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On May 11, NYT shows the rail network in India opening with the first trains taking 45 million migrants to homes in all parts of the country. Australia calls for an international inquiry into the cause of the coronavirus pandemic and its origins in China. Russia begins a cautious reopening with the governors of provinces having powers for reopening based on local conditions. In Spain restrictions are gradually being lifted but the major cities of Barcelona and Madrid are still in lockdown. And as Germany the first country to reopen opens up its business and schools the crucial R ratio of reproduction of the virus -with 1 being the number at which it grows again and below 1 showing control of spread- moves up to above 1.

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Marina Force of the WSJ gives this excellent report on Carles Puidgdemont, head of the Catalan party that is holding a referendum for independence from Spain in October 2017. The referendum is to be held on Oct. 1, 2017, and will be held in a tense region divided by pro and anti independence supporters, with the central government of Spain declaring the referendum illegal, and police obstructing voters. This has pushed Spain into a major crisis, as Puigdemont says he will declare independence after the vote, and the possibility that many voters may not have voted at all in this tense atmosphere. Here Marina describes the recent history of Spain that dates back to the period under General Franco's dictatorship when state rights in the Basque region, in Catalan region and in the northern region in Galicia, as well as other regions, were suppressed. Today there is regional autonomy and the languages in the regions such as Catalan are used in the autonomous regions. Prime minister Rajoy is from the Galicia region. His family suffered under Franco's dictatorship as he points out in his book- Mariano Rajoy, En confianza, Mi vida y mi proyecto de cambio para Espana. As a result Catalan leader Arturo Mas and other Spanish leaders including Rajoy from Galicia worked hard to establish autonomy for all the regions in Spain, including use of the local language in Valencia, Catalonia and the Basque region, a variation of Spanish. As in Scotland for most of the period after the end of the Franco dictatorship in the nineties, this focus on regional autonomy was seen as a big step forward. Puigdemont is journalist who was editor in chief of a Catalan newspaper in the 1980's. In 2006 he was elected to the Catalan parliament. In 2013 he was elected mayor of Girona, a city just north of Barcelona. It was in this period that the movement for Catalan independence moved forward setting the stage for the 2014 referendum with 81% voting for independence. In 2016 pro-independence parties won a majority in the Catalan parliament. This set the stage for a confrontation with the central government in Madrid that is now taking place. ...

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Catalan leader Puigdemont moves from Girona to Marseille and onto Belgium, as he and other Catalan separatist leaders flee Spain. The Washington Post points to the many missteps in the efforts of separatist leaders. The leader of the Catalan Socialist Party which is pro-union says it was a mistake to declare independence. The process of declaring independence is now seen as undertaken hastily without considering the economic consequences, as companies headquartered in Barcelona are moving outside Catalonia, and economic uncertainty is likely to hurt Spain and Catalonia.

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Caixabank based in Barcelona, Spain's third largest bank, says it has set aside 960 million euros as provision for expected real estate loan losses in 2012, up from 373 million euros in 2011. This was required under new rules set by the Spanish government. Most of the earnings in this quarter were set aside as provisioning for losses, with net profit down to 48 million euros from 300 million euros the prior year quarter.

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Efforts by Spain's government of prime minister Rajoy to come up with credible estimates about the actual needs for recapitalization of troubled parts of the banking system, and which banks should be closed. Report out in June by consulting firms Oliver Wyman and Roland Berger relies on information from the Bank of Spain. A detailed audit examining the books of the 14 largest banks in Spain will be completed by audit firms by the end of July 2012. Considerable criticism in banking circles in Barcelona and London about the procrastination by Spanish banking authorites in coming up with credible estimates of the actual bad loans and losses in the Spanish banking system. This would improve confidence in financial markets that the problems can be controlled and a way forward planned.

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Sony's new smartphone, the Xperia Z2, with new 4-K camera and video technologies is shown in Barcelona. It has a noise cancelling headset and two speakers, a larger brighter 5.2 inch display. Sony also showed a new tablet, the Xperia Z2- slimmer, waterproof, and Sony says the lightest with a 10.1 inch display.

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Pep Guardiola has a lot of faith in Messi who scored 73 goals 10 years ago under Guardiola. After Barcelona's poor decisions in letting Neymar go to PSG, and the recent letting go of Luis Suarez, there was little incentive for Messi to go on. In fact the way Messi sent a fax to Barcelona about his intention to leave made headlines, it also showed that Barcelona is not what it was in its glory days. Barcelona's focus on money in its deals asking a huge transfer fee of 700 million has turned off fans.

Pep has so much faith in Messi that here he tells the reporter Messi could go on playing till he is 40 because of his style of play.

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It should be remembered as NHK points out that Mr. Obama never visited the Main Building of the Hiroshima Museum and only spent a little time in the East Building. It is the Main Building that Prime Minister Kishida- who represents Hiroshima City in parliament - wants Biden, Scholz and other G7 leaders to see. It is only in the Main Building that leaders can see the graphic images of the devastation of the atomic bomb dropped by the plane Enola Gay on Hiroshima.  A suggestion is for NHK to give a private broadcast to G7 leaders of the documentary already shown in Asia on NHK television last week.  Having seen it one can say that it in no way affects the use of nuclear deterrance. A suggestion for the Hiroshima Museum authority is for it to also show the devastation of Japanese bombing in Asia from World War II that  may have created the insular feeling in American public about the dropping of the bomb and only thinking it could have come sooner to save lives for the Allies, itself creating conflicting feelings and affecting mental health. A recent exhibition in Barcelona showed the Nazi bombing of Republican parts of Spain leading to millions of refugees crossing over to Europe. Similar situation happened in China and the images may have created America's insular feeling about the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. It is in everyone's interest to know, to comprehend the devastation in all places, the conflicting narratives that were told, and for people as spiritual values teach us to develop the virtuous conduct, the concentration and the wisdom that both the Bible and the Buddhist suttas teach Americans, Europeans and Asians. Something that was lost in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries.    ...

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The election in Catalonia leaves the region as divided as before. The pro independence parties won 47.5% of the vote and the parties opposed to independence won 43.5% of the vote, so that only 4 percentage points separates the pro and anti independence parties. By seats in the Catalan parliament the vote showed pro independence parties with 70 seats, a loss of 2 seats from the previous parliament. The party of Mr. Puigdemont won most votes by a small margin within the pro- independence parties. On the other side the Ciudadanos party which is strongly opposed to independence won about 25% of the vote. About 80% of 5.3 million voters cast ballots. Prime minister Rajoy hoped for a better result to preserve Spanish unity. Most Spaniards support a unified Spain. Pro union Spaniards are strongly opposed because they see the efforts of Mr Puigdemont for independence coming at a time when Spain was just recovering from a deep recession with millions unemployed. This is affecting the economy of Barcelona and the Catalan region. Unemployment is higher and tourist flow has slowed. Because the pro independence parties are themselves divided on how to proceed, and with the anti independence parties also winning a significant share of the vote, the negotiations between the Catalan regional government and Madrid will be protracted. ...

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This graphical presentation, a fascinating look in the NYT shows how the different epidemics, natural disasters and other events compare over the world over the last century. It shows that using a normal mortality rate for a city the worst was Philadelphia in the 1918 spanish flu epidemic. How does this one compare with today's coronavirus pandemic would be a reader question. New York is shown at 5.8 X, Bergamo in Italy at 6.7 X and Philadelphia at 7.3 X. This means New York suffered about 6 times the deaths compared to a normal year. Fifteen thousand people lost their lives in Philadelphia in 1918. As one can see New York went through a lot. The race riots and curfews added to the difficulties the city has faced. When you get past 5.0 X it is only when there is famine or war that one sees this level of deaths. Bergamo in Italy suffered the worst in Europe. Madrid was hit hard at 4.6 X. 14,000 people died in Madrid in the month between mid March to mid April, with a normal deaths in the city at 3000 for a month. In Latin America Lima, Peru, did worse in the coronavirus at 3.99 X, that exceeded New York city in the Spanish flu virus of 1918 at 3.97 X. For New York city this means the coronavirus was at 5.8 X a bigger impact on the city for the mid March to mid April period compared to October 1918. More than 8000 people died in Lima compared to a normal 3000.  Guayaquil, Ecuador is at 5.50 X hit very hard. In Europe Paris is at 2.6 X, and London at 3.0 X, Barcelona at 3.0 X.  By comparison Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans and it is at 2.4 X showing that what these cities in Europe went through was like a hurricane going through the cities.  ...

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The pro-independence party of Catalan president Arturo Mas called an election two years ahead of schedule in an effort to increase autonomy for Catalonia in relations with the central government of Spain. He failed in negotiations to reduce the tax burden for Catalonia in relations with the federal government in Madrid. Arturo Mas's party lost seats in the regional election, ending up with 50 seats compared to the 62 seats it held previously in the 135 seat regional parliament in Barcelona. Other pro independence parties gained seats. The left leaning Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya party increased its seats from 10 to 21 seats. The Partido Popular of Spain's premier Rajoy won 19 seats, up one seat from the 18 it held earlier. There is considerable questioning inside Spain about whether this issue should be brought up at a time of 25% unemployment and negotiations with the EU for loans to restore the health of Spain's banking system.

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Zaragoza a city of 700,000 is the capital of Spain's fastest growing region, and its halfway between Barcelona and Madrid. It has grown rapidly. The arrival of GM here was a big turning point in 1982. The GM plant here can turn out 2000 sub compacts, small minivans and delivery trucks a day, now it is one of 7 GM plants in Europe to suspend production for 2 weeks in October to work off inventories. About 600 of 7000 workers were laid off. Young people here who have never seen anything but good times see this as a big shock. And its a sign of how things across Europe are shaping up. Spain's economy contracted by 0.2% this summer. The European Commission expects the 15 nation eurozone to be flat next year with no growth, but this is an early estimate and may be revised to show a contraction as the economic downturn is just beginning.

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As Huawei's young engineers go through a learning curve, the company faces challenges of giving them additional business experience. Huawei is working to instill western practices and culture in its enginers by expanding overseas, and hiring seasoned engineers in Europe to mentor the younger Chinese engineers. Of the 23 Huawei R&D centers, 13 are located outside China. Huawei adds engineers right out of college- 50,000 employees were added in the last 5 years right out of college. Of the 149,000 employees, half work in R&D. Average age at Huawei is 29 years. In this sense Huawei is unusual for a high tech company compared to western companies. It is a plus for Huawei in the long run, but it means a lot of training is needed. Lars Bondelind, the Swedish head of wireless marketing at Huawei, describes these challenges at the 2012 Barcelona Mobile World Congress. Bondelind says the Chinese engineers he works with have higher knowledge and expertise than newly graduating Swedish engineers, the challenge is training them in western engineering and business practices....

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Spain's economy in 2017 is back to its size before the collapse in 2010 with the eurozone debt crisis and failing housing market. The unemployment rate has dropped from 26% to 18%, still high but gradually coming down. The economy has improved competitiveness and the auto industry is improving exports providing 17% of total exports. The SEAT auto plant has undergone a major transformation. Here Goodman of the NYT describes how this economic recovery is taking place in the port city of Barcelona.

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Prince Felipe uses Catalan in a visit to Girona. He praised the Catalan language saying Catalan "is in a permanent, sincere and enriching dialogue and co-existence with Spanish." Under the Spanish constitution following the Franco period divisions, the king is thrust into the role of "arbitrating and moderating" between institutions. The Partido Popular of former premier Anzar and current premier Rajoy, is seen as performing poorly in interaction with regions such as Basque and Catalonia. Spanish public opinion, as reflected in a 2014 poll of the newspaper El Pais, show 75% of Spaniards supporting the king playing a role in creating a dialogue and facilitating agreements between politicians.

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Catalans formed a 400 kilometer human chain from the foothills of the Pyrenees to the Mediterranean to show their support for a secession referendum on Catalonia's independence from Spain. About 1.6 million people are said to have participated according to Catalan government officials. Spain's central government seeks to delay the issue to 2016 because of the financial crisis and high unemployment in Spain. The Convergence and Union Party of Arturo Mas takes a moderate position on this issue citing the concerns of the the government in Madrid, and the the ERC party which is the second largest party is firm about its demand for Catalan independence. Sentiment in Catalonia favors more autonomy, and a better deal for Catalonia in finances from the central government. Spain has setup a decentralized system of government following the long period of Franco's dictatorship, when Catalan language and culture were suppressed.

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The effects of loneliness during the lockdown period and various ways in which people learned to cope with it- including cultivating positive feelings of hope and better times ahead. This includes overcoming social conventions and talking about things to oneself and others that acknowledge what is happening and how efforts can be made to cope with it and move forward. A doctor in Barcelona says on BBC television that most healthcare workers are coming out of this crisis in hospitals with feelings that have not been acknowledged and sometimes just avoided for lack of time. She says talking about it, even with the BBC and others helps bring things out in the open, hidden feelings acknowledged and expressed so that one can emerge whole out of this experience. Though much of this article is about climate change the efforts to express feelings are now even more urgent for people in health care and people who live with them. 

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Italy vs. Brazil in World Cup Soccer 1982 in Barcelona. Memories from that game in which Paolo Rossi of Italy scores a hat trick to knock Brazil out of the World Cup. With the passing away of Rossi this report looks at the legends of the game. Rossi also scored the opening goal in a 3 to 1 win for Italy against Germany in Madrid. 

Amazingly Rossi was seen as coming out in personal redemption after getting a 3 year suspension from the game for a match fixing scandal of 1980.  When it was reduced to 2 years Rossi got the opportunity to redeem himself. The World Cup Soccer was to be held in Spain only a few months after he started playing again. Rossi was declared unfit to play and did not score in the first three pool matches. Then came the Brazil game. Followed by 2 goals in the 2-0 win over Poland in the semi final. And then on to play Germany in the final with the opening goal. 

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This article in the Guardian points to the differences within Catalonia about the independence referendum planned for October 2017. The Spanish government says it will prevent a referendum from taking place. In a symbolic poll that took place 3 years ago in 2014, only 2.3 million of 5.4 million Catalan eligible voters took part. Sentiment is in favor of self-determination but only among less than half of Catalans, as most Catalans would not come out to vote. The Spanish government says the referendum would be a violation of the constitution.