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This early by May end heat wave in Texas and Louisiana with temperatures reaching 102 degrees.

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Trucking company Yellow in the US files for bankruptcy after $700 million in support from the federal government.

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Crime by violent street gangs with whole sections of cities controlled by different groups, some a remnant of the guerilla wars, has fueled the migration crisis. Many people have left central American countries of San Salvador, Costa RIca, Guatemala, because of the crime and extortion experienced and the lack of law and order in these countries. Criminal violence by these gangs hurts business which leads to even fewer economic opportunities for young people. This leads to a steady flow of migrants to the borders of Mexico trying to enter the U.S. Experts say 95% of homicides in these central American countries are not tackled, with severe distrust of police.  There are fewer emigrants from Mexico as the economy has improved and population growth has slowed. Most of the faces of migrants are now from the Central American countries. A program is underway to create jobs skills in Honduras. But this a small effort in tackling a much bigger problem of violence, lack of economic opportunity, and the legacy of the civil wars in central America in an earlier period that have left whole sections of urban areas under control of former guerillas and militia turned into gangs.  ...

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$148 billion in cash savings from tax provisions and full expensing of investments in Big Beautiful Act for 369 companies, Amazon $15.7 billion in cash savings, Microsoft 12.5 billion from Big Beautiful Act 2025. Treasury Secretary Bessent described the full and immediate expensing provisions for investments by companies as a key provision that would take the US economy forward in 2025.

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The Commerce Department report shows GDP growth of 0.7% annual rate for first quarter 2017, down from 2.1% the prior quarter. Sharp drop in consumption with weaker retail sales, to 0.3% caused the slowdown. It was also attributed to seasonal factors. with a warm winter reducing energy spending. Expectations did not keep up with the hard data on spending. A Trump bump is expected with growth in the range of 2% for the rest of the year.

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The U.S. unemployment rate shows a surprising improvement. The unemployment rate drops to 13.3% in May dropping from 14.7% in April. Employers added 2.5 million jobs, as states reopen in phases. Hiring was seen in the hospitality, construction and education sectors. This is a piece of good news suggesting that the pandemic is likely to follow a pattern of rapid decline in economic activity and rapid gain in economic activity in 2020, till it gets back to close to the original level in January before the pandemic hit the U.S.  One of the reasons for the rapid gains after steep loss in economic activity is that the errors in preparing for the pandemic led to a loss of crucial weeks before responses were made giving the very contagious virus time to spread. Yet once the response was made in mid March it was coordinated - with U.S. and India acting together, and Europe also moving together with the U.S. The economic response was unprecedented in scale with the U.S. putting in close to 1.5 trillion and the European Union and British response also about $1.5 trillion. Jobs were protected in different ways either by loans to business, or payment of wages by the government or from funds for this purpose. After some vigorous debate the reopening also was done rapidly with regions less affected, and others following soon afterwards even taking some risks so that the economy could recover. ...

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Savings for China and Japan by increasing oil imports at low prices could amount to about 1% of the economy for each country. Japan imports of oil are one tenth of total imports, and amount to $75 billion. At prices half of what they were before coronavirus the savings are about $40 billion a year. This will offset some of the drop in economic growth of about 3% in the year ending March 2021.

For countries where the coronavirus has been relatively controlled with manufacturing and infrastructure projects ready to go ahead the benefit is greatest. China expects to see about 7% decline in GDP in the first quarter resulting in minimal growth for the year as long as export markets in the U.S. and Europe remain weak. For India it depends on how long the lockdown continues and how quickly economic activity can resume under new conditions. 

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U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter, and Germany's minister of defense Ursula von der Leyden, visit troops of the German-Dutch brigade in Munster, Germany, on June 22, 2015. Ashton Carter tells a German think tank audience on June 22, 2015. "We do not seek a cold, let alone a hot war with Russia. We do not seek to make Russia an enemy. But make no mistake: we will defend our allies, the rules based international order and the positive future it affords us all. We will stand up to Russia's actions and their attempts to re-establish a Soviet-era sphere of influence." The NATO readiness effort called "Operation Atlantic Resolve" is designed to meet Russian intervention in Ukraine and preserve the independence of countries in Eastern Europe.

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The US tariff on China made EV"s imported into the US is 100%. The EU has a 10% tariff. It has now imposed additional tariffs that range from 17% to 38% depending on its investigation with Chinese companies on how much support they get from the Chinese government as hidden subsidies. This move is to level the playing field. The result is that BYD faces a 17% tariff because it has operated relatively on its own. For Geely and SAIC it goes up to 38%. The tariff on European companies making EV's in China and exporting them is additional 21%. US carmakers (GM and Ford) have only a small presence in the Chinese car market compared to the Europeans who  make and sell 3 million luxury cars in the Chinese market (BMW, Audi, Mercedes Benz). About 25% of EV's sold in Europe are now China made EV's. The EU wants to level the playing field so that local makers maintain a strong presence in their home markets. The US with no significant car manufacturing presence in China of Ford, GM to protect is taking stronger action. ...

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Tokyo subway serves 16 million people, New York's 5 million. Tokyo's subway has seen continuous investment over six decades, whereas the NY subway does not get federal spending investment and lacks continuous investment every year. The result is a creaky old system in the US compared to a modern highly efficient system in Japan. WSJ looks at the two subway systems in this video explaining why they are the way they are.

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A brief history of the US presence in Greenland and US-Denmark relations in Le Monde. On a map Greenland is located closest to Canada on the Smith Sound with the American base of Thule nearby. Next closest is Iceland. Norway and Denmark are further away. Around 1814 when Britain invaded and occupied Denmark in the Napoleonic Wars, Norway which was part of Denmark since 1400 was given to Sweden by Treaty of Kiel. Greenland, Faroe and Iceland were Norwegian dependencies. All three were kept by Denmark.  Icelanders set up small settlements on shores of Greenland in the 10th century which did not survive. Other parts of the island's shore were visited by the Dutch who came into conflict with the Danes after 1500. No country could claim ownership of Greenland as because of the harsh climate there very few settlements survived except of the native Inuit people population of 14,000 by 1900 who lived there. In 2025 about 56,000 Inuit live on Greenland. Robert Peary explored the vast Greenland region for the US Navy on on many trips from 1894 to 1909. With his ship The Roosevelt he reached a point about 100 kilometres from the North Pole in 1909. This is part of the US history on Greenland. Denmark signed documents asking for US protection of Greenland after Denmark was occupied by Nazi Germany in 1941. The Danish ambassador in Washington signed an agreement with Cordell Hull US Secretary of State making Greenland a protectorate of the US. The US set up military bases in Greenland. Today the US base in Thule is 1220 miles north of the Arctic Circle. It has a giant radar capable of detecting ballistic missile attack and a control center of the US military satellite network. At one time 10,000 soldiers were stationed at Thule base, today about 150 soldiers are in Thule. ...

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President Trump reverses himself and says he supports intelligence agencies assessment showing Russia interfered in the U.S. presidential election of 2016. Earlier Trump told reporters on an Asian trip he did not think Russia meddled in the U.S. election. He cited Russian president Putin's remarks on the matter about not meddling after a brief meeting. and said he agreed with Putin on this point.

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USA 4-1 win over Paraguay in World Cup 2026 opening game with 2 goals by Balogun. First half US was up 3-0. In the second half Paraguay rebounded with one goal and the US had to defend well to keep their lead. A fourth by De Reyna in stoppage time made it 4-1.

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The rising production of natural gas in the U.S. from shale deposits has hurt the use of thermal coal. Appalachian coal costs $65 per ton to produce and prices have dropped to $52 a ton on the spot market, making it unprofitable to produce. Coal mining companies were relying on the demand for metallurgical coal from China's steel industry, which has boomed since 2004, to continue profitable mining operations. From $40 a ton in 2004 the price of metallurgical coal climbed to $330 in 2011. In 2009 U.S. met coal exports went up to six times the prior year's production and this continued in 2010, leading to rapid expansion. Now with a slowdown in China and the Chinese steel industry operating at a loss with huge overcapacity, the prices of met coal are down to $170 a ton. Patriot Coal of St. Louis filed for bankruptcy protection and many companies are shutting down mines and laying off workers.

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Of 26 competitive House districts in coming midterms of 2026 in the US about 16 have median income of $86,000 (close to US median $79000), looking like Caroline County in Virginia. There Democrat Spanberger who won handily by 70% in the wealthy suburbs was even with Republican opponent with a deficit of 13 votes. It is this type of County that will determine the midterms says the WSJ Analysis. Republicans and Democrats face even headwinds in such counties, Cost of living continues in 2025 to be the concern for voters, similar to what it was in 2024.

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A UN Security Council ceasefire resolution passes with the US abstaining. It passed 14-0 including Algeria the only Arab country in the Security Council vote. It calls for immediate ceasefire and immediate release of all hostages. The other countries in the non permanent 10 members included Japan, South Korea, Switzerland, Slovenia, Guyana, Mozambique. This resolution supports the US efforts through working with Qatar and Egypt to reach a solution with a ceasefire and humanitarian assistance to the civilian population.

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Iraq is Iran's most promising market for gas exports. Iraq needs the gas for its power stations now that Islamic State has been decisively cleared from Iraq. Yet Iraq is having difficulty making payments to Iran for gas supplies because banks are not ready to handle the payments with the reimposed tighter U.S. sanctions and restrictions. The deputy head of media at the Electricity ministry in Iraq, Sadoun Shehan, told WSJ that transfer of money by Iraqi banks is prevented because of U.S. sanctions. U.S. sanctions were reimposed by the Trump administration after they were lifted in January 2016. The new sanctions prohibit gas exports from Iran. Iran had hoped to make the sales and also export to the European Union when sanctions were lifted. Iranian exports of gas that started in 2017 were itself delayed for 4 years by the war from Islamic State.  Iran has the second largest reserves of natural gas in the world. The Trump administration's sanctions have led to a drop of Iranian crude shipments by 29% in 3 months and added to upward pressure on oil prices to take prices to $80 a barrel. This issue has implications for India and China, particularly India as it faces both higher prices for oil and the tight restrictions in purchase of Iranian oil. ...

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Macron as president of France does not agree to cohabitation appointing 4 prime ministers over 4 years who are replaced or lose public confidence. The last Bayrou is an experinced politician who tried to get austerity cuts including eliminating 2 public holidays. The Socialist bloc led by Melenchon and Le Pen's Marie Pen bring down Bayrou in a no confidence vote. Following the election of the National Assembly Macron had an opportunity he missed of cohabitation with the Socialists Party bloc and letting its leader Melenchon or someone else in the Socialist Bloc, a more acceptable face to the Macronists form a new government. Instead he has weakened France and it's economy by taking a rigid approach. This is a reversal of his posture during his entry into politics which depended on the Socialists leader president Hollande accepting Macron into his government as Minister for the economy. Macron formed his own party with deft moves to retire the Gaullist and Socialist parties that have ruled France since 1945. Winning the presidency once and barely winning the second time after protests by Yellow Vests on the cost of living and an imperial presidency, the very same problem that Nicholas Sarkozy had of not being close to the people and their concerns about migrants, cost of living and the deindustrialized parts of France, neglect of farmers and rural areas also seen in the US. With this France is in a bit of drift with younger voters looking elsewhere for the future. ...

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A report by two former Census Bureau officials, Gordon Green and John Coder, shows the inflation adjusted median household income in the U.S. declined by 6.7%, to 49,909, between June 2009 and June 2011. From December 2007 to June 2009 household income declined by 3.2%. The forces behind this are the large number of people not working or not looking for work who are outside the labor force, and the hourly pay for workers not keeping up with inflation. Prof Henry Farber at Princeton, says his study shows that people who lost jobs in the recession found work again with an average of 17.5% less income than in their prior jobs. This makes this downturn very different than earlier downturns, and giving credence to the argument "that this time its different." Another statistic from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows why- in the period December 2007 to June 2009 average length of time for a person who lost a job to be unemployed increased from 16.6 weeks to 24.1 weeks, with the same figure up to 40.5 weeks in September 2011. Higher declines for Hispanics and other minorities further increased income inequalities. Coder and Green call the impact a substantial decline in the American standard of living....

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Idea that control over Straits of Hormuz is US goal is repudiated by DJT in his Address to the Nation, yet it finds its way into the media. There is no war for US to win, it is only about removing a nuclear and ballistic missile threat, nothing to do with oil. MAGA base, US public has rejected these wars in remote countries of the Middle East, when reindustrialization is the goal, not repeating the mistakes of Bush and Obama who by fighting these wars for 8 years in Iraq wasted resources and pursued policies that deindustrialized the Nation and weakened the heartland of America. Beyond limiting the threat of nuclear weapons and long range ballistic missiles that could hit US, Europe and other nations there is no other goal. US and DJT repeatedly pointed out that being self sufficient it does not need Iranian or Iraqi or Saudi oil. The president even said in his Address that the US wanted to supply other countries with oil as it produced more than Saudi and Russia combined, and not counting Venezuelan oil production ramp up expected by 3-4 million barrels a day. Behind this is the known fact that China and Japan get 90% of their imports from Hormuz Straits, so it is up to these nations and India and Britain to find solutions to Hormuz not the US. ...

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Issues relaed to tech startups driving up rents in residential neighborhoods of San Francisco, London, Berlin, Stockholm, and other cities.

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Indian exports to US drop from $8.8 to $5.5 billion May to September drop of 37%. A trade agreement is likely and should be similar to Japan's or EU where with Japan it is now 15% and with EU it is 10%, both key allies of the US. India is also a key ally in Asia requiring the DJT administration -once it gets over Modi-DJT differences on the nuclear aspect of the India-Pakistan 48 hour conflict in 2025, and India reverts to getting oil and energy from non Russian sources as it did in 2019, and issues of agricultural exports to India- to drop this tariff of additional 25% for Russian oil and drop the basic tariff of 25% to 15% as the US did with Japan. At 15% Japan and India will still be able to compete with China's 47% (dropped from 57%) to export to the US.  The result can be positive for India as it improves it's cost effectiveness to export to the US and EU, with rapid investment to improve logistics, and streamlining import of technologies and machinery to rapidly cut costs of production. ...