LyrArc Article Gist
In the first year of the war in Ukraine the Russian army suffered heavy casualties. It has learned from the lessons from that period says this report in WSJ, halting Ukrainian advances.

LyrArc Article Gist
With occupancy declining to below 76% on many of the downtown San Francisco buildings the value of this is decliining fast. The Embarcadero Center that once defined the downtown area is now on sale for $90 million, according to the WSJ report, down from $245 million that was paid for it in 2018. Owners of these office buildings in San Francisco are liable for payments on $12 billion in bonds, according to S&P Global. Half of the stores in the Union shopping district have closed and Amtrak ridership is down 61% over 2019.

LyrArc Article Gist
Ford Motor has better relations with the UAW than GM or Stellantis. It is expected to come to an agreement with the UAW as the two sides are close, says this report in WSJ. The supply chain is likely to be affected particularly the smaller suppliers. Suppliers have long term contracts and have not gained from the increase in prices from the shortages of production during the pandemic. Shawn Fain is introducing new ways for the UAW to get to its goal of income and wage fairness after the wage concessions made a decade earlier and a two tiered wage workforce.

LyrArc Article Gist
Starmer says he would not bring in lower environmental or food standards than the EU or reduce worker's rights. He was speaking at a meeting in Canada bringing together liberal and centre left politicians. He said "most of the conflict" after Brexit has arisen because the UK wants to "do things different from our EU partners." And he added "We don't want to diverge, we don't want to lower standards, we don't want to rip up environmental standards, standards that work, food standards and all the rest of it" He was responding at a Q&A in Montreal.

LyrArc Article Gist
The Guardian looks at Lachlan Murdoch's career and how he differs from his sisters and from his brother James. He is seen as closer to his father in his thinking than James which is why after leaving Fox News following differences with Roger Ailes his father tried to get him back. This happened with an absence of ten years. The family trust set up for Murdoch's four children shows all jointly share in the family stake. This means the others will also have an influence in the future and the direction prospects of this media business left by Rupert Murdoch. As the world moves to the internet and new ways of learning news this marks the end of an era in which a few people were able to move public opinion- Beaverbrook and Murdoch belong to a different century, the twentieth not the twentyfirst.

LyrArc Article Gist
India protests actions by Canada's Trudeau for his support of separatists in Canada. India is a nation of many communities and languages and it does not approve of efforts to separate parts of the country in the way the US has done from the period of the Civi War and Lincoln, and as seen today in Spain, or in the efforts to reintegrate East Germany into West Germany after the cold War. Trudeau belongs to Quebec, a French Canadian province that is part of majority English Canada. Canada's very existence as a federation depends on this nonacceptance of separation of Quebec. It was not long ago that General De Gaulle used the language Vive La Quebec on a visit to Canada leading to protest all over the world and Canadian provinces respecting the integrity of Canada. Mr. Trudeau is president of Canada for that very reason that he and his father Pierre before him respect the idea of Canada as an independent sovereign nation, something he fails to do for political advantage to stay in power with a coalition because of diminished support for his Liberals party.  ...

LyrArc Article Gist
Jimmy Carter is collecting eulogies at 99 years. He has outlived all presidents. Carter lives with his wife Rosalynn in a two bedroom one story rambler in rural Georgia since 1961, in a house that is so plain and simple that it can only be compared to one that dates back to the mid fifties the simple house in Independence Missouri in which US President Harry Truman lived after leaving Washington in 1952. Both two of the most revered Democrats of this century. At a time when Mr. Reagan has a diminished reputation from all the wars in the Middle East that started from his policies and the failure of laissez faire in bringing fairness to working people and families in America, Truman, Carter and LBJ are seeing their reputations enhanced to a remarkable degree. Building on the work of FDR and Truman, LBJ helped to build Social Security and Medicare for a fairer, better America respecting the dignity of men and women.

LyrArc Article Gist
The 7.1 million Venezuelan refugees who have settled in other Latin American nations puts a great burden on the region and its resources. This NYT report shows how it is affecting Mexico today. Shown are migrants who are by the rail tracks trying to board a freight train north in Mexico. It is an endless dilemma for Americans, for Democrat states facing Republican opposition, and has been a problem for both Republican and Democratic administrations. How do you deport Venezuelans as US has no diplomatic relations with Venezuela? The Biden administration is pursuing legal immigration channels by taking in a specified number and cutting the dangerous migrant flow over the Mexican border, the only policy open to Republicans also in this situation. At some future date the Venezuelans absorbed into the US can fill worker shortages, in the present it is creating some chaos for many nations including Mexico and the US and other latin American nations, and neither party Democrat or Republican has easy answers. As the Democrats are deporting nearly as many as the Republicans. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
This marks the end of an era in which British Empire based journalists and media barons such as Beaverbrook and Murdoch were able to unduly influence events in the world. The period from 1915 to 2020 was one in which the British Empire and the USA  were dominant in the world. News Corporation will be run by Lachlan Murdoch who is the CEO as his father Mr. Rupert Murdoch has resigned his roles at the company. He remains as chairman emeritus at age 92. This marks the end of an era for a son of journalist Keith Murdoch who gained prominence in Australia evading censors and  covering a disastrous campaign in World War I, the invasion of Turkey by British forces in which 8000 Australian soldiers were killed, 20,000 wounded, about half of the Australian force before evacuation on Dec. 20, 1915. It could be said that Rupert's father Keith Murdoch left with his reputation intact in the British Empire after building the Australian newspaper business that his son Rupert inherited. Rupert introduced new technology and set up Sky News in Britain and Fox News television channel in the US. A large legal settlement for improper coverage of election machinery in US 2020 presidential election leaves his media business with a diminished reputation as Lachlan inherits it compared to the reputation left by Keith Murdoch in standing up to British authorites in the First war for staggering losses suffered by Australia. Rupert Murdoch tried to innovate with an aggregation news site for internet news Knewz to achieve some of what Keith Murdoch had achieved. This venture did not get the resources or ideas it deserved and failed. Apple News has started its aggregation site years later in 2020 with human  selection for aggregation following Lyrarc.com which started in 2010.  ...

LyrArc Article Gist
British prime minister Sunak pushes the ban on gasoline cars from 2030 to 2035 and relaxes net zero commitments. This is dividing the Conservatives as Boris Johnson set the 2030 target and Johnson says this is needed to give certainty to business so that it could invest knowing government policy.

LyrArc Article Gist
President Biden is setting up a New Deal style American Climate Corps that is a green jobs training program. It will employ 20,000 young people who will build trails, plant trees, help instal solar panels, and do conservation work, and help prevent wildfires. It is modeled on the Civilian Conservation Corps setup by president Franklin Delano Roosevelt as part of the New Deal. The Corps program will work with federal agencies and 10 states that have already setup similar programs-California, Washington, Maine, Utah, Colorado and Michigan, Arizona and North Carolina.

LyrArc Article Gist
A report in WSJ about misconduct by a former CEO of a software startup.

LyrArc Article Gist
This analysis in The Guardian says prime minister Sunak's strategy in Britain to water down net zero goals and gasoline car phase out deadlines is not likely to prove popular with voters. Mr. Sunak is looking for ways to revive Conservative fortunes after 13 years in power and Labor under Keir Starmer 15-20 percentage points ahead in polls for much of the year. It also comes as Liz Truss is gaining some support inside the Conservative party, leaving Conservatives divided after Boris Johnson's departure.

LyrArc Article Gist
The California State University system ranks high in creating social mobility in the US. Of the top 10 universities in the social mobility rankings 7 are in the Cal State System. About one third of the 460,000 students in the Cal State system are first in their family to attend college and half represent underrepresented communities. Half of all students receive Pell Grants. Cal State Los Angeles ranks first and Cal State Northridge is fifth.

LyrArc Article Gist
Ukraine is establishing a unilateral civilian maritime corridor in the Black Sea for maritime traffic to and from its port of Odessa. This is made possible by Ukraine gaining an advantage over the Russian Navy in the Black Sea as reported here in the WSJ. 

LyrArc Article Gist
The damage to India Canada relations by Mr. Trudeau's efforts to win political support for his government of a section of the Indian community in Canada. India has expressed its strong concerns about statements made by Mr. Trudeau in the past.