LyrArc Article Gist
Norway vs England buildup for soccer World Cup quarter finals in The Guardian.

LyrArc Article Gist
The quiet calm Darlene takes on the role of her brother Senator Lindsey Graham. She says she will work hard to help complete her brother's work. For the people of South Carolina this means a lot. This brother and sister were very close, maybe the only US senator with such a close relationship with his sister. The were both very young when their parents died and they looked after each other over their lifetime.

LyrArc Article Gist
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." ...

LyrArc Article Gist
Colorado primary results in July 2026- challenges to establishment candidates succeed as the Nation looks for solutions to healthcare costs and neglect of health and nutrition with high obesity and related illnessses. Dr. Oz and RFK Jr have aroused awareness on this issue and have come with solutions within the DJT administration. The Middle East has been brought into the elections yet it is a remote issue for most voters concerned about rising cost of living, and the both the DJT and Biden adminstrations want to focus on strengthening the economy and understand the dangers of involvement in the Middle East.

LyrArc Article Gist
World leaders Macron, Merz, Meloni  and Albanese were favorable, DJT was very supportive of Andy Burnham. 

At first DJT described Burnham as “the mayor of a town” and “extremely liberal."  On Monday night DJT had had a “very good conversation” with Burnham, Both talked about North Sea oil, and Burnham has opened up North Sea oil for UK exploration.

“The Prime Minister has got a big job ahead of him, but he will be able to do it and, of course, the U.S.A. will be there to help!” DJT posted on Truth Social. “The call was interesting, and went very well. I wished Prime Minister Burnham, GOOD LUCK AND GODSPEED!”

LyrArc Article Gist
Mary -Louise Parker in movie Young Washington 2026 as Washington's mother Mary Ball. Here she talks to Marc Myers of the WSJ about her childhood growing up as an Army officer's daughter in different bases before settling down in Arizona. Her fight with shyness till she over compensated. Her father's confidence in her and pointing to her the prospect of going to the North Carolina Institute of Arts, where she learnt the craft of acting. She moved to New York for different roles including one in "Weeds."  She is 61 years, and lives with 2 sons 19 years and 22 years, in a large apartment in Brooklyn that overlooks the water with views of sunsets which she enjoys. It was Mary Ball who told her son not to join the British Navy, wanting to keep him in America. Washington joined the British forces in North America after a career as a surveyor. Land and landholdings were important at the time and as a surveyor with important connections to prominent British families Washington built his career, and further enhanced it by joining the British forces against Indian raids and the French in the coveted Ohio territory. Where did Washington get his keen knowledge of history and the Enlightenment thinkers that enabled him to grasp the ideas of Jefferson? Washington was like the first Chief Justice Marshall in the same communities at the time in the Virginia colony. Both were mentored by a major British landowner who built a large library in the colony that both were able to go to and learn what they later used to start the struggle for a new Nation. It shows the importance of books and libraries, of knowledge during the Enlightenment period in shaping the minds of the Nation's founding fathers- Jefferson, Marshall, Washington, Madison, Samuel Adams and others. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
Ugly scenes after the final whistle with Paredes, Molina, Gavi and Rodri in a fight that show the Argentine vs Spain game different from the England vs France game where the fans of both sides and players showed exhilaration and joy. France lost but Mbappe scored twice and wins goals scorer award, and Coach Didier Deschamps in his last game felt good that his team had done well and lost, fans won with a game for the ages. Media tried to reate celebrities for ads and profit but lost when Messi turned out to be a less than glamorous figure, and Rodrigo who few people know in a world of celebrity ads winning the best player award. Mbappe not as big in ads the goal scorer of this World Cup. Haaland another player not so prominent in ads popular in America. Everything the media tried to do with constant commentary by self picked stars cluttering up the television screens for hours, the World Cup found a way for something different closer to people.

LyrArc Article Gist
US Saudi civilian nuclear agreement conditional on Saudis joining the Abraham Accords and full recognition of the state of Israel as was done by Bahrain and UAE. Saudis wanted a pathway to a two state solution before recognition and the two sides are far apart on this. A civilian nuclear agreement of this kind was seen as opening up nuclear proliferation and may have led to second thoughts by the DJT administration. South Korea and other nations also see this as not following US and European position on nuclear proliferation. A treaty signed in 1972 says South Korea is not allowed to process enriched uranium on its soil. Renewed in 2015 it held to the same position. Even though South Korea has 23 nuclear reactors it is not allowed to enrich uranium while Saudis are under the terms of the deal signed- before Congress could even look at it- Saudis are allowed to both enrich uranium, and to avoid inspections from International Atomic Agency to ensure nothing is being diverted to a weapons program. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
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. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
Shocking decline in reading in UK- NLT Surveys research of 80,000 young people  in UK shows  of 8-11 years old children girls 36% and boys 26% read actively, 14-16 years girls down to 17% and boys down to 10%. Is a similar pattern evident in the US? This is the root of many of our problems. Reading competes with other activities and screen time leads to a severe loss in reading. Teenage reading is especially fragile. Reading ability and wide knowledge helps build working skills and income generation so that it means more people in this generation are poor than previous generations, a general increase in poverty and lower incomes across neighborhoods and families in the UK and US. This also has correlation with health and mental health so that this means the children and growing young adults are in a fragile group in advanced countries of US and Europe, especially fragile when it comes to knowledge, learning skills, health and incomes. A reverse situation in some Asian advanced countries with a hunger for knowledge means the gap is opening up between the US and Europe and these Asian countries. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
Federal Judge voids $1.8 billion settlement of DJT with the IRS. US Districgt Court Judge Kathleen Williams said  the DJT $10 billion suit against the IRS was filed for an improper purpose and refereed the DJT lawyer to state authorites to see if ethics rules had been violated. Many Republicans opposed this kind of settlement in which the president DJT was doing the settlement by being on both sides as being highly unusual. Using the $1.8 billion for helping the protestors at the Capitol against the election in 2020 made this a partisan infighting affair, and even more controversial. In fact this was one of the most unusual parts of what has been a bitter battle between Democrats determined to oppose DJT in every way possible and DJT Republicans responding to these attacks since 2016. Ten years later fatigue is setting in in the Nation with this behaviour of Democrats and DJT Republicans alike. "The DJT lawsuit was never about a party seeking judicial resolution of a legal issue or a factual dispute." Judge Williams described the $1.8 billion settlement as a bid to "provide some legitimacy to an agreement to confer immunity to people and entities affiliated with the President and to earmark billions of dollars from American taxpayers to redress grievances not defined in the law." ...

LyrArc Article Gist
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. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
If Labour had defended the working class and if Conservatives had acted responsibly in the public interest Britain would have been much better off. Britain's economy and standard of living has suffered from the long drawn out austerity years under the Tories followed by the Brexit issue raised by the Tories. Behind Brexit were Nigel Farage of the Reform party and Boris Johnson of the Tories. Nigel Farage was brought out of retirement by the lack of effective leadership of Labour under Starmer even after winning a majority in parliament for Labour. Andy Burnham is trying to put Britain's house in order coming in as the man from the North, Mayor of the Manchester region. He has served in positions including at Treasury under Blair and Brown. Compared to every prome minister of the last three decades he brings both the experience and the knowledge of how to implement efforts to improve public services from experiments done in the Manchester region that he can use for the whole of Britain in transportation, infrastructure, delivery of water, electricity, and other essential services in a better way than the privatized companies of the Tories. He pushed back against Reform's revival in the Makerfield by-election. And it is crucial for Britain's economic future that it not waste more years like it did under Cameron and Johnson with a extension under Reform that only delays Britain's economic recovery. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
China 15th FIve Year Development Plan- roadmap to 2030. Slowing growth in the economy has led to a push on exports, investing in AI, EV's, Robotics, advanced technologies.

LyrArc Article Gist
Guy Scott, a Britisher from Livingston on the Zambezi river in what was then Northern Rhodesia, was a leading white member of Zambia's government. He served in Zambia as Agriculture Minister under Kaunda and Vice President under Sata. Guy Scott helped tackle a drought in Zambia to prevent famine. He died at 82 in Lusaka where he has a farm for strawberries. Guy Scott studied Economics at Cambridge in 1965. In 1986 he studied for doctorate in cognitive sciences at the University of Sussex. His father was a Scottish born physician, lawmaker and newspaper publisher, his mother a English nurse. For a 90 day period in 2024 after the death of Sata he was president of Zambia. Guy Scott is one of a long line of Britishers who helped people in Asia and Africa during the transition to home rule that started with the British agent in Rajkot, Gujarat, Sir Frederic Lely, who helped Mohandas Gandhi get accepted to study law in London. When India emerges as a modern industrialized economy by 2040-2047, the largest democracy in the world, and with Indonesia by far the largest country in the world given their shared heritage and modernization, it is important not to forget the role played by well meaning and good British people. Britishers who understood and respected the country and culture, that were both part of and separate in their aspirations for an independent India from the colonial establishment. Guy Scott will be one of these well regarded Britishers in the modern history of the world. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
Powell to stay on at the Fed as Governor of the US Federal Reserve.

LyrArc Article Gist
US-Iran Ceasefire breaks down as US escorts ships through Hormuz clearing 6 Iranian fastboats.

LyrArc Article Gist
Keir Starmer resigns June 22 2026, as Andy Burnham takes oath in parliament as MP and future UK Prime Minister.

LyrArc Article Gist
Benchmark jet fuel at $1838 on April 16 2026, compared to $838 before Iran War. The need to replace 50% of EU fuel imports from Middle East to last 6 weeks till June. At 75% replacement OK till August. US and Nigeria provide alternative supplies to Middle East sources of jet fuel. Airlines could feel shortages it it is not replaced. Jet fuel is 20-40% of airline costs.

LyrArc Article Gist
Loss of legitimacy of European Convention on Human Rights as issues of mass migration affect policy in the EU and Britain. The need to completely rewrite this convention to reflect the real life issues in European countries including Britain, issues that are leading to major discontent in society. Missed opportunity to do this over many years.

LyrArc Article Gist
Wayne Mullins, the Senator from Oklahoma, is doing his best to restore the reputation of the nation's Department of Homeland Security, after the messy period under Kristi Noem who violated the department's norms and allowed all sorts of inappropriate behaviours for what is the nation's largest law and order organization. It is vital that the people have full confidence in the Department to have full confidence in the rule of law, and for internal security in the US at a time of illegal migrants by the millions crossing the nation's borders with impunity during the last administration.

LyrArc Article Gist
The Guardian says clinging to fiscal rules and defensive managerialism will not save Labour Party after it loses a seat it held since 1906 when Labour was founded in the Manchester area on Feb 27, 2026. Prudence it says is like purposeless pain that corrodes "authority, loyalty and belief." Starmer not listening to his own self and speaking with authenticity replaced with the thinking of a young campaign manager McSweeney is a failure that resulted in his loss of credibility with British voters.