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The jet stream in the upper atmosphere is cutting flight times over Atlantic from US by 1 hour. 

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Infrastructure, airports and energy supplies are being set up in an area the size of Singapore in Dholera, Gujarat, 100 kilometres from Ahmedabad, near the Gulf of Khambat.  It is entirely a greenfield site.There prime minister Modi hopes to set up new semiconductor factories for Make in India in chipmaking.

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Two women Khayat and Effantin with diplomas in bakeries and pastry making get enough experience and learn techniques to open a woman's bakery in the 9th Arrondissement Le Condorcet called Neighborhood Bakery, Boulangerie de Quartier. 100% home made products at a bakery shown in this report in Le Monde.fr.

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Google's head of operations in India, Rajan Anandan, cites estimates of 200 million new internet users in India by 2014. An estimated 100 millon Indians were online in 2010. The surge in internet use is expected with the roll out of high speed internet technology and expected sales of low cost smartphones using Android software. Most of the Indian advertising dollars go to print and television advertising. As a result online advertising spending is only about 200 million dollars. One aspect of Indian user behaviour is the preference for the internet as the first source for research when it comes to buying cars or other products. Google has 63 million Indian users for its search service, according to ViziSense, an Indian web metrics firm. Anandan says Indian advertisers could benefit from an Internet first strategy to reach affluent urban consumers.

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The first spread event for Omicron outside of South Africa is now known to be in Norwegian capital of Oslo. Some workers of renewable energy company Scatec SA returning from South Africa where the company has a solar panel project attended an annual holiday party. The party was at Louise an upscale Oslo restaurant, with 120 people all vaccinated, and tested the day before. More than half have tested positive for covid 19, with at least 13 having the new variant Omicron. Oslo municipal health department says it expects more Omicron cases among the 64 coronavirus cases as remaining workers get tested. The results so far are anecdotal and thin to be sure, yet they show none of the infected employees were seriously ill, says this report in WSJ, citing a company spokesman. The spokesman says people had different sysmptoms but none were severe. Tine Ravlo, assistant superintendent of the Oslo municipal government says- all of them are under isolation at home. And  for now they have what they describe as mild symptoms such as headache, cough, sore throat, and flulike symptoms.  Norway has 80% of population of 5.4 million people fully vaccinated. Mask mandates are in place again in Norway, private indoor gatherings limited to fewer than 100 people. ...

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From Kansas to Southern Spain, pictures from The Guardian show the great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in the night skies looking out into The Milky Way in December 2020. At the time of the pandemic understanding how small our world is on this planet as light travels at 300,000 kilometres per second and it takes 2 seconds to reach earth from the moon, thousands of years for light to reach earth from distant stars of which scientists say there are 200 billion. A British scientist and astronomer says there are 200 billion in a new book "The History of the Universe in 21 Stars."

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Saying that these countries had significantly cut imports from Iran, the U.S. government gave exemptions from the sanctions on Iran to 10 European countries and Japan. Exemptions were given to Belgium, Britain, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland and Spain. This leaves 11 countries facing possible sanctions including China, India and S. Korea, with negotiations underway with these three major importers. The sanctions law passed by the U.S. Congress gives the government room to avoid damage to global oil markets and U.S. allies.

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The Carter Center finds that Democracy was thwarted in Venezuela when the Oppoostiion Candidate won by as much as 67% of the vote compared to 30% for Maduro and the Venezuelan regime. After over 300% inflation and 8 million refugees Venezuela's situation had deteriorated to the point that no government could win with such dire conditions for the economy.  Most essential goods and services difficult to find. This is the situation that the US faced as it asserted the Monroe Doctrine in the face of drug trafficking gangs in Mexico and Venezuela pushing drugs and migrants across the US borders. The drug and migration crisis in the US reached levels that led to the election of DJT in the US in 2025.

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insurance rates for oil tankers of 0.25% of ship's value increase to 1-2% in Iran war for Straits of Hormuz, US Development Finance Corporation says it will offer reinsurance to insurers to cap the price shippers pay. There is no shortage of insurers to insure ships for the Straits of Hormuz, Lloyd's of London is open for business. Shipping executives say they are concerned about the safety of the crew members, that it is about more than insurance. About 1000 shipos are waiting outside the Straits of Hormuz to make the journey through the Straits. At its narrowest point it is only 19 miles making it possible to plant mines in that area. The US is taking action and has sunk many Iranian minelayer ships.

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Ukraine's effort to neutralize the effect of oil price hikes by hitting export refineries in Russia- every $10 rise in prices brings in $1.6 billion more in tax revenues for Russia. One of these naval drones hit a target 900 kilometres away on the Russian oil refinery at Ust-Loga in the Baltic Sea, which exports 700,000 barrels a day of oil. At price of $120 compared to $70 this adds about $54 billion in tax revenues for Russia without drone attacks on Russian export refineries. Another approach taken by Ukraine is to propose cessation of attacks on Russian oil export infrastructure if Russia agrees not to target Ukraine energy infrastructure. Much of Ukraine experienced a cold winter with Russian attacks on its energy infrastructure and its apartment buildings.

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England wicketkeeper Jamie Smith's 184 helps England  get to 407 at Edgbaston against India, July 3, 2025. Smith hit the fastest century for an England batsman except for Jessup by doing this in 80 balls. Gilbert Jessup was at the Oval in 1902 against Australia, with a century hit in 76 balls. Smith's century will go in the books as the fastest for England in the last 100 years,  a feat thoroughly enjoyed by cricket fans.

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Novavax gets $1.6 billion to deliver 100 million doses of vaccines for use in the U.S. possibly by end of 2020. Regneron gets $450 million federal contract for vaccine  development.

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US president Biden announces a plan that makes it mandatory for all employers with more than 100 employees to require their workers to be vaccinated. The Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration will issue an emergency temporary standard for implementing the new rule. This will cover 80 million private sector employees. Businesses that fail to meet the standard will face fines of up to $14,000 per violation. Employers must also give workers paid time off to get vaccinated or recover from any side effects.

Federal government workers and contractors also must meet the new requirement or face regular testing. In all 100 million workers or two thirds of American workers will be covered. 

To meet testing needs the Biden administration is procuring $2 billion in rapid point of care and over the counter at home Covid tests, using the Defense Production Act for accelerated production.

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Photographs and descriptions of a picturesque cycling tour through some of the best scenery in New York state all the way to Canada. From New York City head straight north by bicycle through Poughkeepsie and Albany to Rouse's Point and the Canadian border for a cycling route of 400 miles. The NYT shows Jane Margolies doing this bicycle route in small sections and having her husband drive her back, till she had reached the Canadian border. It is actually 2 sections- a Hudson Valley trail and a Champlain Valley trail that takes one to the Canadian border. A separate trail takes one from Albany to Buffalo. The entire stretch is 750 miles which was completed at a cost of $200 million. It showcases New York's history and natural beauty,

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Life was better in the US, more got done, more got built, when McGovern got along with Bob Dole. Nate Cohn points out that Biden holds firm in support he is getting from white and older white voters. This is how it was for Democrats for most of the last 100 years. 

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India's demographics show one startling fact. By 2020, the average age of Indians will be 29. This is happening just as the rest of the world is aging very fast. In the next 15 years India will have 130 million more people in the 20 to 49 age group. This compares with a shrinking in population of 100 million in that age group in developed countries and China, according to the U.N. Population Division. The problem facing India is malnutrition that runs as high as 43% for children with half the mothers anemic, weak educational system at the primary and secondary school levels especially in the government run schools, lack of good governance in the most populated states such as Uttar Pradesh in the Ganges plains which has 200 million people, the consequent overburdening of cities which have no plans to manage the migration of the rural poor to the cities. India has to find ways to fill the huge gaps in getting better nutrition, education, dignity and sense of opportunity, and work for the growing numbers....

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Something that Bernanke has studied for adecade and has spent time preparing for. He took the step yesterday to proceed with a $300 billion purchase of Treasurys by the Fed. The idea is to reduce long term borrrowing rates on consumer loans to corporate bonds that are benchmarked to Treasury bonds. By reducing the yields on Treasurys the Fed hopes to keep borrowing rates lower, now that it is clear from the jobless numbers of 500,000-600,000 a month that slack in manufacturing capacity will keep inflation down and risk deflation. The Fed will purchase Treasurys of 2 to 10 years maturity. THe Fed also increased its ceiling on purchases of mortgage backed securites guaranteed by Fannie and Freddie to $1.25 trillion from $500 billion previously laid out. So far Fed has purchased $69 billion of mortgage backed securities and committed to buying $148 billion more. It will increase the amount of Fannie and Freddie debt that it buys to $200 billion from $100 billion. So far to March 11, it has purchased $48 billion of their debt....

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Email exchanges between OMB staffers and Obama administration officials, released exclusively to the Washington Post, show the Obama administration urging the OMB to speed up its decision on the half a billion dollar loan to Solyndra. This was part of stimulus funds to the solar industry. Solyndra was a favorite of the Obama administration according to the Washington Post, and aides to Rahm Emmanuel and other officials sent emails urging speeding up approval. OMB officials in their replies stated they were under pressure. One email by a senior OMB staffer sent to McSweeney, Biden's domestic policy advisor, Aug 31, 2009, said: "we have ended up with a situation of having to do rushed approvals on a couple of occasions (and we are worried about Solyndra at the end of the week)... we would prefer to have sufficient time to do our diligence reviews." Other emails referred to "the time pressure we are under to sign-off on Solyndra," and indicated "there isn't time to negotiate." Solyndra had large investments by the funds operated for the family foundation of George Kaiser, an Obama fundraiser....

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US naval blockade of Iran in Arabian Sea starts April 13 2026. US destroyed Iran's larger ships 158 of them, yet Iran also has a fleet of smaller attack boats which it plans to use in Hormuz. These are harder to detect and can be hidden in coves along the Iranian coast and used against ships. The US with its naval blockade is now prepared to do what it has done also in Venezuela, stop and interdict fast drug boats on the Venezuelan side in the Atlantic ocean. By blockading Venezuela in the ocean US is using its strengths, and stopping drug boats its ability to pinpoint traffic on the ocean. Similar capabilities are well suited to Arabian Sea and Red Sea on the open oceans and away from narrow Hormuz playing to US strengths and capabilities. Aircraft carriers and destroyers and the US Air Force is in a position to do what it does best control open seas like the British did in their heyday of the Royal Navy for most of 1750-1920. This avoids options of Hormuz itself with its narrow 15 mile gap of water between Oman and Iran too close to mountainous terrain on either side, and of the Kharg Island option which would require special forces to be backed up with more ground forces. This is the most viable option and the interlude of couple of weeks has given the president an opportunity to make a better choice for positioning the US forces where the US has its strongest points. What is lacking is the individual powers of Britain and France whose leaders Starmer and Macron have popularity below 20%. Yet the US is better off making good choices and not having these nations alongside. The posturing by European nations is limited to France and UK, as Germany and Italy are in sync with the US position. Much of the media operates as if the goal of preventing the spread of nuclear weapons to the Middle East is not important for long term peace for nations such as China and India with about 3 billion people and the billions of people of Asia, Latin America and Africa. For the first time in 400 years since 1600 as Asian civilizations began a long decline China and India have emerged in 2000-2030 into the kind of modern economies and societies that exist in Europe and the US. The last thing they need is the risk of destroying the Modern World with nuclear proliferation when it took centuries to get to the right opportunity after 1950 to modernize China and India. Xi's and Modi's generation are the first to experience modernization in Asia after Japan's experience. ...

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Total sales of Truth Social are $5 million over 3 years, it cost $40 million raised through convertible notes to finance losses, says this WSJ report. By using financial dealmaking methods this could create $300 million for Truth Social and $6 billion for Trump Media, says WSJ in the report. DWAC shares were set at $10 and are now at $144 with its connections to Trump Media & Technology Group, going up 150% in the last year. Digital World Acquisition is a SPAC meaning that it is a shell company- or special purpose acquisition company in financial jargon- that lists shares on an exchange with the sole purpose of buying a private company and taking it public. Investors buy and shell shares on the expectation of which company it buys and how that company will perform. Trump Media and Technology Group, the parent of Mr. Trump's Truth Social social media company will merge with Digital World Acquisition SPAC and the new company will replace the old with the sticker changing DWAC to DJT. This could happen next week if the majority of DWAC shareholders approve it. This could get Truth Social $300 million says WSJ and Trump Media main shareholder with 60% holding about $3.5 billion in this deal making, says WSJ. ...

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Grady Cash is an active runner at age 71. A sports hernia sidelined him at age 50 but he has found his way back into running. After a 2 year hiatus he returned to the track. He entered his first national track and field competition in 2004, and by 2015 eleven years later he was running in the 200 metres at the 2015 USATF Masters Indoor Track and Field Championships. Here he cam in last and had a revelation. Most of the runners were shaped differently than the long distance 1500 metres runners. These people were V shaped with tiny waists, broad shoulders and big leg muscles. From this he learned to do weightlifting at a local gym in Nashville and hired a trainer. After his retirement from financial planning he set up his own routine. He runs with a group at the Vanderbilt University track two afternoons a week ages from mid 20's to 76. A typical workout is eight repetitions of 200 metres that are sequentially faster. He does easy recovery runs on the trails. Mot important he tries to remain injury fee in the kind of routine he selects and listens to his body all the time not to overwork it and run  injury free the next day.  ...

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Derivative "kiko" contracts sold in S. Korea to exporters for protection in currency fluctuations such as dollar depreciating in value, with clauses that provide for huge losses if the won depreciates in value. The won collapsed in 2008 going from 1000 to the dolalr to 1500 to the dollar leading to huge losses the exporters could not pay. The Seoul District Court blocked enforcement of nine such contracts saying the risks were not disclosed, the banks obfuscated the risks, and the investments were inappropriate for the companies.

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French pharmaceutical company Sanofi will produce 100 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine to meet vaccine shortages in Europe. Sanofi's own vaccine will take longer, possibly till the end of 2021.

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Oil prices of over $100 per barrel give Saudi national oil company Aramco profits of $161 billion in 2022. One change is the amount of oil going to Europe which almost doubled from 5.1% to 9.1% of European oil imports by the third quarter of 2022, after the EU ban on oil imports from Russia.

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Larger solar farms producing 30MW are part of the many solar power projects rejected in the UK in the last 5 years says this report in The Guardian. This would have cut an estimated 100 million pounds off of UK electricity bills says environmental group Green Alliance, enough renewable energy to power 147,000 homes.