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Gramer and Kubota of WSJ report on Lindsey Graham's last days- visiting Kviv, and getting the US president's support for a new sanctions bill on Russia, meeting colleagues McCaul and Coons in Ankara at NATO Summit. On Iran, on Ukraine, on contentious issues Lindsey Graham persisted when he saw what he perceived as the US interest and what action the US should take. As the president shifted back and forth on Ukraine Graham held on to get Ukraine the help it needed to end the war, to take action to get Putin to end the war. It is now believed that both Russia and Ukraine are looking for an opportunity to end this war. On Iran Graham had expressed concern about the Memorandum negotiated by J.D. Vance and the power struggle between the IRGC military and the elected president, with the IRGC not interested in reopening Hormuz or discontinuing its nuclear weapons program, its ballistic missiles development. It was a bipartisan effort with Graham having dinner with Senator Coons of Delaware in Ankara, and Graham working with Democrat Blumenthal in the US Senate on the new sanctions bill. ...

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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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India's handling -under the Modi government and ministries working together in a long range plan- of the Hormuz crisis, and keeping gasoline prices, gas for cooking prices, and diesel prices to below 8% increases is an achievement of tremendous proportions. Yet it is rarely if ever mentioned  in the media in the US and Europe.  It shows the huge importance of good governance in the lives of nations and people, when we are talking about 1.4 billion people, of massive impact. This report on India's handling of the Hormuz oil crisis by the Modi government in The Hindu shows how India kept prices of petroleum and gas, diesel, down to an 8% increase compared to 45% +  increases in other countries in Asia and Europe. By having all ministries work together, planning for petroleum needs years before he crisis, government absorbing the cost, renewables energy goals accelerated, and better preparation through its oil reserves, India was able to weather the Hormuz crisis. US and its ally in Venezuela have stepped in with Delcy Rodriguez's visit to India, Marco Rubio's visit to India to reassure India of supplies from their exports. Even as oil prices rose above $120 a barrel India was able to weather the crisis and show to the world and to the US, to the 1.4 billion people of India, how important a factor good governance can be in the life, survival and growth of nations and economies in the Modern World. In this report The Hindu shows petrol prices in India were up 7.5%, compared to Germany 14%, UK 19%, US 45%, Pakistan 50%, and Philippines 50%. FOr diesel UAE prices rose 85% in UAE itself, in India just 8%. Domestic cylinders of gas cost Rs 942, Ujjwala lower income and elderly benefiiciaries got it at Rs. 642 ($7). ...

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US naval base at Bahrain and the damage from missiles in the war  June 2026 as shown by the WSJ. Bahrain is located only 150 miles from the Iranian coastline and was targeted along with other sites including Kuwait and UAE. A new route along the Omani coastline protected by US naval power in the region that then goes along the UAE coastline is now the route opened up by the US for shipping oil through Hormuz. This route is key to reducing oil prices and the recent visit by Marco Rubio of the US to the Gulf Cooperation Council being held in Bahrain June 25,  and the meetings held there, affirmed the open navigation of the seas on international waterways as being under international law. This has led to the fall of oil prices to prewar levels of around $70 per barrel. The US will redo the naval forces and bases in the region with less in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, smaller footprint in Bahrain, and move some naval forces to the west closer to or inside Israel. The administration has asked Congress for $40 billion for the naval and military effort to restore open navigation of the seas for the world's energy of which $5 billion will go to repair of damaged naval facilities. One of the effects of the war that is constructive is ther is now an awareness to manage oil consumption in India, China and Japan major users of oil coming through Hormuz. China has figured out ways to do without the 3 million barrels a day from Hormuz, India has setup alternative oil supplies from Venezuela, and Japan is both cutting oil use and looking at alternative sources. Oil companies are also working on alternative supplies in other regions of the world. Both China, India, and European Union are accelerating their renewable energy sources to meet energy requirements. This means after 2026 the world may not be dependent on Hormuz for energy supplies, Hormuz becoming one of multiple sources and alternative supplies than in the past. This will also keep oil prices in the $50-$70 range that is consistent with cost of living and economic growth. ...

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India received $135 billion in remittances in 2024-25 from the 18.5 million Indian diaspora, of which 10 million live in the Middle East region sending $51 billion a year. This finances the merchandise trade deficit.  In UAE alone there are 247,000 Indian students and immigrant labor is the main labor supply in the Gulf kingdoms.  Crude oil of 25-30 million barrels is on the seas as inventory to which India has access making crude oil supplies not an issue for the short term. Indian refinery production for export can also be adjusted if needed. India has received a 100 day exemption to import Russian oil from the US since the Gulf war began easing concerns for crude oil supplies. Situation for LPG is more complicated. India has used the Chabahar port to ship supplies of aid to Afghanistan on an overland route which will not operate till the tensions ease. 

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I write this comment as Founding Editor of Lyrarc.com. Lyrarc.com would not have been possible without the work of Neil Kinnock's mentor Michael Foot and his brother Dingle Foot. In the same way that Andy Burnham says he would not have entered politics and would not have joined Labour without the impression on him left by Kinnock, I can say that I would not have founded Lyrarc.com without the impression left on me by Sir Dingle Foot when I first met him in Colombo, Ceylon in 1966. What Michael Foot did for Labour, Dingle Foot did for the whole of Asia bringing forward looking ideas and a passion for the people of Asia that can only be compared to Gen. Joe Stilwell's passion for China and the Chinese people in their struggles in the 20th century since 1900. Sir Dingle Foot is not with us as Neil Kinnock is, but his impressions live on with me from his letters in his own handwriting to me from the 1960's, a period when decolonization in Asia and Africa was still happening. I think of Gandhi and the British agent in Rajkot, Sir Frederic Lely who helped him study in London and gain the knowledge of British ideas that led him to writing "Hind Swaraj" on a steamship from London to South Africa. Today Lely's name cannot be found on the internet but it is there at the Gandhi Museum in Porbandar, India- which means in the world of AI models trained on Wikipedia there are things one will never know that are vital to understand and continue the work of building the Modern World for the US, UK, India and China. Andy Burnham of Labour says "I am Ready." He also told Labour and the British Nation: "I have a Plan." Even before he assumes office The Burnham Programme is on the web. Burnham has implemented it in the North in Manchester. He is now bringing it to all of Britain. What Thatcher did had reverberations in the US with Reagan. What Boris Johnson did had reverberations in US with DJT. What Andy Burnham does in Britain will have reverberations in US, Europe, and the World.    ...

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A scandal in China over cooking oil transported in fuel trucks that is shown in DW.com

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The economy is booming but urban areas in the US are still recovering from the Delta variant and the problems left behind by the pandemic.

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The need for earth friendly diets is shown in this editorial in The Guardian. Animal based products account for 57% of greenhouse gas emissions compared to 29% for food from plants. An outsize meat and dairy industry accounts for about 15% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions according to UN message in 2021. Mr. Dimpleby is Britain's food minister. He says a 30% reduction in meat eating would make it possible to have sustainable land use in Britain. The Guardian says high income countries are eating double the meat, poultry and fish products that they should be eating for living within the planetary sustainable living boundaries- that is to have no net environmental damage. Go back to the periods before 1600 and European, American, high income countries consumption of animal based foods was a fraction of what it is today.  A new legal regime is seen as a fair, just and sustainable living oriented solution. The Netherlands is doing just this to reduce the size of its large animal and dairy industry as a step towards more sustainable living and planet. It is not easy to convince farmers yet the public supports such a move. With the fires, floods and drought in Europe there is increasing awareness that action needs to be taken even where it is difficult.  ...

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Prodigous AI investment is crowding out essential investments in US infrastructure in factories, schools, roads, rail, bridges, airports, ports, and energy for homes/manufacturing in 2025 that are needed badly to make the US competitive with other advanced industrial nations.

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US Midwestern states benefitting from influx of residents in 2025 as housing costs are half the price at double the space in places like Appleton, Wisconsin. From Indiana to Michigan and Illinois,Kansas, Missouri and Wisconsin there this sense of affordable space and living compared to California.

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This view in WSJ about Trump the candidate being no different in 2024 than eight years back in 2016, by Gerard Baker, gets 3813 Comments from Readers. It says Trump today in 2024 is no different than in 2016, only then he faced a candidate Hillary Clinton who had spent so much time in endless foreign travel as Secretary of State, that she had lost touch with the American people. In that situation Trump prevailed and that by only 90,000 votes in 3 states. Baker comes to this conclusion by reading carefully and objectively assessing the meaning of the Mar Lago interview that Trump gave last week. He says this time Trump is up against someone who is clearly in touch and and a seasoned politician. One that is able to give voters a chance to project on a clean slate whatever they want to see. This even though Kamala Harris has well known views from her days as Attorney General and Senator. Baker sees Trump lacking a coherent message and failing to provide a vision for the future, simply restating what was said before. ...

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Angela Merkel's handling of the coronavirus crisis wins praise from world leaders and leaders in Germany. Public opinion from Argentina and New Zealand to Britain and the U.S. gives her a lot of credit for the way she has tackled the situation. She now has the highest approval ratings in Germany since 2017, after a period of 2 years during which her popularity waned with the migrant crisis.  Much of her period in office was consumed by crises- the eurozone financial crisis, the migrant crisis, and now the coronavirus crisis. She brings her style of a scientist rationally looking at the situation, her experience, and her willingness to take bold positions under much criticism. Today even one of the premiers in Thuringia from the socialist Left party praises Merkel for being "pleasantly calm and goal oriented, particularly evident in the well structured video and telephone conferences." He says he prefers a leader "a quiet scientist" rather than "pompous men who as populists, dangerously ignore the facts of the danger." Merkel now assumes the 6 month presidency of the Council of the European Union on July 1.  Germany faces the future in rebuilding its economy, in rebuilding its infrastructure and public services, for now Merkel provides the leadership needed for this time. As Andreas Nick, vice president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe puts it she is "always analytically scrutinizing and carefully weighing up, soberly Protestant and refreshingly unpretentious, a trained scientist with life experience in the downfall of an all too self-confident ideological system."   ...

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India's new bankruptcy law is a big step forward in letting credit markets function normally and drawing in new capital. The new law says the bankruptcy should be completed in 180 days after a default. Indian banks hold about $105 billion in non-performing or bad loans, according to the Reserve Bank of India. It is essential that India cope with the bad debt to attract new capital investment and increase growth. Asset reconstruction company being formed by Ambit and J.C. Flowers & Company was approved in late 2016 by the Reserve Bank of India, India's central bank. So far Indian banks have showed unwillingness to take a loss on the loans and take a big discount. Only $3 billion in asset reconstruction has taken place in 2016 through selling bad loans, according to Credit Suisse. Indian industry has relied heavily on bank loans and sale of stock for capital investment as the corporate bond market is undeveloped. This is about to change to finance growth, with the bankruptcy law and transparency as a first step. Larger foreign firms are teaming up with local partners to tackle distressed debt and bad loans, with locals knowledge of risks making it easier to profit from capital invested. ICICI bank won the first ruling of the new bankruptcy law by the National Company Law Tribunal against Innoventive to recover assets, providing the first test of the law. In the past such action would drag on for years, showing India is now serious about getting rid of bad loans in the banking system, and to revitalize credit markets to finance new growth. ...

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France and Algeria see improving relations as a necessity and Macron visits Algeria on the 60th anniversary of its independence. About half a million civilians and soldiers died in the Algerian civil war that ended in 1962, 400,000 Algerians. Algerian estimates are higher. It was a trauma for France and for Algeria. De Gaulle pushed through Algerian independence against fierce opposition by 1962 using a referendum, with many assasination attempts on his life. Macron called for "looking back at the past with humility," to look back at the history long before the arrival of the French, and archives from both nations will be put together for an objective account of what happened. Macron has said that Algerians simply focused their hatred on French occupation since 1830 and Turkey whitewashed its own occupation of Algeria before 1830. The Ottoman Turks set up the Regency of Algiers in 1525 after defeating Spanish-Moroccan armies and Turks controlled the region till the French took over in 1830.  Macron says Algeria's identity as a separate nation was set only after French rule. ...

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Europe is importing natural gas for heating homes and industry like never before as it shifts imports from Russia to the US, says this report in WSJ. Shown here is the import of LNG from tankers at the LNG terminal in Cherniere, France. Between 2021 and 2022 imports of US LNG to Europe more than doubled. The WSJ shows how drilling for gas takes place in Texas and Louisiana. That gas finds its way through pipelines to places where it is converted into LNG by freezing and transported by tankers across the high seas to European LNG terminals like Cherniere in France. The shale gas comes from the Permian Basin in Texas and New Mexico and a basin in Texas and Louisiana. Technological advances enable drilling 2 miles vertically and then two miles horizontally to reach into shale rock containing gas. Impurities are taken out to get gas that can be sent through pipelines to liquefied natural gas storage locations on the Gulf coast of America. Tankers take the LNG to LNG terminals in Europe that distribute the gas to homes. ...

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Chinese exports to Russia surge as China exports products ranging from microchips to large excavators. 

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Housing and migration are major issues in the Dutch election. Omtzight is an intellectual who heads the New Social Contract Party that has economic policies to help working families and also wants to see curbs on migration. It ends a period of 14 years in which Mark Rutte a moderate was prime minister,