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The Cape Ray equiped with the technology to neutralize chemical weapons at sea waits for a trip to the Syrian port of Latakia to pick up 700 tons of chemical weapons. The equipment has been tested but doing this at sea is a new effort. The entire process would take 90 days and is expected to start in 2 weeks. There are 35 crew members and 63 additional workers on the ship. At the Syrian port Danish and Norwegian ships will bring the materials to the Cape Ray, and security will be provided by China and Russia. The effort is organized under the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and the UN.

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China raises objections to the setup of the U.S. THADD missile defense system to protect South Korea, but the South Korean government of president Park Geun-hye is determined to go forward. The U.S. and South Korea say the North's missile tests have created conditions for the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense System to be setup to protect South Korea.

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Aeroflot is listed on the London stock exchange. It is going through a makeover by ordering Boeing and Airbus planes to become profitable, because the older Russian made Tu-154 planes were costly to operate with higher fuel consumption. The Sukhoi Superjets are being built in partnership with Boeing. Kramer says the aircraft industry operates on long timelines so that the lack of local aircraft comparable to Embraer of Brazil and Bombardier of Canada is more a reflection of the situation in the 1990's than of today. Newer aircraft are planned for the next decade for smaller midrange planes. In the meantime Aeroflot is selling all of its Tupolev aircraft and plans to layoff 6000 workers during the transition to profitability. Till 2009 Aeroflot was run by Yeltsin's son-in-law, as were many other companies managed by Yeltsin's inner circle during that period. Following changes made by Putin in 2009, a new CEO was appointed to better manage the transition of the airline into a national and global carrier....

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ECB president Mario Draghi describes the problem of financial fragmentation in the EU, as each country's national supervisors ask their banks to withdraw their activities to within national boundaries. This ringfencing of liquidity positions means the interbank market is not functioning. Draghi says this financial fragmentation is within the mandate of the ECB to correct. He points to the risk of convertibility that has more and more to do with the premia being charged for Spain's and Italy's government bonds, not just the perception that the counter party can fail.-"To the extent that these premia have to do with factors inherent to my counterparty, they come into our mandate, they come within our remit." Draghi's effort to define the issues of financial fragmentation, and sovereign premia "hampering the functioning of the monetary policy transmission channels," is critical because the ECB sees it important to act within its mandate. The final point he makes is a political one about the future of the euro: "When people talk about the fragility of the euro, and the increasing fragility of the euro, and perhaps the crisis of the euro, very often non-euro area member states or leaders underestimate the amount of political capital that's been invested in the euro. We view this, and we are not unbiased observers in Frankfurt. We think the euro is irreversible. And its not an empty word now, because it preceded saying exactly what actions we are making that would make it irreversible." On the progress made, the acceptance of one financial and banking supervisor by member countries of the EU is seen as part of the idea of shared sovereignty necessary to put meaningful supervision across national boundaries in place. And on the structural reforms and deficit controls needed to be put in place he sees "the pace has been set, and all the signals that we get are they don't stop reforming themselves."...

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The success of India's Mangalayan mission to send a spacecraft to Mars in 2014. The project's key achievement is to have accomplished this at a cost of only $74 million. By contrast a U.S. mission cost $671 million. A 33 pound payload of small sensors in a 3000 pound spacecraft was propelled into orbit by a small rocket.

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India will continue to maintain progress and will be a good investment destination in 2008 even in the light of the strong rupee and the slodown in the USA.

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On my bookshelf is NY financier Felix Rohatyn's 2009 book, Bold Endeavors, citing the bold investments America has made in the past from Louisiana Purchase, Erie Canal, Transcontinental Railroad, Land Grant Colleges, Homestead Act, Panama Canal, Rural Electrification, Interstate Highway System, and how this needs to happen once again. NYT lacks this vision. In this Op-Ed it  leaves the field open after comparing Mamdani to De Blasio's failure to run NYC. NYT Editorial Board says Mayor Bloomberg was an effective manager and ran the city better than other mayors, it describes the accomplishments of Andrew Cuomo but does not give Cuomo second chances to use his experience to serve New York City, after Michael Bloomberg comes out in favor of Cuomo. This is  NYT and NYC dysfunction. It says there is so much to do in NYC to improve life in the city but refuses to make the tough decisions needed to make things happen, turning into someone who decides who gets second chances to serve the city and the country.  The Washington Post was clear in warning about the danger of a "free everything" Mayor as this has never worked and fiscal chaos happened in NYC in the 1970's, a NYC near bankruptcy in 1975 which Rohatyn tackled as head of NY's Municipal Assistance Corporation and $10 billon in bonds backed by New York state. NYT and NYC residents have short memories. Most have forgotten Rohatyn and his vision in Bold Endeavors, or were not part of the American fabric of the 20th century, which again points to the importance of history, civics and education. ...

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In an effort to fulfill a campaign pledge and yet not upset peace negotiations president Trump plans to go halfway by recognizing Jerusalem, while keeping the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv. 

In a sign of much policy has changed since the Obama presidency, new information cited by NYT shows Trump working closely with premier Netayahu of Israel to prevent a vote on Israeli settlement policies. Mr. Obama had decided to proceed with a vote and had sharp differences with Netanyahu that dominated press coverage in the second term. See search term Netanyahu.  The issue is a delicate one because it depends say experts on how Trump frames his decision, does it recognize West Jerusalem, what does it say about its status as holy city, and about Palestinian claims to East Jerusalem. It is fraught with risks as Saudi Arabia is likely to say no to negotiations if the issue is framed to only recognize the Israeli position.

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Business investment has been extremely weak since the global financial crisis of 2008-2009. This covers spending on investment goods - on equipment, software, inventory accumulation, residential and nonresidential construction. Compared to the 1982 recession non residential fixed investment has staged a weak recovery. In the 2 years after the 1982 recession nonresidential fixed investment went up by 27%, whereas in the last 2 years it is up only 12%. Spending on business equipment and software declined twice as much in this recession as in the recession of 1982, according to Mankiw. The comparison with 1982 is because the U.S. experienced 10% unemployment during that downturn.

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Neil says Tata Motors has let the designers, procurement, engineering people at Jaguar and Range Rover in the UK make the decisions and use their independent thinking about the look and feel of the car and the SUV- and this has made all the difference. The Range Rover Evoque has sold over 100,000 units in the first year. The total sales of Jaguar and Range Rover reached 357,773 units in 2012 and is on pace to exceed that by a large margin in 2013. This could not have happened under Ford Motor Company, and Ford was better off with Mulally's strategy to simplify and focus on Ford's own models, says Neil.

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How Chinese students are responding to the situation of uncertainty about US visas.

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The Biden administration takes steps to open up the potential for US India civil nuclear cooperation by removing Indian scientific and nuclear entities from "restricted lists." This will enable cooperation between Indian nuclear entities and US companies. It comes 20 years after Indian PM Manmohan Singh signed the India US nuclear deal with president George W. Bush of the US in 2004. NSA Jake Sullivan was in New Delhi to meet PM Modi.

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Dominic Raab Britain's Foreign Secretary reflects on the period when Boris Johnson was in hospital for close to 1 month when he took over running the government in Johnson's place. Raab took over when Boris Johnson was admitted to hospital with coronavirus on April 5, 2020. With Mr. Trump admitted to Walter Reed Hospital the situation in Washington D.C brings back memories of the difficult days in April in London.

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As the UK's biggest banks are hit hard in the markets, RBS shares down 39%, HBOS down 42%, and Lloyd's down 13%, Barclays down 9%, on Tuesday October 7, 2008, Brown takes a bold step to recapitalize British banks. In recent years as the boom years progressed British banks handled global capital equal or greater than Britain's entire economic output for a year, and making London the global financial hub rivalling New York. Brown offered to buy stakes in British banks for as much as 50 billion pounds or $88 billion.

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Recently Abbott has expanded in international markets with the acquisition of Belgium's Solvay Pharmaceuticals, and collaboration with India's Cadila Healthcare Ltd. for generic drugs. Abbott CEO says he is comfortable with the price of the Piramal acquisition in India because he lost out in a bid for another company in an emerging market a few years ago. Piramal Healthcare will receive from Abbott an upfront $2.12 billion, and $400 million to be paid every year for 4 years beginning in 2011. Advantages Abbott's CEO White sees in this acquisition of Piramal, is that 70% of the Indian market is self-pay. And therefore not subject to government cuts in payment for drugs.