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Ukraine's capabilities in drones technologies stabilizes the war fronts with Russia. It economic help from the European Union, and commitments of the governments of Germany, France and Britain, less dependence on the US, now creates a situation in which both sides Russia and Ukraine can make an agreement through which this war can be brought to a close. 

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Belarus relay stations turned off after Ukraine drone attacks. Ukraine's capabilities in drones technologies stabilizes the war fronts with Russia. For Ukraine economic help from the European Union, defense commitments of the governments of Germany, France and Britain, less dependence on the US, now creates a situation in which both sides Russia and Ukraine can make an agreement through which this war can be brought to a close. 

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The European Union is about to ban social media platforms from accessing children under age 13. This is how Ursula Van Leyen puts it - it is not about children accessing social media, it is about social media platforms accessing our children, says Leyen. She will announce this in her address to the European Union in September. A new report by a psychologist Fegert and an epidemiologist Melchior comes to the conclusion that social media is harmful for children, not just under 13 years, restrictions should be placed on 13 to 18 year olds also to prevent infinite scrolling and other addictive features. Australia has announced a ban setting the age at 16 years. Britain is tightening its ban. France is planning to ban setting the age at 16. The following countries are about to do this- Denmark, France, Germany, Spain, India, Indonesia and Malaysia. When the EU announces a ban it will apply to all of Europe. In the US Florida passed a ban setting age at 14 years. Across Europe children spend 4 to 6 hours on social media a day and for 60% of children it is having harmful effects on emotional health and creating psychosocial problems for children. It also affects the education, the reading comprehension of children as less books are read, and a whole new generation of children is growing up in a way that was never before seen in the Modern period where books and reading were a key aspect of modern society for the last 200 years. ...

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Securing transparency in financial receipts and their use by Labor Unions is a battle being fought since the Days when Robert Kennedy called this "the Enemy Within," and the Nation was shocked by the corruption in the Labor Unions. Since the days of Tammany Hall and Teddy Roosevelt's effort to clean up the system in the 1890's this is a forever battle. US auto unions benefitted from recent changes as old labor bosses were turned out and free and fair elections took place. The Washington Post says the added requirements for trade unions to file detailed disclosure of how they use funds is necessary and a good change made by the current Labor Secretary. Putting these disclosure forms online is also a good step as all workers can see where the money is going. The Post says no union boss should be afraid of more sunshine.

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JAPAN PM SANAE TAKAICHI VISIT TO INDIA JULY 3, 2026. Deepening of ties between Asia's 2 leading democracies and largest top 5 economies of the world with a combined population of 1.5 billon and a combined purchasing parity GDP of 27 trillion dollars about 60% of China's purchasing power GDP. With the acceleration of the Indian economy to about 8% growth and complementing Japanese capital and Indian ambition the effort will be made to close the gap with China, to establish independent resilient supply chains, and set the new course for Asia as a whole. Once the gap is closed over the next 10 years just Japan India partnership will be the size of the Chinese economy. The American and European Union economies would be the size of the Asian economies also complementing the Japan India partnership, to set a clear course for the world of nations based on the rule of law, open navigation, and peaceful cooperation for development of Africa, Asia and Latin American nations.

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Two women one from Pennsylvania and one from Washington state, one Republican and one Democrat. Opinions did not change. A businessman from Pennsylvania who gave the DJT State of the Union address to Congress an A. Two minority voters, blacks from Georgia call it racist or dictatorial. A small business owner, a Democrat from Dominican Republic, from Pennsylvania calls it offensive to immigrants by describing only the worst of immigrants or migrants. Does not appear to be a good enough sample spread out over the Nation, an unrepresentative with 3 from racial minorities or 43% of sample.

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It would take 60 days for Iran to generate $10 billion in revenues. It seeks to charge tolls for the Hormuz channel to generate $40 billon a year. The US strategy- now that US knows there is a power struggle between the- elected president Pezeshkian and the militay IRGC- is to restrict Iran from gaining the funds to fund a nuclear weapons program. The most likely and low cost option is to reinstate the naval blockade. The next action is to work with China, Japan, India and the European Union to find other sources of oil to replace the 20 million barrels lost from Homruz- by using the unused capacity of 5 million barrels a day in UAE, Saudi pipelines. China learning to do without the 4 million barrels a day it got through Hormuz, supplying India through added oil supplies from Venezuela and the US, accelerating renewable energy and EV's hybrids could generate about a third of the 20 billion barrels lost from Hormuz or 6 million barrels a day. The better management of supplies in inventories could generate the additional energy to replace 4 million barrels a day. The result would be to reduce or eliminate the need for Hormuz and reduce its impact on the world's need for oil and energy use. ...

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A profile of the Education Minister who resigned 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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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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The State of the Union Address in 2026 cited the enormous impact on the world we know today over 2 centuries by this Nation. Jefferson breathed his last in 1826, between that and two persons in the chamber- including Air Force pilot who is 100 years old- between 1826 and 1926 when this pilot was born is a span of 100 years, and in this pilot's lifespan another 100 years. In this period, a couple of generations in our lifetimes, so much was achieved, said the president. So much of the address was about the potential ahead following the heroic efforts of the past. We are part of something larger than us, says the president, and this larger than us is the collective consciousness of the American Nation. "Two-hundred fifty years is a long time in the life of a nation. But in another sense, it's really a mere moment in the eye of history. Two of the gentlemen we met in the gallery this evening took their first breaths one century ago. One hundred years before that, on July 4th, 1826, the author of the Declaration of Independence, brilliant Thomas Jefferson, drew his last breath. Just a single long human life span separates the giants who declared and won our independence from the heroes who stand among us tonight. Everything our nation has done, everything we have achieved, has been the work of those few great lifetimes. In those brief chapters, Americans built this nation from 13 humble colonies into the pinnacle of human civilization and human freedom. The strongest, wealthiest, most powerful, most successful nation in all of history. Americans ventured out across the daunting and dangerous continent. We carved pass through an unforgiving wilderness, settled a boundless frontier, and tamed the beautiful but very, very dangerous wild west. From empty marshes and wide-open plains, we raised up the world's greatest cities. Together we mastered the world's mightiest industries, shattered history's monstrous tyrannies. And we liberated millions from the chains of fascism, communism, oppression and terror." Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, FDR and JFK, through their efforts and the efforts of scientists and industrial pioneers, and of the People of the United States, of educators and scientific endeavors, so much was achieved, and so much lies ahead. ...

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Reeves and Lammy depart as Burnham chooses new cabinet Healey is new chancellor and Shabana continues as Home Secretary. Healey was Defense secretary under Starmer. It is important that he was in 1999 Parliamentary Private Secretary to Gordon Brown as Chancellor of the Exchequer. In 2002 he was appointed Economic Secretary to the Treasury, and in 2005 Financial Secretary to the Treasury. In 2009 he was Minister of State for Housing and Planning. Shadow Secretary of Health in 2010 and 2016, Shadow Secretary for Defense under Starmer after supporting Starmer for leadership of the Labour Party. He was first elected to parliament in 1997 and had majorities of 50-70% in elections serving for 29 years in parliament. He is the right choice for Chancellor, or Finance Minister of the UK to work with Burnham on Labour's goals. Reeves was problematic from the beginning because she stuck to what people said could or could not be done, not able to think outside the box to get Labour to be itself and do what people wanted from Labour. In this way she set herself and the Labour party for failure by losing the very public that Labour had promised to help, with this public becoming indifferent to Labour, because in many ways it was Reeves's Labour not Starmer's. As Starmer, not much of an original thinker and little experience outside of law, followed Reeves economic theories borrowed from The City, Britain's version of Wall Street. Andy Burnham is right to choose someone who can think on his feet, no knowledge of economic theory required because orthodox economic theory has failed America, failed Britain, and created the mess of single supply chain concentrated in China in the first place with its theories of comparitive advantage. What is needed is someone who grasps and hold near his heart the aspirations of the British people, and hears their concerns everyday, not think tanks telling one what to do, and acting on these concerns in creative ways, thinking and improvising solutions along the way, not afraid to experiment. This is how FDR handled the economic difficulties of the 1930's, another period like today's when Wall Street theories had failed badly. This is also how China handled the economic collapse after Mao's death following the Cultural Revolution in 1984-1997. This is how Modi handled the economic difficulties in building a modern nation by experimentation in the western state of Gujarat in 2001-2014 without preconceived ideas and theories, keeping what worked and expanding on it.  Lammy was not the right choice for Deputy Prime Minister, and failed to provide leadership and focus the country's attention on the issues of migrants, asylum hotels, housing, rebuilding relations with the European Union, economic growth, neglect of the north of England and other deprived regions. No such position of Deputy prime minister can be filled in many situations. As Foreign Secretary there needed to be some one who could speak with a stronger voice for Britain with the European Union, the US, China, India, and be seen across the spectrum of views in Britain as an effective voice. ...

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China's export dependent economy with 4% decline in fixed investment Jan-May 2026 and 27% jump in exports.1 million car exports per month in June. Exports make up 20% of China's GDP. China is challenging German companies in their home markets in Europe. Domestic sales of cars are down 16% in June. What this means is that China's growth now depends on exports alone, with construction slowdown, and weak consumer spending. How does this tie into China's posture in trade with the US? It negotiated from a position of strength on rare earths not to give in to DJT tariffs yet knows the importance of trade for the Chinese economic model, importance of US and EU markets, markets worldwide. China's strategy is to shift some of the lost US sales due to tariffs to other countries in Latin America and Asia. A top priority is to keep trade with the US and European Union on a good footing, so that its exports can be absorbed. How does it affect Hormuz? For China Hormuz as an oil source is much lower in importance and China can do without Iran, it absolutely cannot do without the US and European Union to take a big part of its exports. It also does not openly say this but it also shares concerns similar to the US, on nuclear weapons in Iran. India, Japan and the EU have similar concerns. As shown in the articles on this page China has large unused oil in reserves and coal supplies, has lower oil demand at 4% growth, and is accelerating renewable energy, so that it is now importing 8.5 million barrels a day down from 12.5 million barrels a day. By doing this China puts this oil back into the world supply leading to lower oil prices. This means the world can do without the supplies from Hormuz, keep lower oil prices, and go on as before if Hormuz remains closed. The US can focus on domestic issues and its involvement in the Middle East can be limited to naval blockade which the US Navy is capable of doing. This is good for China, good for the US, and good for the World. Local governments in China, provincial authorites, pushed growth in building road, bridges, factories during the 30 year growth phase 1990-2020. In 2026 local governments with debt loads and lack of good projects for investment are a bottleneck to growth. This is the first time fixed investment is in decline, except for the years in 1961 and in 1967. The year 1961 is a result of many mistakes made by chairman of CCP, Mao, by shifting 2 million in farm labour to work in iron foundries, and the shift from private farm plots to soviet style commune farms, coupled with floods leading to 43-46 million famine deaths (1994, Chen Yizi, top advisor to CCP General Secretary Zhao Zhiyang). 1967 is the chaotic situation of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution launched by Mao. What it shows is that the China Miracle like the Japan Miracle and the German Miracle of recovery after World War II, is based on certain conditions and will enter a phase of lower growth closer to 3% like other industrialized nations over time. India and Indonesia are larger than China and will be the next growth story, which is also shown on these pages this week, with the address to the Indonesian parliament by Modi, and Indonesian president Prabovo's saying that he has studied Modi's economic changes and is copying them as there is no copyright. ...

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Unions and Labour's Starmer in local elections in 2026. With Labour shown in You.gov polls as losing half of its voters from the last general election with that lost voter scattered among Greens at 20% of it and Liberals getting 14%, the rest to other parties. Unions may look for an alternative if local elections lead to problems for Labour.

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How the grandiose visions of Saudi new cities in the desert are being reset after the war, and the people in the poorest countries are being faced with higher prices for food, fuel and fertilizer when they can least afford it in 2026. The media focus has been on the Hormuz without saying, A. -that now with the Omani route added to the Iranian route in Hormuz a new defacto 2 route Hormuz is setup by the US Iran agreement. B.- that China has already reset its energy policy to do without the 3 million barrels a day it got through Hormuz, India has already setup new oil supplies from Venezuela, Japan is working out new arrangements, US is creating incentives for oil companies to produce in other regions of the world. And C.- the renewable energy policies, how much energy to use per unit of GDP under effcient use, is being accelerated in EU, India, China and Japan, and indirectly also in the US as cost of renewables comes down compared to fossil fuels. These will be constructive aspects of the situation. The world also shifts away from the Middle East a source of decades of wars that brought down the Soviet Union, destroyed some economies in South Asia (Afghanistan, Pakistan), created the distraction for the US that led to letting its infrastructure and economy to weaken, and destroyed the economic and social fabric in many parts of the Arab world and North Africa (Libya, Iran, Iraq, Syria). It closes a chapter of the Middle East from which lessons can be drawn for a focus on economic development and using science and technology to improve living standards of the people of the world, to tackle climate change, and for peaceful cooperation of major nations. ...

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Andy Burnham is a different kind of politician because he comes with political experience inthe ministries under Blair and Brown, yet remained an outsider by moving to Manchester as Mayor. His background in English literature and well grounded in his home region gives him the kind of character and humility which would deal with foreign leaders not on the basis of ideology but of mutual respect in what he shares in the best ideals of public service with others. With the US this means sharing with DJT his understanding of how there is common sentiment in how the people left out, the disadvantaged by the effects of world trade and export of supply chains, the communities that were hurt and damaged for decades of neglect by different administrations, how there is acommon bond between these people and their leaders across the Atlantic. This provides a common bond for Burnham and DJT, and charts a path that leaves out culture wars favoring common sense on what makes lives better for the American and British people, sometimes using slightly different approaches for the common good, that were lost to previous administrations including from their own parties. Charles as King of Britain did not approach his visit as monarch, but as a leader for the public good in many ways and many aspirations, which provided a sure bonding with American people and the members of US Congress, and DJT. By following the best ideals of public service of America's founders and the best that Britain has to offer over centuries Burnham can chart a new path for Britain and the US in cooperation with allies in Asia (the India Japan Partnership of 1.5 billion people combining Japanese technology with India's ambition), and allies in the European Union. ...

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Times of London gives same reasons as Lyrarc.com for picking Healey as chancellor 5 years experience with Treasury and a year at Housing working for Gordon Brown and Labour. He was Parliamentary Private Secretary to Gordon Brown as Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1999. In 2002 he was appointed Economic Secretary to the Treasury, and in 2005 Financial Secretary to the Treasury. In 2009 he was Minister of State for Housing and Planning. Shadow Secretary of Health in 2010 and 2016, Shadow Secretary for Defense under Starmer after supporting Starmer for leadership of the Labour Party. Then Defense Secretary under Starmer. It is the Treasury experience plus holding positions in Housing, Defense, and covering trade unions as a journalist, 30 plus years in parliament from a constituency in Yorkshire that has suffered the same sort of decline that Burnham wants to fix, that make Healey not a surprise choice but the obvious choice for the hope that Burnham wants to bring to Britain. Because hope also depends on sound policy and that depends on an experienced team that knows how to get things done for the reindustrialization of Britain, for improving living standards of its people and restoring faith in Labour. It means having the right people in the right positions and hard work, after "honest reflection" on what has gone wrong for so long. ...

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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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The WSJ's William McGurn looks at the Trump impeachment in the Senate and compares this with a similar period when Bill Clinton, another president  was being impeached by Republicans. Bill Clinton survived the impeachment vote as is expected also for Mr. Trump. The strong economy supported Mr. Clinton in his State of the Union message that followed, as is expected for Mr. Trump in his State of the Union message. 

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Iran's Assembly of Experts (clerics) acting as an arbiter as a power struggle takes place between elected president Pezeshkian and the Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The Assembly of Experts made up of clerics and the Ayatollah as its head shift support to one faction then to the other. This is who US is talking to and negotiating with. To negotiate with Pezeshkian even when agreement is reached the next day IRGC can come out and take action to control Hormuz by knocking out ships. A Qatari ship carrying 2 million barrrels in Hormuz was hit by IRGC when Pezeshkian signaled he had reached an agreement with the US that would release $6 of $12 billion in Iranian funds in Qatar. IRGC plan is to control Hormuz, charge tolls, and raise $40 billion a year through tolls. IRGC believes it can disrupt the narrow 15 mile channel on the Omani side in violation of international law of navigation that the US wants to keep open. For the US the question is - Can you even negotiate with the entity that is Pezeshkian and the elected government when it is in a power struggle with IRGC? Can you negotiate in the context of the burial as martyr of Iran's current religious leader Ali Khamenei? And even if you negotiate, IRGC responds to close Hormuz, US restarts bombing, where does this get the US when Hormuz remains closed. The US has we show here has only one option not stated in the Media. That is to bypass and ignore Hormuz and get alternative supplies of oil and keep naval blockade at low cost. For the US and the world to generate alternative supplies to Hormuz the US works with China, India, Japan, Indonesia and European Union, Arab states, to take the following action. Get 5-6 million of the 20 billion of Hormuz barrels as day using existing and new Saudi and UAE pipelines outside of Hormuz channel, accelerating renewable energy and EV's hybrids, China doing without the 4 million barrels a day from Hormuz by cutting its oil use through energy efficiency, alternative sources of oil from Venezuela ramp up and new oil production in the US and other places in the world, using reserves and rebuilding reserve supplies, better management of the 80-90 million barrels a day of the 108 million barrels a day the world used in 2025. All of these action are taking place in the transition to a world without Hormuz for the last 60 days. ...

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Unions represent 10.1% of wage and salary workers in the US in 2022, down from 10.3% in 2021. Unions added 273,000 workers in 2022, increasing by 1.9% to 14.3 million. Only a small fraction of workers in the private sector are unionized, 6% of 120 million workers or 7.2 million workers. In the public sector 7.1 million or 33% of 21 million workers are represented by unions. Unions won the ability to represent workers in 1041 of 1363 elections held in 2022. In Jan 2023 workers at Microsoft voted to form a union.

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Generation Z, the generation born between mid 1990's and 2010 is highly collaborative and favors working together. It is passionate about unionizing workers as a way to prevent more workers from falling into poverty or income insecurity during a cost of living crisis, and to obtain benefits from employers such as time off for illness or for things essential for quality of life. In 2023 71% of the American public supports unions and unionizing as the pendulum has swung too far in the favor of employers and large companies with declining union membership and a culture that often treats workers with a lack of respect or dignity.