LyrArc Article Gist
This CNN report looks at the maglev trains now operating in Japan at speeds of 374 miles per hour. The new Shinkansen maglev line will connect Tokyo to Nagoya in 40 minutes, with extension planned to Osaka, beating the flying time if one considers time to get to the airport. Only China in Shanghai and South Korea in Incheon have maglev trains based on magnetic levitation. Japan is ahead in this technology being tested since 1997. It is being developed as Japan looks to the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.

LyrArc Article Gist
A new Pew Research Center Survey shows prime minister Modi enjoying 88% popularity, very high ratings for a world leader. More unusual is that Modi's popularity was 87% in a Pew Survey in 2015, showing extraordinary resilience. This comes after moves to remove the large denomination rupee notes under what is called demonetization to take out some of the black money in India and increase tax revenues that were lost due to evasion. In South Asia tax evasion is rampant, much more than in countries like Italy of the eurozone. The move was difficult as it required being sudden, and a shift to use of debit cards and ATM's which required additional effort, slowing the economy. The other moves such as on GST tax were designed to facilitate doing business in India with one tax and free movement of goods replacing different state by state taxes. Business has not responded quickly to support Modi, and the Indian economy being prepared for the long term growth Modi hopes to generate is slowing in the short term. GDP growth has dropped to 6%. A bullet train planned in western India with help from Japanese financing and technology is being criticized unfairly because of the collapse of an old bridge near a railway station in Mumbai. Bruce Stokes, Director of Global Economic Attitudes at Pew Research, says the survey was done after demonetization but before the GST tax overhaul. This is not likely to change Modi's high ratings. The GST overhaul has been on the agenda for many years for all political parties in India. The views of Modi are not necessarily the same as for his BJP party which are lower for the party, the party gaining more from Modi's efforts and leadership, including in his home state of Gujarat. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
Time Berners Lee is in Washington DC in an effort to prevent a rollback of Obama period Net Neutrality laws. Here he repeats his warning about the way the internet is being used by digital gatekeepers using advertising efforts to control or manipulate parts of the internet.

The founder of the internet from its early days says the whole system is failing, that the way ad revenue works it is distorting for people and information. Specially placed AI works to distract viewers, and is not healthy for truth or democracy, says Lee.

 

LyrArc Article Gist
U.S. president Trump's Asia tour has only increased the confusion after his Twitter comments and transactional diplomacy, which has not conveyed a clear strategy. Much of the media commentary talks about the loss of American prestige as a result. Varghese points out in the Hindu newspaper that Mr. Trump has actually dropped the idea of American leadership in Asia, and "Indo-Pacific" dream does not mean much in the context of Trump's wavering statements, and ideas about the U.S. cutting its own deals in each place.

LyrArc Article Gist
Instagram pictures from the Guardian on the cafe culture scene in Buenos Aires, capital of Argentina. Buenos Aires is unique in Latin America in the way the open air street cafes shape urban lifestyles and living. Some of it is borrowed from its Italian heritage, but the "ambiente" is unique to Argentina and the Porteno culture of the capital city.

LyrArc Article Gist
The Bank for International Settlements, BIS, considers companies that have interest payments exceeding the earnings before interest and taxes as zombie companies. This report in WSJ cites BIS central bank data showing 10% of European companies, including companies in Italy, Spain, and France are zombie companies. Stefanel, clothing maker, is one of these companies in Italy. This is up from 5.5% in 2007, showing how the financial crisis of 2008 and the aftermath have affected European business.

OECD estimates in Jan. 2017 confirm this showing the figures have tripled since 2007 for Italy and Spain. This misallocation of capital is as much as 20% in Italy.

LyrArc Article Gist
Venezuela signs a deal in Moscow restructuring over $3 billion in debt. It will be repaid over 10 years  with minimal repayment over the first six years. The Maduro government has about $150 billion in debt that is coming due. The Russian deal does not include $6 billion owed by PDVSA Venezuela's oil company to Russia.

LyrArc Article Gist
Spain's foreign minister Alfonso Dastis says Spanish authorites may have not realized the extent to which the situation in Catalonia would get out of control with the actions by separatists towards fragmentation. He admitted Spain's government may have been naive in tackling the situation and anticipating the response. Reports of excessive use of force by Spanish police may have exacerbated the situation. Spain may not have realized separatists would declare independence.

LyrArc Article Gist
Airbus announces a $49 billion deal with Indigo Partners for the sale of 430 medium range A-320 aircraft. This is the biggest order ever for Airbus, allowing it to overtake Boeing in sales. Indigo partners owns Frontier Airlines and part of a Mexican airline.

LyrArc Article Gist
In another step towards less regulation the consumer watchdog agency head Mr. Cordray is stepping down in November 2017.

LyrArc Article Gist
The Trump administration is moving away from strict bank regulation by chipping away at some of the restrictions and agencies that conducted banking supervision in the past. This report in the NYT describes action taken by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currrency and interim leader Keith Noreika that weakens regulation. The 2008 financial crisis led to stricter regulation of banks and Fed supervision which is being diluted.

LyrArc Article Gist
Mr. Mugabe, 93 year old leader of the liberation struggle in what was then Southern Rhodesia, ruled over Zimbabwe for 4 decades. He was ousted in a coup and the era under Mugabe appears to be finally over. Negotiations are taking place between the vice president and the opposition parties for an interim government. This hopefully brings Zimbabwe back to a period of better governance and reintegration with the global community.

LyrArc Article Gist
Senior diplomat Song Tao, who heads the external affairs department of the Chinese Communist Party, will visit Pyongyang to brief the Korean Workers Party on the recently concluded 19th Party Congress. This visit will reopen a channel for discussion between North Korea and China after the deterioration in relations between the two countries over nuclear tests. The Director of the Carnegie-Tsinghua Center, Paul Haenle, says the contacts are intended to not let things get too bad. China provides the crude oil lifeline for North Korea, and is pushing for negotiations.

LyrArc Article Gist
David Filipov of the Washington Post visits Sochi, site of the 2014 WInter Olympics, three years later to find a city that is bustling even in winter. Before the Olympics Sochi was popular destination for tourists. In 2016 and in 2017 about 6.5 million people visited this city on the Black Sea coastline. With the new facilities built during the Olympics Sochi has become a year round destination. Russian tourists visiting Turkey and Egypt find Sochi an attractive alternative after the road and rail links built into the mountains. Officially sponsored events are giving Sochi more popularity. During the Olympics the estimated $50 billion cost of building facilities was criticized for delays and cost overruns. The better management during the post-Olympic period is showing Sochi has a future as a popular tourist destination.

LyrArc Article Gist
Hubbard and Kirkpatrick in this report say Prince Salman, at 32 years one of the youngest rulers in the Middle East, has taken steps that his predecessors had shied away from. It cites the war in Yemen against Iranian faction, blockade of Qatar, and taking power from conservative clerics. This report points out that this could destabilize the efforts at modernizing Saudi Arabia that are needed because Saudi Arabia may find itself overextended in proxy wars, and ambitious projects. The Saudi financial reserves have fallen from $737 billion to $475 billion, with declining oil prices, and the public stock offering of Aramco oil company may be jeopardized. 

LyrArc Article Gist
Prime minister Modi campaigning in his home state of Gujarat, and taking control of the campaign in the state. He has visited the state to launch the bullet train project, a new ferry service for Saurashtra, and for the Narmada dam completion.

LyrArc Article Gist
Daniel Camacho reminds us that being spiritual increases life's satisfaction. It is about being constantly amazed at life and the world outside, and looking at it in new ways fired by spirituality and imagination. It is about the spirit, and it takes in everyday life and what we see in new ways. One can be non-religious and have spirituality, and be somewhat religious yet skeptical of some things in religion without being cynical and have spirituality. One in five Americans are spiritual, and many of these people feel inspired while reading a book or listening to music.

LyrArc Article Gist
This report in WSJ shows that AI or Artificial Intelligence cannot work without human intelligence behind it. As the Facebook Russian episode of inauthentic accounts shows it can lead to dire results. Human have to play a active and constantly overseeing role for it to work. In fact the bigger the AI effort the bigger the need for humans to actively conduct and monitor it and back it up with human intelligence. Truckloads of human intelligence are needed for a primitive AI system to be able to sort out data and process it. The process continues once a AI system is created or it will likely fail with disastrous results. Context is critical. Oxford University experts say hundreds of thousands of people are involved in human intelligence to make AI work.

LyrArc Article Gist
President Trump reverses himself and says he supports intelligence agencies assessment showing Russia interfered in the U.S. presidential election of 2016. Earlier Trump told reporters on an Asian trip he did not think Russia meddled in the U.S. election. He cited Russian president Putin's remarks on the matter about not meddling after a brief meeting. and said he agreed with Putin on this point.

LyrArc Article Gist
Germany's soccer coach Joachim Low spells out his strategy in the upcoming World Cup. Germany is trying to win a consecutive World Cup, a tough feat. Low says luck and outside influences can play a role, though planning will help. He describes the role of the coach in this report as a visionary, looking to the future, the contact person, special relationships with players. Kamilla Jarzina talked to Low for this interview.