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Borchers of the Washington Post reflects on why president Trump gave the long rambling interview in July 2017 to the NYT.  President Trump has  called the NYT both "failing" and "a crown jewel." He particularly respects the reporter Maggie Haberman, a reporter with whom Trump has a long relationship and whose reporting he respects. Haberman is seen by Trump as an influential political reporter, whose view counts, and who can be critical but also seeks to be fair in reporting. During the election campaign the NYT carried reporting critical of Trump, yet it also had reporters who were critical of Hillary Clinton. In many ways both the NYT and the WSJ from different points of view seek a place in the middle with fair reporting, needed particularly in today's politics where ideology sometimes trumps common sense and U.S. traditions of fairness.

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A biographical account of Iran's new moderate and pragmatic president Hassan Rohani.

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Speaking at Ulster University president Biden says peace and opportunity go together.  "It is upto us to keep this going, to keep building on the work that has been done every day for the last 25 years. To sustain the peace unleash this incredible economic opportunity, which is just the beginning." The US is stepping in with action. Joseph Kennedy III, the Special envoy to Northern Ireland will lead a trade delegation of US companies to Northern Ireland later this year. Biden also called for the effective devolved government to be restored to bring greater opportunity to this region. It is important to remember as this WSJ report amply shows that president Biden has been an unrelenting champion on the Good Friday Agreement. That it is there today and the Irish border remains in the Irish Sea after Brexit owes much to the personal effort of Mr. Biden from before his election as president to this day and this visit. It is also a measure of the kind of man and the kind of president Mr. Biden is. Keeping his personal ties to Ireland.  ...

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A case on whether a US government official can pressure social media platforms to remove content the government deems harmful is before the US Supreme Court. During the pandemic president Biden sought to quell rumors and misinformation about Covid vaccines. An Appeals court in Louisiana took a very conservative position that social media platforms could not be pressured in any way even from the bully pulpit not as a bully, meaning even persuasion was not allowed. The US Supreme Court will issue its decision in 3 months after it votes and the majority opinion is assigned to be written by one of the Justices It appears to be skeptical of the Louisiana Appeals court position.This NYT report shows exchanges between the Louisiana lawyer, deputy Solicitor General Fletcher speaking for the government, and Justice Kavanaugh. Justice Kavanaugh seems to agree with Fletcher that as long as it was a bully pulpit, that the president is saying it is harmful, but not threatening, it is acceptable under the First Amendment for president to do so. The president saying the rumor and misinformation was "killing people" was still only bully pulpit, no threat was involved.  ...

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The vote in the Senate was 67 to 27 to move forward with the $95 billion aid package to Ukraine and Israel. The bill has $60 billion in military aid to Ukraine, and about $8 billion in economic assistance. $14.1 billion to Israel and $10 billion for civilians in conflict zones. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell leads a determined group of 18 Republicans in the US Senate that support efforts by Majority Leader Schumer to get a bill for Ukraine Israel Aid passed in the next few days. This would also include economic aid for Ukraine and humanitarian aid in the Gaza conflict. Senator Dan Sullivan of Alaska says that deterrence is not divisible, American credibility is not divisible." This comes as former president Trump opposes the passage of such aid in Congress. This report says the former president says America's role should be only transactional, and to Russia the NYT reports he says he would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want. President Schulz of Germany met with president Biden at the White House this week. After passage in the Senate it faces a challenge in getting enough Republicans to support passage in the House. ...

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Alan Cullison's exceptional report from Ukraine in 2006, with contribution from Marc Champion, gives a background to the situation in Ukraine in 2014 with street protests leading to the ouster of Yanukovych. None of the hopes for Yanukovych mentioned by Cullison at the end of the article -rule of law, judiciary, corruption, and transforming Ukraine society- were realized. Yanukovych runs for president against Yuvschenko in 2008 and is accused of fraud. He wins in 2010. Tymoshenko spent 2 years in prison under charges from the Yanukovych government with the EU saying the government has been "selective" in its charges. She is released in Feb. 2014 after the ouster of Yanukovych. All the politicians appear to have failed Ukraine's hopes for better governance and national reconciliation to promote economic progress and a shift is needed to a younger generation.

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Joachim Gauck, the new president of Germany, is a pastor from East Germany who led the struggle against the Communist regime in the former German Democratic Republic from his hometown of Rostock. His father was a dissident who went to prison under the former communist GDR. After reunification he headed the agency in charge of handling the files of the former GDR spy agency, the Stasi. He did this so well and without rancor that it is now called the Gauck Authority. He was elected by an overwhelming vote of the German parliament and had the support of all major parties. Germany now has two East Germans running the country, one the daughter of a pastor, and the other a pastor. The moral authority that Germany needs as it faces the uncertain and difficult task of sorting out the finances of the eurozone, is something the country badly needs.

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Chinese leaders including Xi Jinping have frowned on the accumulation of wealth and the IPO pay day, says this report in the WSJ. The largely unregulated company Alibaba in its role as a financial business, its complex ownership structure, and practices, have met with skepticism from China's financial regulators. They see the financial operations of Alibaba and its businesses as operating with little financial oversight and the state having to assume risks if something failed. The company's business model of payments app Alipay, mutual fund, voluminous data collection, operations as small loan provider to half a billion people, are seen by Chinese leaders and president Xi as posing unknown and unclear risks when not properly regulated. Commercial banks are subject to  tough regulations and capital requirements that Alibaba has avoided. State owned banks supply Alibaba with majority of the funding and take on most of the risk even though Alibaba makes profit from the transactions, is the perception of regulators. China's export model and manufacturing have enable it to create the banking capital on which such internet business models have thrived. In a world where supply chains are being redone, and following the pandemic, there are questions about how businesses that were created in the period before the pandemic should operate in a different environment. ...

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EC Council president Michel apologizes for not responding when EC Commission president von der Leyen was left without a seat at a meeting with Erdogan, Turkey's president, in Ankara April 6, 2021. Michel could easily have offered his seat to Ms.  Ursula von der Leyen and taken a seat on the nearby sofa instead, as a form of courtesy. This would have prompted the Turkish side to arrange for another chair next to Erdogan for face to face discussions on improving ties with Turkey during the pandemic.

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An important investigation by the Wall Street Journal looks at the 60 day sprint to find the origins of the Covid virus that killed about 6 million people worldwide, with excess deaths three times that. Did labs in the US and in China and scientists experiments cause this or did it happen naturally in the wilderness or in wild animal markets in China. Were other points of view excluded, asks the WSJ by NIC in it's 90 day sprint meeting with president Biden on August 24, 2021. WSJ Investigation says the FBI WMD scientist Banaan and scientists at the Defense Intelligence Council Hardham, Cutlip and Chretien were kept away from the president at a crucial final meeting of National Intelligence Council with Biden on the 90 day sprint to discover where this virus came from. Comparable is the  25 million people who died in the Black Death plague in Europe in 1348- Europe's population did not return to its pre-1348 level till the 16th century, says Britannica.  A scientist working at the FBI offices in Virginia Banaan was brought to main FBI offices for WMD to look into the origins of the virus in Feb. 2020. He and the FBI expected to be called in to see president Biden at a special meeting with Avril Haines, James Murphy of NIC. The FBI and Defense Intelligence Council scientists were not called in to see the president. Scientists on the DIC Council section on the Virus were not given a chance to share views or join the meeting by the Director DIC Scott Berrier who had his own theory on the virus, says WSJ. These scientists had done genomics research that showed a spike protein part of the virus that enable it to enter human cells was constructed in a lab, says WSJ. The WSJ investigation says the investigation sought by president Biden in a 90 day sprint was done with the National Intelligence Agency officials under Avril Haines, a State department official who joined the agency after the 90 day sprint, and James Murphy of the NIC who headed it's WMD section. WSJ report says the heads of Defense Intelligence Agency and NIC believed in what is called the zoonotics theory that the virus was of natural origins and simply transferred from animals to humans. A Lancet article in Feb 2020 by a group of scientists including Daczak of EcoHealth Alliance that supported coronavirus research at Wuhan had supported this theory in the interest of global cooperation to fight the virus but called any alternative explanations conspiracy theory, says WSJ, politicising something that should never be politicized.     ...

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Brazil $5.5 billion plan to protect it's economy from US tariffs August 2025. DJT tariffs relate to the trial of former president Bolsonaro with DJT saying he is being treated unfairly. Brazil had close elections between Lula and Bolsonaro only recently.

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This video of former Attorney General Bill Barr shows his testimony to the US Congress on president Trump's statements that there was election fraud from voting boxes coming into Detroit at all hours and in the design of voting machines. This led to Mr. Trump saying the election was stolen. Mr. Barr says he told the president that this was "detached from reality" and he feels that it was doing "a disservice to the country."

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The need for relief in student loans and the 50% of the $1.6 trillion in student loans in forbearance as young people facing high cost of living and accumulated loan interest struggle to make a living. Student loan relief is one of the cost of living actions taken by president Biden. It is one of a series of cost of living actions taken by president Biden including helping ordinary workers and families meet the rising cost of living.

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Changes in appointments to China's Central Military Commission after the Bo XiLai episode. President Hu Jintao is expected to continue as head of the Central Military Commission for another year after he retires as President to ensure a stable transition to the new leadership of President Xi Jinping. Two generals with close ties to Bo Xilai will not be appointed to the Central Military Commission.

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German companies investing in the US with incentives from the Inflation Reduction Act of president Biden.

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U.S. president Trump announces U.S. withdrawal from the World Health Organization on May 30, 2020. Earlier the president had sent a letter to the WHO as a 30 day ultimatum and that he would reconsider membership if the WHO did "not commit to major substantive improvements within the next 30 days." The U.S. has given $450 million a year to the WHO compared to $50 million by China, yet China president Trump says has "total control over the WHO," showing deep seated dissatisfaction at the way the WHO has under current leadership has handled the coronavirus crisis and failed to take early action for an early warning system as were taken by earlier heads of the WHO such as Gro Harlem Brundtland of Norway during the H1N1 crisis in 2003, who was cited in Mr. Trump's letter.

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Democrats voice their opinions on president Biden's run for president in 2024. Most Democrats say they back Mr. Biden and Mr. Biden has pushed through a program that is already changing America and preparing it for a better future. Yet a bias against age remains though both candidates are divided by a mere 3 years with Mr. Biden following a healthier health routine and nutrition than Mr. Trump according to reports. It is still a year before the 2024 election season and Mr. Biden is now taking his case to the American people on the question of democracy, the values and principles that have to be upheld and which are being challenged. Major changes are taking place for new infrastructure, for climate change that never happened before and president Biden and his team are taking this before the American people. 

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President Biden visits Nevada and calls for a 5% cap on rent increases by corporate landlords with over 50 rental units. The WSJ report July 15 shows 25% of people renting apartments in the US pay over 50% of their income just to pay rent leaving little for food and transport, education and healthcare. This is a severe problem in Nevada and in the US across all 51 states. The president is closely following mortgage rates that went up from 3% to 8%, creating affordability issues for prospective homeowners. Another proposal of the president that he can act on as it does not require Congressional action is to use federally underused land and repurpose it for building 15,000 affordable housing units in Nevada. Such proposals across the 51 states are needed today to address acute rental housing shortage and price increases of about 20% by landlords.

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Ron Johnson (R-Wisconsin) who seeks deeper spending cuts, Josh Hawley (R-Missouri) who sees Medicaid co pay for able bodied at 100% of federal poverty level as a "sick tax," Lisa Murkowski who differs on taxing providers, and other Congressmen and Women in the Republican party are opposing the new tax cut package of president Trump. Senator Rand Paul (R- Kentucky opposes the raising of the debt ceiling, and is also opposed.

Most of the main Medicaid cuts come after 2029 after Trump no longer is president, so that Republicans who want to see the shrinking of the Medicaid program so it meets only needs of the most needy, want to see faster cuts while Trump is president. And there are other Republicans in Congress who face tight elections and see big risks of losing their seats.

 

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This editorial in the New York Times points out that the new president of the ANC party -that runs South Africa and has a monopoly of power in the post Apartheid years, under Mandela, Mbeki and Zuma- faces a uphill task as the ANC remains deeply divided after supporting Mr. Zuma in office till the very end. Apart from the stagnant economy, there are challenges the ANC faces in the lethargy of the post Apartheid years, and the culture of corruption, and patronage management that led to mismanagement of state enterprises.

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The difficulties faced by U.S. presidents in their second term, making the second term look different from the first, with difficulty getting talented individuals to join and stumbles in policy or actions. The stumbles by Roosevelt in cutting spending at the wrong time, in trying to stack the Supreme Court with his choices as justices, the scandals of Watergate and the the Lewinsky affair for Nixon and Clinton, the accumulating financial bubble under George W. Bush and deregulation failures, and a similar lack of progress for other presidents. A particular problem in the U.S. is the election cycle that makes the incumbent president a lame duck by the beginning or middle of the third year as the country moves on. By the third year of Truman's second term the country had moved on and the fatigue effects were felt in the country. By the time he leaves a president is quickly forgotten- president Adams quietly left town as Jefferson took over with stark differences between the two; Truman quietly left for Independence, Missouri, as Eisenhower took office; Hoover left office to go into obscurity and a sense of failed policy as Roosevelt took over. Woodrow Wilson was very sick during the last years of his second term a fact not known to the rest of the country. In most situations the world and the country has moved on, the aura of an incoming president in his first term is gone. Most of the successor policies to shape the future, organization and creating a talented core of support are taking place during the second term and lame duck period of the existing president, with a new vision of the future being shaped and new realities anticipated....

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The first sign of light as European leaders meet with DJT at the White House on August 18, 2025, with all the signs that the carefully planned steps are taking place, the atmosphere of conflict is being replaced by an atmosphere of settling this war and bringing peace to Europe. For the first time even the announcement is carefully orchestrated by all the leaders. DJT speaking first but from carefully worded script reading from it, for someone who always speaks spontaneously. It is as if everyone wanted to do it right, to get it right- DJT, Zelensky who also had carefully prepared words.

DJT says he will call president Putin right after this communication on television that lasted 15 minutes around a table where DJT was seated next to Starmer, Macron, Merz, Meloni, with the president of Finland present.

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BBC in crisis over reporting errors and DJT lawsuit for $1 billion for defamation and harm to his reputation as president of the US as aresult of such misreporting. The leadership at BBC was slow to respond and has since resigned from the BBC.

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This video in The Indian Express shows how president Biden invoking US defense act provisions to ensure supplies of vaccine ingredients to US companies prevents exports to countries that badly need it. India has surpassed 300,000 daily cases of coronavirus on April 22, and India's largest vaccine manufacturer Serum Institute of India says vaccine manufacturing in India is restricted because of president Biden invoking that law. 

India's vaccination drive is stalling because of not enough vaccine supplies.