World Cup that is dominated by television advertising pushing celebrities every minute, and tickets that few can afford, Rodrigo is the ultimate irony says this report in The Guardian by Jonathan Wilson. Not Haaland, not Mbappe, not Messi, the star celebrities and goal scorers, but Rodrigo or Rodri who is a cerebral player in the Spanish tradition of Busquets. Wilson rightly cites Mauricio Pochettino, the US coach, when he says that the US cannot produce a Rodrigo because of the way it manages soccer expecting parents to pay thousands of dollar for their child to join a club, which leaves out large parts of the US people. And what they get in return is physical prowess. What matters in soccer is tactical awareness and technical ability which are difficult to measure and intuitive. There is another aspect to Rodrigo he struggled for the last 2 seasons after an injury, recovering in time for the World Cup. The results are plain to see. Messi says this report could not play his style of game because of Rodrigo and players like Rodrigo in the Spanish team. ...

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Luis de la Fuente coached the Spanish under 19 and under 21 teams for 9 years- the results show Simon, Rodri, Merino, Ruiz, Olmo, Oyarzabal. Fuente 65 years old, says- “I never imagined anything like this. I always just wanted to enjoy those moments I was experiencing (with the development teams). I always worked and coached where I wanted to be. When you look at this process, we couldn’t have achieved anything on this journey without these players and with the knowledge of the raw materials and the way Spanish players play and compete.” This process is nothing like the fast fixes England and the US tried with Itlaian Pochettino and German Tuchel who never practiced with their team except for less than a year. Germany had changed coaches, France with Didier Deschamps was the only coach like Fuentes having many years of experience with his players. And the process showed. In the end Argentina crumbled, US stumbled, and France and even England with the passion of their players came out winners, their fans happy in the third place game in ways that the finals with the fights of the Argentine players with Rodri and Gavi after the whistle were not what fans wanted. ...

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Greg Ip argues in the WSJ that DJT jawboning on the US economy and markets has worked more often than not on interest rates, on stock markets, on oil prices, and on cost of living issues.

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Apple repurposes chips of lower quality for lower end products like the Neo laptop $599. In this way it gains marketshare and profit at the lower end of the market for iphones and laptops. It also helps when there is a general shortage of chips on the market.

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How trying too hard can mess up your style is shown for bowler Mohammad Siraj. After the failure in the New Zealand series Siraj talks to his old bowling coach on the phone. Bharat Arun tells Siraj he is trying too hard and this is leading to errors. Go back to your original stye. He tells Siraj this will take discipline first concentrate on one wicket, try bowling yorkers to get the wrist behind the ball the original movement. It worked says Siraj in Perth and Canberra. The ball that went to Steve Smith that he edged into for a catch by Pant was one that was Siraj bowling a yorker. Bumrah said trust the process, wickets will come don't fret too much about it. And if you do come to me. 

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Reeves and Lammy depart as Burnham chooses new cabinet Healey is new chancellor and Shabana continues as Home Secretary. Healey was Defense secretary under Starmer. It is important that he was in 1999 Parliamentary Private Secretary to Gordon Brown as Chancellor of the Exchequer. In 2002 he was appointed Economic Secretary to the Treasury, and in 2005 Financial Secretary to the Treasury. In 2009 he was Minister of State for Housing and Planning. Shadow Secretary of Health in 2010 and 2016, Shadow Secretary for Defense under Starmer after supporting Starmer for leadership of the Labour Party. He was first elected to parliament in 1997 and had majorities of 50-70% in elections serving for 29 years in parliament. He is the right choice for Chancellor, or Finance Minister of the UK to work with Burnham on Labour's goals. Reeves was problematic from the beginning because she stuck to what people said could or could not be done, not able to think outside the box to get Labour to be itself and do what people wanted from Labour. In this way she set herself and the Labour party for failure by losing the very public that Labour had promised to help, with this public becoming indifferent to Labour, because in many ways it was Reeves's Labour not Starmer's. As Starmer, not much of an original thinker and little experience outside of law, followed Reeves economic theories borrowed from The City, Britain's version of Wall Street. Andy Burnham is right to choose someone who can think on his feet, no knowledge of economic theory required because orthodox economic theory has failed America, failed Britain, and created the mess of single supply chain concentrated in China in the first place with its theories of comparitive advantage. What is needed is someone who grasps and hold near his heart the aspirations of the British people, and hears their concerns everyday, not think tanks telling one what to do, and acting on these concerns in creative ways, thinking and improvising solutions along the way, not afraid to experiment. This is how FDR handled the economic difficulties of the 1930's, another period like today's when Wall Street theories had failed badly. This is also how China handled the economic collapse after Mao's death following the Cultural Revolution in 1984-1997. This is how Modi handled the economic difficulties in building a modern nation by experimentation in the western state of Gujarat in 2001-2014 without preconceived ideas and theories, keeping what worked and expanding on it.  Lammy was not the right choice for Deputy Prime Minister, and failed to provide leadership and focus the country's attention on the issues of migrants, asylum hotels, housing, rebuilding relations with the European Union, economic growth, neglect of the north of England and other deprived regions. No such position of Deputy prime minister can be filled in many situations. As Foreign Secretary there needed to be some one who could speak with a stronger voice for Britain with the European Union, the US, China, India, and be seen across the spectrum of views in Britain as an effective voice. ...

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Aaron Tilton of DW.com provides this exceptional report on World AIDS Day 2016, showing that about one percent of the population in Russia could be infected with AIDS, becoming for Russia "an issue of national security." Mr. Pokrovsky, head of Russian federal AIDS center, says that the proportions are reaching an epidemic, and that it may now infect the general population. The campaign to have NGO's registered as foreign agents is cutting off funding from outside and this hurts efforts of private organizations. The government of Russia's attitudes towards AIDS and following the thought of the Russian Orthodox Church with stigma associated with AIDS as a moral failure, is also hurting efforts to tackle the AIDS epidemic among LGBGT community, sex workers and other populations. Only now is the Russian government waking up to tackle this as a national priority with support of prime minister Medvedev, and by backing up the UN 90-90-90 program. That program sets targets for total population- 90% to be diagnosed, 90% treated, 90% viral suppression. Russia has only 250,000 being treated, only one third of the affected population, says this report. ...

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Emma Soames says its OK that the picture of Winston Churchill is being replaced on 5 pound banknote by the Bank of England. After all nothing is forever. She should know as she is the granddaughter of Winston Churchill. In this BBC video she tells the interviewer from BBC that if replaced by an animal it should be one that is "a brave animal, a courageous animal ,and  a lovable animal, the Winston Churchill I knew. Don't you?" Churchill ended up on the banknote in 2016 using a 1941 Karsh photograph. It is part of an update that removes Jane Austin the novelist, and Alan Turing the scientist and puts in Birtish wildlife to change themes. We asked who makes the decision to choose wildlife compared to say British gardens which are more famous around the world and a suitable theme that Britons can point to with pride?

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Beatles oldest singers to get to top the charts as well as having one in 1963 when Macmillan was prime minister and now in 2026 when Labour's Starmer is PM.