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President Lula won the last election with a small margin of 50.9% vs 49.1% of the votes. After a ban on Jair Bolsonaro running for office because of an alleged coup participation, his son Flavio is running for the October 2026 presidential election. 

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France's Wildfires 10 miles from Bordeaux, France, July 2026.

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Terrorist attack in the central Tiergarten Park on Saturday night from individual in a "de-radicalization course" after a suspended sentence. Somehow the German court system and court systems in Europe are not functioning as they should to keep people safe. The Mayor of Berlin, Dobrindt, says the individual had a conviction and history of radicalization. Chancellor Merz said before entering a memorial service in St Mary's Church in the center of Berlin- “These criminals, these extremists, have no place in the middle of our society.” “And we will not allow this poison of terrorism and this poison against our freedom to spread further." With priorities such as infrastructure rebuilding throughout Europe, reindustrialization, climate change, transport infrastructure, it is incomprehensible how European leaders have tackled migration crises and allowed these extraneous issues to distract from the hard work ahead. Much could have been done in the home countries to help economies in poorer nations get back on their feet without damaging the social fabric of European society through migration. Migration not going beyond what European societies need and international cooperation requires, with organized processing and screening in their home countries, is needed action.  Merz has taken action for the CDU in this government to a great extent. This is part of the legacy left by a previous government of chancellor Merkel, that includes the debt brake that left German infrastructure in a broken and dilapidated state without investment. It will take time to correct the damage done in Europe from that period under Schroeder and Merkel similar to the damage done by administrations in that period in the US from Bush to Obama. ...

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States attorney generals oppose the merge of Warner Bros. with Paramount- the case now goes to trial around November or next year. This leaves CNN in a limbo not knowing if it would come under Ellison's Paramount.  

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A profile of the Indian Education Minister who resigned following student protests- Dharmendra Pradhan of Orissa, whose father was member of parliament from Deogar. His father was a RSS functionary and was Union Minister for Surface Transport 1998-2001 in the first BJP Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. Like others Dharmendra Pradhan started his career in the student wing and youth wing of the BJP. He has a degree in Anthropology from Utkal University in Bhubaneshwar. He followed his father to represent Deogar in parliament. By 2024 he became national general secretary of the BJP.  In 2014 Pradhan was made the Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas. Ujjwala Yojana for free cooking gas was launched under Pradhan. Pradhan may have been so involved in state politics and distracted, and in addition his background was not strong enough to tackle the growing challenges in India's education system. This can be used as an opportunity for India to get new capable people at the ministry and in the civil service at the top of the Education Department, and PM Modi's personal attention to this important Ministry and goals set for India's education to match its advances in science, technology, and infrastructure. Exam leaks are only a small part of the problem- they have been the source of protests for 50 years and that nothing was done to clean this up is both an opportunity missed, and one that can be taken up immediately. ...

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Prahlad Joshi of Karnataka replaces Dharmendra Pradhan of Orissa as new Education Minister of India. A new Education Secretary for the civil service is appointed after student protests.

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Careless remarks by a Chief Justice of India Surya Kant not within careful exercise of judicial utterance, calling unemployed youth parasites and cockroaches, cause protests in New Delhi using social media channels Instagram and You Tube.  Telegraph in UK provides details about the case a petitioner wanting "senior advocate" designation status and the CJI making remarks that could easily be taken out of context. "There are youngsters like cockroaches, who don't get any employment or have any place in profession. Some of them become media, some of them become social media, RTI activists and other activists and they start attacking everyone." CJI Surya Kant says he was referring to 48,000 persons practicing law without a law degree. He could have simply turned down the petition and expressed his view on the 48,000 persons in a separate place and time clearly saying just that not bringing in words such as parasites and cockroaches. Justices Dalveer Bhandari and others on the Delhi and Supreme Court have set a high standard for the bench that should have been followed. This affects India, a developing country that with strong leadership has tackled crisis after crisis, the pandemic, DJT Tariffs, Hormuz cutoff, in the last decade and maintained India's implementation of a ten year plan to 2030 to industrialize and modernize the country. The last thing the country needs in its development efforts is something said by the CJI being seen as callous behaviour to youth job seekers when the whole point of the night and day efforts of the civil service, the government departments at every level of government, of whole ministries such as Railways, infrastructure projects all over India under a Master Plan is to create good jobs, and build Make In India in an accelerated effort with foreign technologies and capital. ...

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Protest notes over 20 million on social media channels, on Instagram 20 million, on You Tube videos tens of millions- all focused on a weak point education, and a weak minister of education in the Modi government. With an outcry about leaks of papers for exams taken by 2 million youth,  and set off by careless, unnecessary, inappropriate remark by a Chief Justice of India. Countries with huge populations such as China in the 1990's and 2000's and now India embarking on rapid modernization in the earlier stages face even with their best efforts a gap between the rising aspirations of a youthful population and the delivery of results. This is even more so in India because of two reasons one the pandemic followed by DJT Tariffs, Hormuz oil and gas cutoff. The other is non cooperation of some state governments in democratic forms of government that leave gaps in performance, something that did not happen in China under CCP in the 1990's and 2000's. Overcoming all these hurdles and delivering 7-7.5% economic growth is a major achievement that delivers new factories and new jobs. Yet all the time new challenges have to be met and there is room for improvement, there are shortcomings that can be corrected- it is the duty of good government even when it has taken on an enormous and ambitious project to modernize India, to show humility, honesty and reflection as it takes corrective action. ...

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President DJT at White House Correspondents Dinner, Waldorf Astoria, Washington DC  July 24 2026. DJT called the group in the audience- 

“the largest group of Trump Derangement Syndrome people ever put together at one time.”

“I gave up on traditional press,” he said, boasting about how popular he is on TikTok and unconventional media.

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Micron's plans to invest $250 billion in the US to build memory chip manufacturing and Apple's plan to get lower priced Chinese chips.

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Price and capabilities needed for the task at hand are what customers are going by to choose AI models. Companies are thrift seeking preferrring lower cost solutions including using cheaper AI tools from China.

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China's industrialization, urbanization, and modernization was not achieved without the same struggles since 1990. Because years of colonization and wars, conflicts, China and India had fallen so far behind that even when industrialization, urbanization and modernization took place there was always the fear that it could be derailed by protests over the very same thing that the industrialization and modernization was doing to get- good jobs. Populations are so large that tens of millions, or hundreds of millions are involved. China carefully monitored the protests and sought to defuse this in the interests of the 1.4 billion people of China. Yet China was industrializing in the second effort- the first effort being suppressed by the Imperial Japanese Army in the 1930's. China was industrializing with much support from the US by the 1990's, upto the point that the Clinton and Obama administration let America's supply chain be shipped to China to let China advance after centuries of suffering and backwardness. Coming back to India- India is facing the same situation with some special characteristics. What are these special characteristics? The social media and mobile phones were not an ubiquitous presence in the  hundreds of millions including you tube (Google) video, and Instagram (Meta) photos during China's industrialization period 1990-2020. Even then China faced some risky periods when it monitored the situation so that industrialization would not be derailed. It is thought that somehow an elected government in China would then after protests push forward the industrialization. But this is a risky proposition most likely it would have failed first by a break up of the unity of China, second by the lack of a concerted disciplined strong effort to industrialize, modernize. Third corruption could diminish the funds and investment without a strong centralized government. If China's industrialization had collapsed as a result after protests,  media in US and Europe, the political and educated class of the US and Europe would simply shrug it off as China's fault and the Asian societies as a riddle wrapped in an enigma unable to progress. This is true of India also and one can see it happening, including participation by the same media in making that happen. Without the vigilance of China's government in 1990-2020 and today for Vikshit Bharat 2047 by India's government industrialization and modernization would never happen. This is because no democratic government could establish as strong a government needed to push through industrialization and modernization of thousand years old countries stuck in feudalism and colonization poverty, and incapable of achieving a continuous undistracted determined effort over 25-30 years. Only Britain with its Empire's resources was able to do this, and the US with its vast natural resources because of a long tradition of the Anglo-Saxon peoples in democratic forms of government. Under democratic forms of government if that route was adopted China's industrialization and modernization would have failed and ended up with a divided China and a weak China with slow, erratic economic progress. What about India? India has some chance because unlike China India had a 25 year period to prepare for democratic forms of government through elected state assemblies from 1920's to 1950. China had none, worse regional warlords and Japanese invasion in 1920-1950. What this means is that for India to succeed to create Vikshit Bharat, a modernized economy, a miracle is needed for a strong centralized party government to appeal to the people and win state elections, national elections on a nationalist call. And at the same time after winning such state elections to know that hundreds of years of self neglect, internal conflict and colonization was hard to reverse even through determined effort- gaps between jobs needed and jobs existing would exist for population of 1.4 billion in the tens of millions. The central government had to have its ears close to the ground and explain what it was doing, where it had fallen short and with humility and reflection correct course where needed. This is what the Modi government has done by having the Minnister of education resign, and taking corrective actions on the genuine concerns of protestors. And yet Explain to the Indian people that only rapid industrialization could create the jobs needed, the protestors genuine concerns could be met but nothing would be achieved if the industrialization process at the heart of things was allowed to be derailed. That would mean a disaster for India- and the Indian people could not risk the possibility of this happening after centuries of colonization and thousand years of neglect, feudal patterns, and divisions in society. Would US and Europe even understand this, would they even care? This is reflected in the coverage of the protests over education and jobs in DW.com, the Times of London, the WSJ, the NYT, and generally in the media. Would the jobs increase somehow after the protests- this entirely depends on rapid industrialization, large investments, strategic investments, and smart access to capital and technologies from US and Europe. The Modi government has given its all- clean governance,  determined effort, massive investments, ten year plan and master plan, rapid implementation. There will still be a lack of jobs but this is the best hope for India, as it was for China. Like China, India if it perseveres can only repeat the process that has happened in Japan and China since the 1950's - rapid progress to modernization and industrialization for Vikshit Bharat 2047. The Modi government has one by one tackled, the challenge of Clean Governance, Pandemic, DJT Tariffs, the Hormuz crisis, in the last decade in an unflinching effort to stay focused on creating an industrialized modern Indian economy with higher standards of living, jobs, the best infrastructure, best health care, and jobs for the millions turned out by schools and colleges. Hundreds of millions of people are being pulled out of poverty and the middle class is growing. Just when the pace of industrialization is accelerating to achieve the aspirations of the Indian people, in some places it may fall short, the growing pains of a massive effort, efforts are being made to fix shortcomings, yet the focus is unrelenting on Vikshit Bharat 2047 in stages to 2030, 2040, 2047.   ...

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Correcting some of the misconceptions and myths that have prevented investment in North Sea for Britain and impoverished the British Treasury, led to disinvestment in Britain.

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Mikhailo Drapatiy, 43 years, is a major general inthe Ukrainian army known for his action in defence of Mariupol, and is a younger soldier inthe Ukrainian army who is being pushed up the ranks to become the new commander in chief of the Ukrainian armed forces. He is in favor of direct approach in chain of command without much of the soviet style bureaucratic forms and delay. He is also working to modernize the Ukrainian army at all levels so that it can counter Russia's advantage in numbers on the battlefields by conserving Ukrainian human resources and fighting using technology and intelligent  warfare. This could change the course of the war and lead Russia to take steps to negotiate a settlement.

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Smithsonian under current leadership failing to tell America's story from Washington and Jefferson to Lincoln and TR/FDR that has inspired millions in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Somewhere particularly in the exhibit on Benjamin Franklin at the entrance to the Smithsonian, this version of history as presented by the current leadership at this revered institution, has simply lost its way. A scientist, inventor, diplomat, publisher and anti-slavery advocate, Franklin was indispensable in getting the French into the War of Independence during his missions to France on dangerous repeated voyages. Without Franklin Washington's effort may have been in vain and the independent Nation of America may never have come into place. The national Archives show Franklin was the president of the Pennsylvania Society for the Abolition of Slavery and petitioned Congress for its abolition in 1790, none of this is shown in the exhibit. It is simply incomprehensible that this would be allowed to take place. Some of the Founding Fathers were clear and bold in their fight against slavery, bolder than Lincoln who advanced his cause with calculated steps and relentless determination but even Lincoln knew he could not take it up in one big step, instead preparing the Nation to move forward step by repeated step in the 1850's. One can see this across Asia, Latin America, and Africa- there country after country's leaders were inspired by Jefferson's words and by Washington, Lincoln, TR and FDR, John F. Kennedy. ...

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Bev Craig, leader of Manchester City Council,  running to succeed Andy Burnham as mayor of Manchester region of two million people.  She also held the post of Economy, Business and Inclusive Growth leader for Greater Manchester Authority, and was the person who assisted Burnham in his work. Election is next Thursday July 30, 2026. Craig says the Reform UK and Greens vote has peaked. She says she has been compared to Burnham which is not a fair comparison given that this will be her first day in office and his last when she is elected, advice she got from Richard Leese, her predecessor in Manchester at the job for 25 years.  Bev Craig supports a 2% levy on assets over 10 million pounds and modified capital gains tax. Along with other mayors Bev supports investing in a revised version of HS2 train line connecting Manchester with Birmingham. This would boost growth in the region in Britain's largest northern cities outside London in the southeast. The Conservative government made a mistake in cancelling the project. This is similar to the delays on the bullet train project between Mumbai and Ahmedabad which accelerated after Modi's efforts in recent years and is now almost complete. Once this first leg is built India can look forward to bullet trains connecting all major cities, such is the potential of such investments, propelling India into a different level similar to work done in high speed rail in China. It is the lack of Tories to dream big for Britain and do this on a model of established practice Modi's in Gujarat, Burnham's in Manchester, that is the great big hope for Britain. This calls for relentless effort, hard work night and day, overcoming every obstacle on the way, and continuously keeping the goal upfront of reindustrialization of Britain. India can learn a lot from the Industrial Revolution and science and technology advances Britain created, and Britain can learn from the efforts underway in India in 2026 for Vikshit Bharat by 2047. ...

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Ed Balls Report for Harvard and Kings College says "the combination of Burnham, Healey and Rayner, is the best moment we had for this agenda" of regional productivity of Britain. It is the gap between regional productivity of southeastern Britain and the rest of Britain that has led to two economic growth in Britain. Underneath the "breathing room" for cost of living, Andy Burnham has put together the kind of team that in combination with the experience gained in Manchester gives the right start for Britain and the British people, an opportunity to hope knowing that all the right tried and tested basics are being put in place one by one.

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4793 -but the numbers are much higher of rough sleeping in Britain in 2026. Housing First /Bed Every Night Scheme in Manchester with multiple agencies involved not putting it to charities has a tested approach and placed 300 people in that region in permanent housing. Charities limited resources does not work, multiple public agencies are needed to coordinate the work because there are different problems interacting and all have to be tackled for it to work. Temporary housing does not work. These are lessons learned from past experience.

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On the 30th anniversary of this Interview with Norman Borlaug, of Iowa, Minnesota and Texas, with Mary Gray Davidson for Common Ground, a point of reflection of where we were including China and India, Africa, where we are now in 2026, and where we are headed if we have the right bearings. What has been accomplished under Deng and successors to Xi Jinping, under Nehru and successors to Modi, and in different parts of Africa, the path ahead, and the challenges in the deindustrialization of the US and Europe that is being reversed day by day. Borlaug never lost his faith in education. "Some of the greatest satisfactions I've had is to see little boys-and girls too, for that matter-that have dropped out of school in the third grade. They've got bright, shiny eyes. You give them a job scaring the birds out of your plots. And together with your colleagues you say, "Let's put a little few pennies together and get that little person in school and get them back." And they go through primary school. And then get them into high school You may have to move them to another village because there's no school like that. And I've seen some of them become Ph.D.s; some of the best scientists. And Master Technicians. They're tremendous. There's lots of unpolished stones out there that never got a chance. And a little stimulation. You have to identify them. You can't do that all at the same, we don't have enough pennies to start them all up. But if that happens to some of these, other kids start saying, "Look what happened to that person." That's all part of the game. You've got to reach for the star. You'll never get the star, or never reach it, but if you stretch yourself enough, I always tell the students, you'll get some stardust on your hands. And if that happens you'll be surprised what happens in your ability to do something for yourself, your family, the community, the state, the nation, and the world." ...