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Like the rest of the restaurant industry British pubs are affected by staffing shortages, inflation, higher energy bills, and supply chain problems. The UK lost around 3250 pubs and bars between March 2020 and September of this year. During lockdowns most were closed, as they reopen they face higher costs and are struggling to survive. New hires that earned 27,000 pounds now are offered 32,000 pounds, with few applications as people look for better work and working conditions than offered in the restaurant industry.

Fewer people are going to pubs for lunch as they work from home more. Older people are staying at home from virus related hesitancy. Pubs are passing on price increases of food of 20%. Once seen as part of Britain's cultural fabric this also is changing as people look for other sensible options.

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A complete reversal of the Monroe Doctrine (US president Monroe 1817-1825) policies -that kept the American continent north and south free of colonial European powers- is an affront to the US and has cost the US in Latin America. With fentanyl deaths and drug trafficking, migrant trafficking, interference by foreign powers in the Americas In Cuba, Venezuela and other countries, and ports owned by China in South America.  Hong Kong magnate Li Ka-Shing's Hutchison Holdings sale of Panama Canal ports to Black Rock for $23 billion takes place on March 4, 2025. The two ports on both sides of the Panama Canal will now be in American hands. Li Ka Shing started out fleeing from the devastated China of the Sino Japanese war to the British colony of Hong Kong, left school at 15 to work and started out with a small plastics factory in 60's Hong Kong. He then branched out into real estate as Hong Kong's economy expanded, and in the 2000-2020 period with rapid growth of China with US assistance (Clinton and Bush administrations) moved to acquire most of the ports and container terminals in the world. It is these ports that are now being bought back by the US. 23 ports and container terminals in 43 countries will now be sold back by Li Ka-Shing's Hutchison Holdings back to Black Rock under an agreement. None of this could have happened under the lackadiasical policies of previous administrations that led to first affront and then disastrous effects of migrant trafficking and drug trafficking in this hemisphere.   ...

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U.S. Supreme Court nominee BrettKavanaugh, a Court of Appeals judge in the District of Columbia, could affect the Mueller investigation and issues of pardon, because of his expansive views of the presidency. He was part of the Kenneth Starr investigation of president Clinton. During that investigation he pursued it vigorously but later his opinion was that the president should be not distracted from his important duties, and should have some freedom from being prosecuted. For this reason it is not clear how he would act in the Mueller investigation. President Trump could have considered this when he selected Kavanaugh, says this report.

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The European Commission cuts 15 nation euro area growth forecast for 2008 from 2% to 1.4%. For the 27 nation European Union the forecast is dropping from 1.7% to 1.3%. Link this to discussions at OPEC in Vienna and one can see why the Saudis use the argument that high oil prices can lead to a collapse in demand and a collapse in oil prices not helping consumers or producers, when a stable price that reflects the fragile financial markets in the west would better accomodate both sides.

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In this exceptional story a psychotherapist in Seattle reaches out to talk to doctors and nurses in China. Herself from Guanzhou before moving to the U.S. and looking for ways to help ease the stress from the coronavirus crisis. 

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Abbott is looking for new ways to market in emerging markets. New flavors for Ensure in Asia would include lemon-honey. And cumin-jeera jal is a flavor for a supplement for diabetics in India. Abbott has a five year contract with India's drug maker Biocon to develop products for the Indian market. Abbott faces strong competition from other nutrition companies such as Nestle in India, which has 75% of the market for baby formula in India, and now owns Pfizer's baby nutrition business. With the $10 billion already spent on the Solvay and Piramal acqusiitions in India, Abbott has less room to make further acqusiitions. It will focus on organic growth with investment of about 7% of sales in R&D to develop new products. The split in Abbott's business with the separation of the pharmaceutical unit, will lead to a more consumer product oriented company.

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PM  Modi of India leads discussions on the approach paper Vikshit Bharat @ 2047 vision document on July 27, 2024. He says:

“This decade is of changes, technological and geo-political, and also of opportunities. India should grab these opportunities and make our policies conducive for international investments. This is the stepping stone for progress to make India a developed nation."

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The U.S. Justice Department opens an investigation of the largest airlines, Delta, American, United Continental, and Southwest for collusion in limiting expansion. The major 4 airlines control 80% of the domestic airline seats in the U.S. The 3 major airlines have grown slowly compared to Southwest in recent years. JetBlue and Spirit are also growing faster. Southwest plans to expand by 7% in the 4th quarter. U.S. airline domestic seats show slow growth since 2010, with growth picking up in 2015 over the prior year to 3.5% in 2015, according to Innovata. For 2013 and 2014 <0.5% growth in seats, in 2012 decline of <1%, 2011 growth of less than 1%, and slight decline in 2010. During the crisis 2008-2009 airlines cut seat capacity. Price increases have averaged 5% increase from 2007 to 2014 to $391, adjusted for inflation for domestic seats. The U.S. Justice Department investigation will look at "possible unlawful coordination."

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New York City and Northern Virgina are selected as the second and third locations for Amazon headquarters. Amazon will evenly split operations for the HQ locations between Long Island City and Arlington County's Crystal City locations. About 25,000 employees will be hired for each location. The location in Northern Virgina is close to Washington Reagan International Airport and metro stops making it appealing. Long Island City was a former industrial neighborhood that is going through a residential housing boom with 16,000 new apartments built since 2006. It is close to airports and subway lines.

Amazon had as criteria for the selection that the locations have flights with easy access for Seattle, job creation impact, and prominence as the main company in the area.

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Guido Westerwelle, foreign minister of Germany, and former head of the Free Democratic party, made another misstep by describing Germany's support for economic sanctions as a key factor in the fall of the Gaddafi regime. He did not credit NATO's military intervention as the main reason. Westerwelle opposed German support for NATO's military intervention and Germay abstained in a UN security council meeting vote to authorize military force in protecting Libyans from Gaddafi's regime. The results of this policy are seen as diminishing Germany's international image, and seen as isolating it from its allies in Europe and NATO. The new head of the FDP, Phillip Rosler came out strongly to credit NATO for the military intervention, saying: "our deep respect and thanks goes to our allies, who decisively thwarted Gaddafi's murderous units." German chancellor Merkel sidestepped the issue by crediting NATO for its leadership. FDP's rank and file supporters believe that voters will hold the party to account for this and other missteps by Westerwelle. Former German foreign minister, and former Green's party leader Joschka Fischer told Der Spiegel magazine: this was "perhaps the biggest foreign policy debacle in Germany's post-war history." ...

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Wuhan residents are able to leave the city in China for the first time on April 7, 2020, with masks on.

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The US supports F-16 training for Ukrainian pilots. Initial training showed Ukrainian pilots able to learn flying the planes in just 4 months. President Biden made this decision and informed G7 leaders in Hiroshima. Biden also agreed to NATO allies transferring F16s to Ukraine. The changes are coming as Ukraine launches a counter offensive against Russian occupation of parts of the country in the east and south. This report says the idea behind it is that it would bring Russia to the negotiating table to arrange an armistice even though it does not settle the key issues behind the war. It would bring an end to the war through a cessation of hostilities. Tighter controls are also put on economic sanctions to limit Russian ability to finance the war without also seeing its effects.

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Putting fans in seats at the sports stadiums for Bundesliga soccer in Germany could pose severe risks from coronavirus spread. It was in Lombardy that fan packed sports stadiums exponentially spread the virus in Italy. RB Leipzig is trying to start this in September to get 20,000 fans into its stadium and this is facing a lot of resistance.

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Justice Khanwilkar of the Indian Supreme Court (2016-2022) is appointed the second Lokpal of India. He wrote some of the key decisions of the court in recent years. As Lokpal he is head of the Anti-Corruption Authority of India, that was established in 2013 after the protests against widespread corruption and leakage of funds led by Anna Hazare of Maharashtra that led to loss of confidence in the government of that year. Justice Khanwilkar supported the strict provisions of the Prevention of Money Laudering Act (PMLA) that provide the essentials for a developing country to ensure good governance and prevent the leakage of funds that are destructive for improving the ease of living, and for the confidence of the people in the government. He also decriminalised homosexuality, and upheld the Gujarat government for handling of events in 2002. He was alsopart of the 5 Judge SC bench that upheld Aadhar documentation of every citizen of India that made it possible under Digital India to deposit money directly to bank accounts preventing leakage of funds going to hundreds of millions of needy Indians. This was key to supporting families across India during the pandemic. In 2020 he passed a ruling on regulating the NGO's in India and use of foreign funding, the Foreign Contribution Regulation Amendment Act (FCRA), which ensures the government of a developing country of over 1 billion people can be run by the will of the people for the people, free from interference by foreign ideologies and interests. He tackled a key environmental case in 1996 when surrounding tanneries were polluting the river Ganges. The range of Khanwilkar's decisions is as prolific as it is critical for shaping a modern nation of 1.4 billion people. He served as the Standing Counsel of the Election Commission of India aiding in the operation of EC that is crucial for Indian election process.. He wrote 226 judgements and sat on 817 benches, a hardworking and disciplined judge that is a reflection of the best of India from the period of Indian renewal under Vivekananda and Gandhi to this day. Khanwilkar started his career in 1982, representing the state of Maharashtra as Standing Counsel at the Supreme Court, and was later Chief Justice of Himachal Pradesh, Chief Justice of Madhya Pradesh. ...

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Thomas Grove of the WSJ describes the underground defense system prepared by the government in Helsinki, Finland, in the event of an advance into Finnish territory by Russia. Russia is holding a large military exercize at the Finnish border called Zapad 2017. All 600,000 residents of Helsinki can go underground and the country can function in the event of a Russian advance. Finland faced a Russian advance for 3 months in 1940, leading to a loss of 10% of territory but leaving the government and country intact. Lessons from this experience are kept alive today. Finland is also working closely with NATO of which it is not a member. NATO is also expanding its presence in the Baltic region.

 

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Egyptian president Morsi appoints a new defense minister and two leading generals are asked to retire and continue as advisers. Because Gen. Tantawi was 76, and the new defense minister who comes from the military body the SCAF is 58, it appears to observers that this is a shift to a new generation within the military. In the background is the situation in Syria with the Assad military regime at risk of falling in a civil war, and the focus of Sunni nations in the Middle East and the U.S. on Iran, which could have led to a U.S. effort led by Secretary of State Panetta during his recent visit to mediate between the different factions for a rapprochement. The rapprochement would benefit the retired generals and the military to continue operating businesses that constitute about 25% of the economy, a younger generation in the military better able to adapt to the changes in the Middle East to assume control under civilian leadership, for the Muslim Brotherhood and other political parties the reversing of military decrees subverting the election results, and for the U.S., Sunni nations in the Middle East and European allies better able to focus on the situation with Iran. For all side a win-win negotiation through efforts by Leon Panetta....

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Baker and Shear show the changes in president Trump's views on Islam and Islamic extremism following his meetings with leaders from the region since taking office. In his speech to leaders of the region Trump said "Islam is one of the world's great faiths" and said what was needed was "tolerance and respect for each other." He also said it was not about "conflict between religions, sects or civilizations." General McMaster calls it "learning" for Trump, something Trump has shown a capacity for when he badly needs to get it together and make a conscious effort. As a result the page on the travel ban on the Trump website has been taken down. This is an astonishing about face seen in one way because of Trump's rhetoric during the election and right upto the travel ban, yet it also shows Trump's business instincts and willingness to learn and be open, showing he has many personality traits and is a more complex person than he looks at first glance. This may also be how he survived in business bankruptcies, by adapting and learning. Contrast this with the views of Marine Le Pen during the French presidential election, and it shows that the business side and commercial instincts of Trump make a real difference. He can appeal to the cultural angst of followers, whether it be for Mexico or the Middle East, yet take a sensible approach to get on with it when needed. Trump needed to be careful about words and meaning following a month of media revelations on the relations between Flynn and Russia, and the appointment of a Special Counsel to investigate Trump campaign connections with Russia. ...

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Interview with former Mexican president Vicente Fox on the Arizona immigration bill. He says xenophobes have taken over. Fox emphasizes that the 11 million undocumented workers are the most loyal in their work habits, contribute to the US economy, and should be documented.

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Swiss shareholder activist Ethos Foundation called for personnel changes at UBS. Dominique Biedermann, head of Ethos called for the replacement of Kaspar Villiger and Carsten Kengeter, who head UBS investment bank. Biedermann said UBS should leave investment banking and former Deuthche Bundesbank President, Axel Weber, should join UBS as chairman earlier than the planned 2013 date. He suggested Hugo Baenziger, current chief risk officer at Deutsche Bank, rather than interim CEO Sergio Ermotti, who is an investment banker, as the right person for the CEO position at UBS.