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Gilbertson suggests do your homework when it comes to prices. Unexplained fees on smaller unfamiliar sites can be a problem.

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A constitutional review by Gordon Brown, a former Labor prime minister, would abolish the House of Lords and replace it with a upper chamber of parliament that has responsibilities for protecting the constitution. It would be changed into an assembly of regions and nations, and be able to refer the government to the supreme court. At the heart of it is a statement of the rights of people to healthcare, education and social protection. It also looks at promoting devolution of government to local levels and regions in a country that is dominated in its politics and government by the capital city of London.

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Northcroft in The Times says this about Gareth Southgage that Southgage devoted his life to the national team and has an envious record with two finals, one semifinal and one quarterfinal in world soccer. It is the best record of an England coach in 66 years. Southgate says that this Euro 2024 was the best coaching he has ever done. In the game with the Netherlands taking out Foden and Kane in the last minutes of the game and bringing in Palmer and Watkins led to Watkins taking England to the Finals against Spain. In the last minutes of the game repeated headers and counter headers almost took the game against Spain to extra time. English fans are notoriously fickle and Gareth Southgate deserves to feel great about what he has accomplished winning the respect of the Spanish team which clearly were desperate to keep the ball out of their goal to the end, winning the applause of hundreds of millions fans all over the world for games well played, and the thanks of England for doing the hard work at the FA level youth clubs at under 16 and under 19 to give English soccer a new generation of players. This really is what soccer is about, not the glitz and glamour of television and record level contracts of players and team owners, or unruly fans and their criticism, that are eclipsing the best aspects of the game that brings so much to people all over the world. Because no other game reaches so many people in every part of the world. ...

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Peop Guardiola has never lost a game 4-0 in his soccer coaching career. Tottenham Spurs beat Manchester City 4-0 and City have now lost 3 games in succession.

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An indepth look at Nigeria, the pervasive corruption that prevails in the country, the election of a new President, and the hope for change. It may come as a shock to many to know that the most populous country in Africa, and a large oil exporter, has a power grid according to the Economist, the size of the city of Bradford in England. Most of the electricity is generated with private generators. Most of the oil revenues of $40 billion get siphoned off and there is very little government investment in infrastructure. The manufacuring sector has actually declined from what it was a few years earlier. And money that should have gone into refining capacity has also been siphoned off by corrupt officials. Parliamentarians make $2 millon a year, according to the Economist. And a huge network of patronage and corruption ensures that most revenues are allocated among this elite. The north and the main city of Kano is even poorer, with one estimate putting the people suffering from deprivation and poverty in Kano put at 2 million out of a population of 9 million. The south with the cities of Lagos and Onitsha does somewhat better. Jonathan is from the south and won most of his votes in the south, the previous president was from the north. With the sectarian and religious divisions, most presidents depend on the support of regional bosses. Each of the country's 36 regions gets to choose one cabinet minister. In this climate a lot of hope is placed by the people of Nigeria on the shoulders of Jonathan Goodluck, the new president. The Economist calls for honest appointments to key positions to make a break from the past, and serious effort to make investments in the nations power grid and in industry. ...

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Conversation with Richard Branson of the airlines Virgin Atlantic, Virgin America. He talks about how he founded Virgin and how he sold Virgin Records to focus on the airline business. Virgin is British Airways biggest competitor. He started the airline by calling the head of Boeing to get a secondhand 747 which he could return in one year to cap the downside risk, showing he's both brash and has an eye for the numbers and for the customers.

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Prime minister Theresa May's Conservative party needs the 10 seats of the Democratic Unionist Party of Northern Ireland to have a slim 3 seat majority in Britain's 650 seat parliament. Yet many members of May's Conservatives oppose an agreement with the DUP which is seen as not similar in social views. The DUP is the party of Rev. Ian Paisley which was in conflict with the Irish nationalist Sinn Fein party in Northern Ireland for many years. Former Conservative prime minister John Major says an alliance with the DUP would be in violation of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement that brought peace to Northern Ireland. Under that agreement the UK and Irish governments stated they would have "rigorous impartiality" towards all the different groups in Northern Ireland. Sinn Fein sees a new Conservative government with DUP support as preventing the power sharing agreement with DUP that brought peace to Northern Ireland. Complicating this further is the vote on Brexit with 56% opposed and 44% in favor in Northern Ireland. And the DUP wants a "frictionless border," an open border with Ireland so that it would not affect the way of life Irish people have enjoyed since the peace agreement. So that even as talks are supposed to begin this week on Brexit with the EU, Brexit is looking more and more in doubt. Negative impact on Britain's economy through increased uncertainty and rising prices, and increased participation of young people opposed to Brexit in the parliamentary election leading to the vote for Labor party of about 40% of voters, also contributes to this sentiment. (gist in 264 words, about 955 words in original article) ...

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Stranded assets is likely to become a major issue for automobile companies switching to electric vehicles, power companies switching away from coal, and oil and gas companies that are moving to renewables. Close to $20 trillion such assets now face writedowns, as shown in this report in the WSJ. These are assets that are retired early or assets that can no longer be used because of high carbon emissions and the switch to new technologies. A recent US Congressional session with oil company executives showed the heads of BP, Shell, Exxon, and Chevron, answering questions on how quickly they were preparing for the switch to renewable energy. The COP26 Glasgow conference has created new urgency at companies such as BP and Shell in Europe.

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Indian prime minister Modi talks to chief ministers of all the Indian states by videoconference as he prepares for gradual reopening of the economy. A key concern- that the coronavirus should not spread to rural areas. Chief ministers were asked for their ideas on reopening. Indian railways sets up train services to take 45 million migrant workers to their home regions.