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Sure Start is a child education program for the early years to provide community centres and services to children started in 1998 under Labor prime minister Gordon Brown and later reduced in funding by the Tories. Efforts to revive the program under Labor party with high degree of child poverty in Britain. Results of the program show children improved in later grades in their learning ability and educational level proficiency. Children from low income households and mothers could benefit from such programs in the US and UK. This is part of an overall effort under Starmer in the UK as Labor returns to government with an expected majority and as Biden continues efforts to raise levels of educational opportunity for children in the US.

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US Trade Representative Tai and India Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal will meet in New Delhi November 22-23 on Tai's visit to New Delhi, Seoul and Tokyo to strengthen trade and investment ties for Indo-Pacific region. Following Modi's meeting with Biden in Washington DC the discussions with Tai will reconvene the India US Trade Policy Forum in 2021, and push forward with the negotiations for the Investment Incentive Agreement to increase investment in development projects in India. All aspects of investment, trade and industry will be covered as India builds a closer relationship with US in its drive for economic development that also strives to achieve goals for renewable energy.

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US poverty rate increased in 2022 after two years of declines with the end of government aid. It increased by 2.3% and the median income declined to $74,580 adjusted for inflation.

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With 3.7 million workers in the informal economy Italy is one of the worst hit European countries. Italy's south, including Naples and its capital Campania is one of the hardest hit. Italy's lockdown ended May 18, with some restrictions. Affected worst are small business owners such as shopkeepers, restaurant owners and market vendors, also hit are workers employed in tourism and entertainment. The Italian government has made a 600 euro emergency payment to self employed or part time workers, and 12 million workers have applied so far for these payments, about half of the workforce. A new payment by the government will cover workers in the informal economy with a55 million euro additional aid package by the government of prime minister Conte. Italy's economy will decline by 9.5% in 2020, exceeded in Europe only by Greece. The country is seeing a further erosion of the lower middle class after the difficult period following both the financial crisis of 2008, the eurozone crisis, austerity cuts which hurt people across southern European countries, Spain, Portugal, Greece, and Italy. It is also true that Italians came together during this difficult period in a way not seen since World War II and prime minister Conte provided much needed leadership for Italy, with growing confidence in his leadership. This provides a new sense of hope that Italy can come to grips with many problems it has faced in the last 2 decades, similar to that in other parts of Europe where investment in  infrastructure and manufacturing has fallen behind. ...

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Relief with the appointment of Oklahoma senator Mullins at DHS following the failures of Kristi Noem and loss of public trust.

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Pfizer headquarters in midtown Manhattan, NY, buckling in renovation to apartments, sagging floors and buckling columns in 2026. Is American infrastructure needing rebuilding- after the bridge collapsed in Baltimore, the condition of Madison Garden and the subways of New York City, one more proof as whole blocks of Manhattan are sealed off.

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This interview of David Westin with Katherine Tai at the Aspen Institute shows how this US Foreign Trade Representative reflects today's priorities based on an entirely different environment than what was faced before- after the pandemic, after concern about supply chains, the effect on workers, the domestic economy, and on democracy of trade policies, the effects of AI. Westin says "You are US FTR, you travel abroad cover the globe literally, it covers geopolitics.." Katherine Tai makes it clear from the beginning- "It is all about domestic, I do as much domestic travel as foreign travel. We sit at the interconnection of very very complex forces.Trade absolutely is about economics. The decisions we make in trade policy impacts the domestic economy. We are part of foreign policy, we are equally a part of domestic economic policy team. These two are pulling you in opposite directions. This foreign aspect has to be connected to what we do at home." Four pillars the Biden administration has for trade all relate to the domestic economy- for infrastructure, climate change action, workers and manufacturing at home, democracy and resilience. It is worker centric for workers in the US economy and the economy of its partners, Tai points out that it is in the interest of the other countries that trade with US to give fair wages and benefits to their workers, not something that they do for the US.     ...

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Highest economic growth since the Second World War predicted for Britain in 2021, says the Bank of England.

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Justice Alito's majority US Supreme Court ruling on DJT ending program that allowed 350000 immigrants from war zones Haiti and Syria as implemented by the DJT administration. SCOTUS majority did not consider the president's statements instead focusing on president's authority to conduct migrant and immigration policy in the national interest.

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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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Early warning about the danger of a small group of individuals deciding the future of an important technology that has dangerous potential if placed in a few hands. With the dangers ever present that the pace of development is outpacing regulatory effort, and the profit enabling a few corporations to stifle regulatory effort in America's flawed democracy. Sam Altman is seen by the board of OpenAI as "hindering the efforts of the board to carry out its responsibilities." The tension of the board with Sam Altman comes from the thinking at the board that the rapid expansion of commercial offerings was not giving time to consider the safety implications of the products rolled out. Watching Joanna Stern of WSJ interview Sam Altman and Murali Murthi gives the impression that Altman was  moving too quickly and Murthi was saying the right things but lacked the experience and capacity to tackle AI's vast responsibilities. This also stems from the fact that what young Stanford and other tech graduates in their early thirties have done in the last 2 decades ends a chapter in America's tech history. AI is an entirely different technology which requires the involvement of major parts of America's whole technological and scientific community and its society, not just a few individuals. This is also the lesson from the pandemic for virus research where not just the Cambridge, Massachusetts community needed to be involved, but vast parts of America'a health and medicine scientific community and the American public. A million lives were lost in the pandemic in the US alone, and millions all over the world. It is a lesson that should never be forgotten- that technology can get out of control. ...

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Read about how the Ground Mission Control talks to the astronauts looking at the moon in the fly by in the Artemis II Mission on April 6 2026. Artemis II takes the observations and the information collected on this fly by, pictures of crater areas on the surface of the moon and other places, where a future landing place may be found for a landing on the moon that sets up a permanent exploration center. Judging by the enthusiasm generated in the US and the public support it looks like such a permanent exploration site will come next. The astronauts Reid Wiseman, Jeremy Hansen, Christina Koch, and Victor Glover were great as a team and really boosted the public perception of the Artemis II Moon Mission with their live talk with Mission Control on earth that the world watched.

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75 years of the NATO alliance France looks at its new role.

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WSJ looks at one couple in suburban Rochester, New York, who want to age in their own home in their eighties. AARP says about three fourths or 75% of Americans want to age in their own home in their eighties and nineties. And service providers including builders are actively working to help make the changes in homes that would provide a bedroom and full bathroom on the ground floor, and elevators other mobility enabling devices. Some like this Rochester couple are doing it themselves redesigning their homes.

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The EU moves to support Egypt's precarious economy with 7.4 billion in euros of aid and help for its economy. This comes at a crucial time for a country with 106 million people facing economic difficulties. 5 billion euros of concessional loans, 1.8 billion euros of investment, 600 million euros of grants including 200 million euros to manage migration. This is a positive proactive step taken by Leyen and EU. Leyen visited Cairo. Lessons have been learned. Joining Leyen in Cairo were leaders of Austria, Belgium, Greece and Italy in a new strategic partnership of European Union nations with Egypt. Pandemic and war in Ukraine affecting food supplies, higher energy costs, have hit Egypt hardest . No matter which government was running Egypt the problems simply were too big for a fragile economy in a difficult region. For the first time the EU has learned from the migration crisis and its own eurozone crisis, to work and cooperate with regions outside to ensure a better future for all. And not to be deflected with wars and other crises in making the right decisions ahead of time not reacting to crises but staying ahead of them. How many years have been lost- because the ideas for better lives of all was what president Kennedy's New Frontier was all about when he talked about it in the years 1956-1963. EU needs a new vision for Africa and Arab North Africa. ...

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The British people are at a juncture after austerity and Brexit, after different prime ministers, where hope is the thing they most want, and with it a plan for execution on all the public services in water, electricity, transport, education, quality of neighborhoods, infrastructure, rebuilding industry for good jobs, that provide a better life across all parts of Britain.