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Iran wants to suspend the Oman US route in Hormuz channel to control navigation- the US wants to keep it open for open seas navigation July 7 2026. 30-50 ships make it through Hormuz. US revokes Iran's oil shipment out of Hormuz as a result, and makes strikes on Iranian  missile launching facilities used to disrupt open seas navigation on the Omani side protected by the US. US tries to set back channels to IRGC military that controls Iran, but IRGC does not carry out regular ongoing talks, talking only at the pressure of the president of Iran working with Pakistan, Turkey and Qatar to convince IRGC authorites. China has reduced its need for the barrels coming out of Hormuz, may not go back to getting Hormuz barrels. UAE has found alternative routes to ship and increased supplies, Saudis doing the same. India and Japan looking for alternative sources of oil including US and Venezuelan supplies. Most of the buyers of Hormuz oil reluctant to go back to getting Hormuz barrels. In this sense the situation has changed, from when the war began. Oil prices could rise from $70 to $76 , and a bit more, but the old situation of Iran threatening oil supplies of the poorer developing countries of the world including China, India, Indonesia, Philippines, Sri Lanka, most of Asia and Latin America, African countries, countries that cannot afford oil prices of $100 is something the world does not need. And the tide is shifting to alternative supplies, conservation that adds enough barrels of oil as China and India, Japan, Germany, are doing, and the US also to some extent. By 2027 alternative supplies will have increased to pull the world out of this place called Hormuz, to where it becomes an insignificant source of unreliable supplies. ...

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US Strategic Petroleum Reserves in July 2026 with half the capacity 352 million barrels released under Biden and DJT to tamp down oil prices.  Much of the reserve capacity is in caverns on the Gulf Coast with problems of leaks, wear and tear, equipment breakdowns, lack of investment. The massive underground salt caversna re located in Winnie and Freeport on Texas Gulf Coast, in Baton Rouge and Hackberry on Louisiana Gulf Coast. President Gerald Ford set up the Strategic Reserves in 1975, making these facilities 50 years old.

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New 12.5% and 10% tariffs under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 on 60 countries starting July 24 2026 when earlier tariffs expire. The earlie tariffs were struck down by the Supreme Court as not legally valid because of the statute used. Even though a lot of new media attention was placed on that tariffs move in 2025 and 2026, the same tariffs are back in place. Most if not all of the major trading nations, knew that the best policy was to negotiate an agreement on tariffs with the DJT administration. Countries like Switzerland that were late to negotiate were hit with higher tariffs and opted to sign agreements.  US seeks to get back the supply chain it ceded to China through mistakes made by previous administrations over 30 years. Was the US Supreme Court in a position or inclined to set this back. It simple said use another statute. Congress supported the US president in his action to bring Make in the USA back particularly in the 250th year of the Declaration of Independence. Now Jamieson Greer, head of the Office of the US Trade Representative has reset reestablished the tariffs under a legally valid Section 301. He has also conducted the Investigations on each country required under Section 301 to show that these countries had not met US standards for fighting forced labor. There is likely to be no further media attention to be critical of this move- was all the time attacking a tariffs move without considering the importance of returning supply chains to the US, returning manufacturing to the US? It appears to be when seen at the level of the US economy as a whole. ...

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These 2 steel plants date back to Scunthorpe 1861, and Port Talbot 1905, when they were first built, when Britain led the world's industrial revolution. The two plants were modernized in the 1950's. British Steel and Tata Steel Port Talbot only two remaining steel plants in UK- retaking the UK steel supply chain move taken Labour in July 2026 as Andy Burnham takes the premiership. British Steel was privatized in 1988. In Asia British Steel and US Steel were revered during the colonial period to the 1950's and 1960's. In the US and UK strangely economic theories took hold that did not see the importance of steel and other basic industries in the life of a nation and its people. About 40 years later the lessons of outsourcing your main supply chains has been learned at great cost to the US and the UK. Note that in today's WSJ an Exclusive report shows the success US steel has become with government help and American tariff protection agiainst dumped steel from China and India. US Steel has grown till it is now the third largest steelmaker in the world. The UK government is nationalizing Scunthorpe plant now given name British Steel under the Steel Industry Nationalization Act. UK has set aside 2.5 million pounds for subsidies to the Scunthorpe and Port Talbot plants for modernization of old pre-1960's plants. This is the right move, if US Steel is a success story with DJT tariffs and government support, British Steel will be a success story with the same kind of support. And contrary to bad economic theory purveyed by some economists the US and UK can now have their own modern steel industries and supply chains at home. ...

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The Bee Network launched in late 2023 is the first integrated transport system outside London. Bus routes are set and franchised by the mayor, Andy Burnham, and fares combined for trams. There is 7% increase in miles, 14% increase in journeys, 740,000 people a fourth of Manchester region population benefitting. Sheffield region, home of Louise Haigh is also planning a similar system in South Yorkshire.

Burnham says “You lower the fares, you improve frequency, you put routes back, people will use it – and they are.”

This report is from before Burnham was made prime minister. On the second day of entering office Burnham announces a cap to bus fares in England of 2 pounds.

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What readers of The Guardian say they want to see from Burnham under Honesty, Integrity, Courage, and Fairness and on different issues from Cost of Living to Housing, Health and Social Care, Education and Work for Young People. 

One reader says- “Have the courage to do a few big things well. Dismiss the tittle-tattle and day-to-day nonsense. Give your message and back it up with actions." There is a whole range of opinions from all parts of UK, different people, about 50 comments worth reading to know what is on people's minds something Andy Burnham likes to do -to listen keep his ears close to people to each place, and trust his instincts to do the right thing day after day.

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In 2025 Vienna a much smaller city built 3 times the home built in London. To reach the western European homes per capita London wold have to build 1.1 million new homes. In 2025 London set a target to build 88,000 homes- it actually built 4,170 homes. Population increased in 2025 by 100,000. One project after 4 years was delayed- local planning officers after 9000 pages of documentation did not approve it because tearing down 2 drab office buildings was "erasing an interesting period inindustrial history" in addition to saying it lacked detail. There just isn't the urgency to build homes and just too many reasons allowed to delay building. This leads to sky high prices dampening demand. Economic growth takes a big hit. This is holding back London and the whole country, an no one takes responsibility.

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US Tariffs under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 announced for July 24 2026 by Office of US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer to replace 10% tariffs that expire following a US Supreme court decision. In a few weeks another set of tariffs will be introduced to apply to goods from nations that subsidize excess manufacturing capacity. Was the media attention on the tariffs a good idea considering the main motive for it to be the US effort to get back its supply chain lost to China through the mistakes of previous administrations for 30 years? Not enough attention was paid to this and the importance for the US economy and for jobs in the different states in America of manufacturing jobs lost with the loss of the supply chain to China and from unfair trade practices of Japan, EU, Mexico, Canada and other countries. They are allies but trade matters to the wellbeing and the lives of many Americans particularly in the industries and the small towns across America over the last 30 years. ...

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Small businesses under the Liberty Center sue the DJT administration over new Tariffs under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974. This time the issue is put in a different light that of use of forced labor, or having laws but not enforcing them for forced labor, and not meeting the standards set by the administration. Section 301 of the Trade Act 1974 also gives the president authority to conduct investigations on each country with unfair trade practices, and take action on each country. The office of the Trade Representative has worked hard to pull together all these Investigations on each country so that a new Tariffs ruling by the administration on this aspect of Section 301 for unfair manufacturing practices is expected in August. Note that most major countries have already agreed that they will respect the tariffs reached under their individual coutnry agreements with the US. This applies to Japan, S. Korea, China, European Union, UK, India, Indonesia, Germany, France. What was the purpose of tariffs all along- it was to get these countries to negotiate a fair deal in which the US would be given some preference to compensate for the similar deal the US allowed these countries to have for their exports in the last 30 years. Little or none of these aspects of tariffs has been covered in the media including the most important aspect- tariffs are simply a tool in the tool box to return the supply chain the US sent to China under different adminstrations for 30 years back to America, including the manufacturing, the factories that were sent overseas and now brought back to the US, for American workers and American jobs. If stated clearly no small business or state attorney general, or lesser courts up to the US Supreme Court, would take on the authority to prevent this from happening, considering that million jobs were lost over 30 years, and the manufacturing leadership of the US destroyed, in the process taking with it small factory towns across the American landscape. ...

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A relatively minor situation, a mobile phone she reported stolen that was found in 2013, led to her being removed as the youngest cabinet member Minister for Transport in just 4 months in 2024. Before that she was Shadow Minister for Transport under Starmer. In those 4 months she ended a train drivers strike with a 14% pay raise over 3 years. She was elected as MP for Sheffield in 2015 at the age of 27 years having worked under senior MP Lisa Nandy. Educated at a private school in Sheffield, and studying at London School of Economics before switching to Nottingham University to study politics, there is something unusual about Louise Haigh in the way she handled the firing in just 4 months, for what was something inconsequential like reporting a mobile as lost, without any additional information from Starmer's administration. She did not let it affect her in the least, moving to work in the Labour parliamentary backbenches and rebuilding the Tribune Group to discuss ideas for solving problems in UK transport, health, inequalities, lack of investment. She had already come to know Metro mayors in UK as Shadow Transport Minister, including Burnham at Manchester. From that time in 2024 to 2026 may be considered one of the most transformative period of any English MP in modern history. Louise Haigh, and Lucy Powell MP and deputy leader of the Labour party who was also demoted by Starmer, worked together in the backbenches in a revolt against the welfare cuts made by chancellor Rachel Reeves that gradually destroyed the credibility of Starmer with the backbenches of the Labour party and the British working class. By the time of the controversy surrounding Starmer's chief of staff, a young man Morgan McSweeney, who had little experience except in organizing Labour primarily against Jeremy Corbyn to bring back Blair's diluted version of Labour -which had lost relevance after Conservatives failed to deliver much beyond decades of austerity years for Britain. Labour had to find a good voice and a plan, and quickly as the 2 years of Starmer led to Reform UK coming back to challenge Labour, winning big in local elections. This is where Louise Haigh and Lucy Powell come in. Louise Haigh was going to have none of it. She realized that Andy Burnham was the leader who could take Labour to heights that it had not seen since in post war period after 1945. That conviction led her to run the Makerfield election campaign for Burnham to get a seat in parliament and challenge Starmer for leadership of Labour. Without Louise Haigh and Lucy Powell, who is now Education Secretary and Deputy leader of Labour Party, Burnham may well not be the Prime Minister today. Haigh, says this BBC Report, wrote 2 Essays articulating the fight against a stagnant economy.  Where Rachel Reeves stuck to no longer relevant debt rules for a bold plan out of the economic mess, Haigh called for a significant loosening of Labour's debt rules, with the rolling five-year debt target extended to over 10 years as a start, bold investments, and a call to "re-examine the mandate" of the Bank of England so that the focus would be on growth and reviving Britain. Haigh supported Burnham for a new tax on the value of land to replace stamp duty on house purchases. "The status quo is not sustainable. We cannot afford to wait any longer before we change the system we inherited." It is this boldness that has led to Louise Haigh being put in charge of the newly created Office of the Prime Minister and the Cabinet, "the main driver for the British economy." ...

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Critical points in Burnham's program for Britain in speech on June 29 2026 as at the Manchester People's History Museum covered by The Guardian- Devolution- "It will be about offering new opportunities to extend devolution in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland by taking power deeper down." Cost of living "We will set out 10-year plans to bring down the cost of … essentials to individuals, families and businesses." Reindustrialize Britain region by region "We will support every region to set clear and credible industrial ambitions – and provide the support to achieve them." Burnham said he will “safeguard sovereign manufacturing and production capability across the country in critical sectors like steel, defence, energy, food and farming”.  Public ownership of Utilities for major services such as water, energy, transport. Work done in transport in Manchester as a sound example. "We will ensure all parts of the UK are able to take greater public control of essential services like water, housing, energy and transport …" Housing supply- a huge housing building program. Britain has lost almost 1.5m council homes since the 1980s and around the same number of people are now on housing waiting lists and have been there for a very long time. Streets and Neighborhoods pulled out of decline.  "Shouldn’t we make our high streets the symbols of Britain’s renaissance?" Education and Employment- "We need a complete rethink of how we support the next generation to succeed, and it has to start with the education system." Reform of Westmeinster and Whitehall- "They require radical change if the country is to get back on track." ...

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US tariffs under Section 301 of Trade Act as lasting and approved by the US Supreme Court, would make tariffs at average of 17% from 11% under temporary steps today after Supreme Court's decision on tariffs. Many countries like Japan, S. Korea, made deals accepting the 15% in taxes.  Under Section 301 Jamieson Greer USTR opened investigations on 60 economies not prohibiting use of forced labour in supply chains. USTR made its preliminary finding this month and proposed 10% tariff on closest trading partners, including Canada, Mexico and the European Union. And proposing 12.5% tariff on 40 nations including China, Japan, India, S. Korea and others, covering 99% of US trade. So that tariffs are back, and now permanent under Section 301 of the Trade Act. US Supreme Court had not rejected government power to impose tariffs, only that is was using the wrong method. All along DJT administration knew about Section 301, and did not use it earlier because it requires investigations of unfair trade and public discussion which takes time compared to other tools. Now Jamieson Greer has prepared the Section 302 route through his agency's investigations, and tariffs are here to stay. They are superseded only when the US signs a trade agreement with a nation, and there it set a rate of 10% or 15% depending o the country. ...

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By having ships stay close to the Black Sea coast of NATO countries Ukraine is reviving the grain corridor that lets it send grain exports. This is also possible today because of increased surveillance capabilities of Ukraine and the increasing influence of Ukraine in the Black Sea. The corridor is important now that RUssia has withdrawn from the grain agreement put together by the UN and Turkey through negotiations with Russia.

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Hormuz channel on July 13, 2026 -Iran Memorandum with US is meaningless as IRGC military in Iran and elected Iran government are in a power struggle. Every time the elected president confirms a ceasefire and opening of Hormuz by Iran to all shipping without tolls, the IRGC makes a show of agreeing under pressure from Pakistan, Turkey, Qatar and Egypt, then next day IRGC asserts that Hormuz is closed and all shipping take place on the Iranian side only with tolls. This means Iran is shutting down the Omani side of Hormuz channel which was opened by the US. This is against international law and open navigation of the seas for shipping. The result is that the US government and DJT have lost any confidence in negotiating with the IRGC who make the decisions. The US response is to restart the naval blockade, to be paid for by tolls at 20% to pay all costs of US to ensure safety of oil tankers. The news media is taking the Iranian side which is against the poor countries freely accessing energy and oil supplies at reasonable prices (Egypt, Indonesia, Philippines, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, India and China a population of close to 4 billion people). Media does this by putting titles like "Iran is playing the long game," because of the opposition to the DJT administration by Democrats. The opposition Democrats fail to address the question about Iran having a nuclear weapon and the resulting danger to the region. DJT administration response is also to find alternative supplies to Hormuz so that India, China and other countries can meet their oil needs outside of Hormuz. As shown in Lyrarc this has already take place and China, India, Japan, cutting back its fuel use after prolific use of oil, and replacing it with renewable energy, more efficient use of energy. ...

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Ukraine is establishing a unilateral civilian maritime corridor in the Black Sea for maritime traffic to and from its port of Odessa. This is made possible by Ukraine gaining an advantage over the Russian Navy in the Black Sea as reported here in the WSJ. 

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Russian withdrawal from the grain deal in July 2023 makes the Black Sea an increasingly dangerous place. Russia fills the skies with its aircraft and the US and allies fly planes over international waters. Ukraine drones carry explosives towards Russian ports and ships.

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The unsettled situation fro grain exports from Black Sea ports in July as Russia fails to renew a grain export deal. The Ukraine offensive leads to an unsettled situation.

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The Sulina Channel on the Danube a 40 mile waterway with protection of NATO and of Romania, makes it possible to ship 20 million tons of Ukraine grain. Soon it is expected to double as this waterway offers a way to ship grain out of Ukraine after Russia pulled out of a grain export arrangement out of Black Sea ports. Russia has used drones to attack Ukraine grain infrastructure. The Danube is seen as the efficient route even though it is congested.

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Opening up of the Bystre and Sulina canals to get Ukraine wheat from the port of Odessa on the Black Sea to Romanian ports and to the Danube. This is one more step in getting grain out of Ukraine. Ukraine taking over Snake Island on the Romanian coast south of Odessa in July was a positive step for creating a route for ships getting to Romania and the Danube. Yet this route only adds about 500,000 tons of grain taken out. About 8 million tons normally leave in June from Ukraine ports only 25% or 2 million made it out.

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George Washington shown in the early parts of the Seven Years War (1756-1763) that drove the French from Quebec and North America. In these early battles Washington fought in the Pennsylvania country near Pittsburgh under the British commanders against the Indians and the French. This taught George Washington many things about a war in America's vast forests, the risks and dangers, the best way to keep on fighting a long war in which the British would eventually fail to prevail. After defeat on 2 nights on frozen ice on a lake fleeing French and Indian forces Washington survives, and grasps the idea of divine providence in the struggle against colonial powers France and then Britain. This prepared Washington for a different strategy in the war against the British, learning from the defeats of the British by Indians in forest conditions with quick offense and quick retreats and no large engagements. The entire war was characterized by this quick offense, strategic retreats, and preserving the American army's strengths, as an approach to conduct the fight. Montgomery tried a direct march on Quebec and failed in the early days of the war of independence against British forces. This also reinforced Washington's strategic approach that the British would only lose in a long drawn out war under certain conditions, to avoid direct engagement with large armies or decisive battles till the right moment. Washington enlisted a young French officer Lafayette as a commander in his army knowing the importance of the French to neutralize the British naval power on the seas. When this stage was reached Washington could quickly move his army north to surprise the British by surrounding their forces under Lord Cornwallis resting at Yorktown, Virginia after being harassed in small engagements by American forces in the South. For that to happen Washington had the logistics feat to accomplish of moving cannon and forces up rivers and forests to the north, something practiced in the Pennsylvania region in the fight against the French and their Indian allies. The early part of the war the engagement with the French and Indians was formative for Washington and is the experience that is covered in the book "Young Washington," now made into a movie. The night spent on the frozen river in Pennsylvania country fleeing the Indians and French and surviving was always for Washington an act of divine protection. It may be also the reason why Washington saw his role not as his own but for a larger purpose, leading to handing over his appointment as commander in chief back to Congress in Annapolis in 1783 after the war had ended and peace treaty was signed. We refer to this as a defining moment in The First Letter from the Editor for Lyrarc.com, reflecting on divine protection and the responsibility that goes with it for the Nation that should never be forgotten. ...

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Russian defense minister tells the Turkish defense minister that Russia will rejoin the UN arrangement for grain exports from Black Sea ports.