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China raises the inflation target from 3% to 4% in December 2010, accepting some of the inflationary pressures in the Chinese economy.

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UK prime minister Starmer gets new members for his cabinet after resignation of Angela Rayner as deputy prime minster and Minister for Housing. Peter Kyle is new Business Secretary and Steve Reed the new Housing Minister. After winning in a landslide with the Conservative vote being split between Reform UK and the Conservative party, the Labour party has struggled to win voter support in local government elections. The Reform UK is now ahead of Labour in polls with Labour seen as not taking a tough line on illegal migration or not walking the talk of a tough line at the elections in 2024 to fight the illegal smuggling of migrants across the Channel.

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US stock markets June 27 2025, after Israel-Iran war and NATO Summit in Hague. The rapid de-escalation after strikes on nuclear weapons development  sites was similar to the India- Pakistan war within days the US after strikes of its own on Fordow and Isfahan called for a ceasefire and an end to the war.

In briefings following the US strikes Lt Gen Dan Caine showed extraordinary composure and professional skills that were displayed throughout the crisis unlike anything seen in recent American military history. His rapport and connection with junior military officers was something that gives new confidence to the armed services of the United States.

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European Travel Information and Authorization System  ETIAS fee $24. ETIAS for travel to Europe starts late 2026. Visa free countries will still need visitors to get ETIAS a form of travel clearance. This means US, Japanese, Canadian and UK visitors to Europe will need to apply online before entering European countries. The authorization will be valid for 3 years or until the passport expires whatever comes first. Travelers may not stay more than 90 days in a 180 day period. Children under 18 and adults over 70 years will be exempt from the fee. Once one enters personal details the authorization is digital and received in minutes.

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Juan Carlos of Spain in his memoir in 2025- says about moving away from Spain to the UAE that it was to "help his son, and so that journalists cannot find me." The king remains popular with the Partido Popular and its support in the Madrid region, less popular in other parts of Spain, in the fractious nature of Spanish politics. There is a sharp contrast to how he was perceived in the years of transition to the EU in 1981 and the decade after that and today. The problems of the British royal family and Charles are seen in the perceptions of the Spanish royal family, the only two major monarchies in Europe.

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PM'S Questions UK Parliament, November 12 2025- on Labour and Reform UK performance on migration, governance and the economy. Keir Starmer answers questions from MP's in the British parliament. It comes as Conservatives shift to UK Reform and the Conservatives are at a new low in popularity, and the Labour Party revamps its migration policy so that it is closer to socialist prime minister Mette Frederiksen's policy in Denmark who has a successful policy to stop migrants and deport illegal migrants. Without this action by Labour to follow the US and Denmark it faces serious challenge from Reform UK in the north and east of England. 

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Faltering peace talks in Moscow December 2, 2025, after EU modifications of US/Russian draft developed by Witkoff with Putin adviser Dimitriev. Putin says European nations have modifed the plan and this is unacceptable to Russia. Putin says-

“All these changes are meant to do one thing. To block this entire peace process.” He said European nations were trying to hand Russia a strategic defeat. 

Because the proposals were drafted without Ukrainian involvement and involved conceding parts of eastern Ukraine there were serious doubts about the earlier plan from the EU and France, Germany, Britain.

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Sophie Landrin's Le Monde report on Sri Lanka Ditwah cyclone devastation December 9 2025. Her report with pictures of the destruction wrought by the cyclone show parts of the Kandy region in the mountainous uplands in the central part of Sri Lanka, including the University of Peradeniya. There was no warning when the cyclone hit with 10,000 of 16,000 student on the campus. This is the worst cyclone to hit Sri Lanka in the last hundred years. Sri Lanka is a island nation that is Buddhist located at southern tip of India. It has been hit by a civil war, financial crisis with no central bank reserves, the pandemic, and now the cyclone. 

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India's goal in generating 20,000 megawatts of electricity from solar energy by 2020. The falling price of solar panels is giving a large boost to solar energy companies in India in 2011-2013

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Currently Asian-Americans make up 62% of students at top high schools in New York. Mayor Blasio aims to give 20% of the seats to students who almost reach the qualifying scores on an entrance exam for Stuyvesant and seven other specialized high schools. Under Blasio's plan Discovery program for economically disadvantaged students would get 800 of the 4000 specialized high school seats for ninth graders in fall 2020 up from 250. 

Another view is presented by Parenting While Black organization of low income parents and children, who say that more important is to improve the quality of education for the city's 1.1 million students and start at the early grades. They see the high school debate for these 7 specialized schools as taking attention from the real problem to focus on s small sliver of students. The mass of students, the vast majority, they say are left to dangle in the wind.

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Rent for apartments declined in all major metropolitan areas in the US for each of the past 6 months as new supply comes to the rental market. Rents declined by 8% in the Seattle area since August 2022. This WSJ report says people may have maxxed out on how much they will pay for rent.

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The US added 103,000 jobs on net in December 2010, acccording to the Labor Department. The jobs were mainly added in leisure and hospitality (especially the food services and drinking places subsector ) and in health care. Payrolls for other industries show no growth. A different government survey, which is based on how many people are without jobs but are actively looking for work, fell to 9.4% in December 2010 from 9.8% in November. But part of the reason for this is that many people stopped looking for jobs.

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Internet penetration in India is increasing rapidly. India had 71 million internet users in 2009 by one estimate. Current estimates are of 80-100 million internet users. India's internet penetration as percentage of population of 5% is low compared to China which is at 28.9%, Brazil at 39.2%, and Mexico at 28.3%, according to figures from the International Telecommunication Union. Analysts expect the launch of third generation broadband networks will help increase internet use in India. One study done by investment bank Caris & Co. shows internet use growing to 180-200 million users by 2015. Most of the major internet sites are in news, job-search or match-making. Internet retail is just beginning to grow with online purchases of $1.4 billion in 2010 going up to $5 billion in 2012.

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Most people are not aware that EU had 10% tariff on US car imports into the European Union over many decades. US tariff was only 2.5%. The US tariff of 15% on EU car imports into the US in 2025 comes after EU recalcitrance for decades in lowering its tariffs on US car imports.  German carmakers have prepared for the higher tariff and EU car stocks were up as this is a lower tariff than the initial tariff of 25%. German car makers export luxury cars with higher margins which offers some offset as well as increasing efficiency in car making so that only a small part of this will be passed on to the US car buyer. An offset to the US car buyer is in the One Big Beautiful Act of 2025 which lets car buyers deduct the interest costs of leasing a car. The result is that US car industry will have the advantage it has long been deprived of and American car buyers will not be affected in the way the media has presented, or not at all. Over time German car industry will also do well with its access to the growing American market. Germany will lower its tariff on US car imports to 2.5% from 10% which makes it profitable for BMW and Mercedes to make SUV's in the US to export to Germany and EU, making this a win-win for US and EU. ...

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World leaders meet at the UN for action on climate change, especially Obama and Hu Jintao of China who represent countries that generate 40% of carbon emissions worldwide. Hu set the target for nuclear power at 15% of energy for 2020 from 8% now, and India set atarget of 20% for renewable sources of energy for 2020. President Obama said he saw the need for the developing industrial nations, by which he meant China, India and Brazil, to adopt targets for curbing emissions in any agreement, but Hu Jintao was vague about any specific targets. So the gap remains as the US goes to the Copenhagen talks on climate change in late 2009.

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The U.S. is moving quickly to gain access to an effective vaccine by September or October 2020. It is doing this by providing the money for companies to conduct trials and ramp up manufacturing in a big way. The U.S. government has agreed to give Astra Zeneca upto $1.2 billion to secure supply of a Oxford University developed vaccine which could be ready by October. Astra Zeneca has agreed to make the vaccine under a licensing deal with Oxford University's Jenner Institute and promised it will not make a profit on this. U.S. has also given $483 million to Moderna in Cambridge, Massachusetts, for making the vaccine. Both Oxford and Moderna are testing the vaccine on humans. Oxford uses a tested older technology, Moderna a new technology. UK has given Astra Zeneca $79 million to secure 100 million doses of the vaccine, with 30 million ready by September. Oxford is also in negotiations with Gavi the international vaccine alliance, and Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations on further deals to boost production. Oxford began a 1100 person study in April, and is  doing a 5000 person trial in late May.  ...

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158,000 people from California moved to Nevada during the covid years since 2020, and make up 43% of new residents in the state, according to the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles. Reno and Lake Tahoe are just across either side of the border in the northern part of the state. This brings people with different mindsets and attitudes that move to the suburbs.

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Alan Cullison's exceptional report from Ukraine in 2006, with contribution from Marc Champion, gives a background to the situation in Ukraine in 2014 with street protests leading to the ouster of Yanukovych. None of the hopes for Yanukovych mentioned by Cullison at the end of the article -rule of law, judiciary, corruption, and transforming Ukraine society- were realized. Yanukovych runs for president against Yuvschenko in 2008 and is accused of fraud. He wins in 2010. Tymoshenko spent 2 years in prison under charges from the Yanukovych government with the EU saying the government has been "selective" in its charges. She is released in Feb. 2014 after the ouster of Yanukovych. All the politicians appear to have failed Ukraine's hopes for better governance and national reconciliation to promote economic progress and a shift is needed to a younger generation.

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India is taking a strong stand in talks in Bonn, Germany, for investment funding to tackle climate change and to help areas affected by climate change. Agricultural crop in India is reduced from the heat wave's impact and cities are sweltering from the heat wave. Climate change action is a priority for regions such as India. The Bonn talks are preparatory to another meeting after Glasgow summit. The next summit is in Egypt Nov. 7-18 2022.

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High oil prices have reduced oil demand by about 8% compared to last year. The EIA looks at gas demand average for 2017 to 2019 and finds that in late February 2022 it was 99% of this average, in May it was 93% and June 95%. US refineries have cut production by 800,000 barrels a day since the pandemic began causing oil shortages, and shale oil companies are reluctant to make the investments to scale up production.

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The 100th radio talk by Mr. Modi will be broadcast on Sunday April 30, 2023. Mann Ki Baat -or What is on my mind and in my heart- is all about women, upward mobility, diversity, about the development story in the everyday lives of ordinary Indians. It is also a documentary on a nation on the move, about a billion and a half people on the move, from small towns and villages to cities across the country. 

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Of the $2.8 trillion that is invested in global energy supplies in 2023, $1.7 trillion or 60% will be in renewable energy, according to the International Energy Agency. Every day $1 billion is invested in solar power, much more than in upstream oil projects. IEA's Birol cites president Bide's Inflation Reduction Act as a major step forward. The war in Ukraine has also has accelerated the trend to renewable energy and renewable energy technologies.

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The Turkish lira drops sharply on November 23, by 18%. This is likely to worsen inflation that is already at 20% in 2021. This also makes it harder for businesses to pay off foreign currency debt. President Erdogan is following an unconventional policy of cutting interest rates when the currency value is declining. The Turkish central bank is cutting its key policy interest rate. Growth and investment are expected to be affected as foreign investors move away from Turkey. 

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Mike Atherton looks at how England played against India in the Second Test at Lord's in 2021, starting the fifth day in a strong position but losing by 151 runs. A ninth wicket partnership between Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami for 89 runs and loss of 2 early English wickets for a duck changed everything. Atherton says one bad hour as Bumrah and Shami put off the English bowlers changed the emotional aspects of the game for England. 

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The huge problem of collapse facing the Tories, UK Conservative Party, as Britain goes to the polls in 2024. A 15,000 person MRP poll conducted by Survation shows 468 seats for Starmer's Labour party and 98 for Conservatives. So great is the anger in Britain with the Tories in general and how they ran the country for the last decade. Today the Tories lack any clear vision for Britain going forward into the middle of the 21st century.