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Youth unemployment and forced migration plays a major role in the Nepal general election. Rapper music Balendra Shah 35 years wins in parliamentary constituency over ex-PM Oli and wins the Nepal general election. He formed the RSP party to voice student protests against PM Oli's government and corruption, which was forced to resign. His goal is to generate 1.2 million jobs and double the per capital GDP from about $1500 to $3000. Nepal reflects the general jump in aspirations of youth across the Indian region. 800,000 young voters voted for the first time.

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Click on Original Article for Images of ten old towns in Germany most on UNESCO World Heritage. The most well known is Heidelberg on the Neckar river with its old town, castle and old bridge. Then there are the Hanseatic League trading towns of Lubeck and Wismar both near the Baltic Sea. In Wismar with access to the Baltic Sea its old town and three cathedrals. Lubeck surrounded by two branches of the Trave river like an island. In the Middle Ages trade made Lubeck rich and there are many buildings from that period. Then there is Rothenberg in Bavaria with its walkable defensive wall and medieval town largely preserved with timber framed houses. Red brick or clay and wood framed houses in colorful designs form part of all these towns.

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Can an old Bavarian dance help to get one in shape while working at the desk or sitting watching sports on television. Watch this by clicking on Original Article to take you to DW.com article. A simple exercise routine that involves touching ones heel while standing, lifting one leg and touching the heel. The first the time doing this from the front then doing it from the leg lifted in the back. After touching the heel with leg lifted in the back one speeds this up. Then one adds to this a kneeling step. The three steps are repeated in that sequence and form an exercise routine based on an old Bavarian dance.

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In EU elections the German coalition parties of SPD, Greens and FDP barely get the vote percentage of the CDU/CSU of 30%. The SPD 13.9%, Greens 11.9% and FDP 5.2%. This is the lowest showing of the SPD. Much of the problems come from the SPD socialist democratic party that seeks to bring more social democracy by building infrastructure, public services as Biden is doing in the US, yet is prevented from doing this with the presence of the FDP which is against spending and seeks budget discipline as the charter of its party. The Finance minister Lindner is from the FDP. As a result the SPD and Greens are not able to do what they prmised in the last election to invest in infrastructure and public services. A visit to Germany shows this with the Deutsche Bahn, the rail stations with a dilapidated look as if built in the last century, trains late with old technology and less investment in maintenance. Not much construction is seen and public transport looks haggard and old. Germany's constitution makes investment difficult and court decisions limit spending or finding other sources for investment, the FDP acting as a brake on spending. The far right AfD vote was upto to15%. Without investment and offering a new vision of a modern Germany even after managing the energy crisis of which some of the fault lay with the way Merkel allowed over dependence on Russian supplies of oil and gas, even then the CDU is getting more of the vote. Another reason is the CDU under Leyen taking a strong stand on Ukraine with the SPD's history of maintaining better relations with Russia limiting its role in this crisis. As a result Germany under Scholz labors on with no solution to current problems requiring spending and investment. The next parliament election is in 2025. ...

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As part of sanctions on Russia the price of diesel will be capped at $100 by the US and the rest of the G-7 countries.

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DJT Asian trip to Tokyo Seoul and Xi meeting in Seoul October 29, 2025. An important meeting with Xi after negotiators from Japan, South Korea and China tackle difficult issues in trade with the US team led by Bessent and Jamieson. The US completes agreements on trade and security cooperation with Japan and South Korea ahead of the meeting in Seoul with China's leader Xi Jinping. 

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As both Harris and Trump focus on increasing Border Security and fighting transnational gangs at the Border, Mexico's new president Claudia Sheinbaum has a strategy for the first 100 days to tackle the 10 cities with the highest homicide rates that include Acapulco, Guanajuato.

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There is much criticism of a $900 billion stimulus bill that only provides $600 direct payment checks to families suffering lost income during the pandemic. About $200 billion goes to business in the Paycheck Protection Program of which $120 billion goes to the most affluent 1% of Americans.

President Trump was critical and called for $2000 in direct checks saying it was scandalous that families would only get $600 in direct payment while lobbying interests and other interests were getting significant sums of money. Part of the Democratic Party has also favored a decent check to families.

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Taylor Swift Era's Tour gives a boost to local economies in the hospitality and entertainment sector. In Colorado 2 Taylor Swift shows added $140 million to the state's GDP. Occupancy records in cities in the US and Asia are broken with these Swift tours. The Swift concerts will play at many cities in Europe including Cardiff and Liverpool. Then why are concerts only in Singapore and Tokyo in Asian venues. Singapore provided additional funding for the concerts which could add with other concerts about $300 million to the local economy. Swift has a large following in Japan with people waiting camped overnight for these concerts.

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Life in Quintero one of Chile's industrial zones only 100 miles from Santiago with thermal power plants, heavy industry and harmful contamination of air and water.

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Concern that the $1.6 trillion aid package could become a bailout for business delayed passage in U.S. Congress, with Republicans trying to allay these concerns. The legislation in Congress would offer $350 billion for small business loans that may be fogiven if firms use them to keep workers on payroll and $500 billion to allow the Treasury Secretary to make loans, loan guarantees or investments to support businesses, states or municipalities. Democrats want less power over the money given to the Treasury Secretary and for money to be directly allocated to the states. The legislation also includes $200 billion for unemployment insurance, and direct payments to households estimated at $300 billion.  Another $242 billion includes appropriations, including money for hospitals and protective gear.  The one time payment to households is $1200 per person and $500 per child, with payments stopping at a specific income level. Unemployment assistane will now be given for 36 weeks instead of 26 weeks. These two items have universal support. It is the $500 billion for businesses with authority given to the Treasury Secretary that is the controversial part. Not so much the money given to businesses and required to go to payroll as the money to businesses in loans and other action with the Treasury Secretary making the decision. ...

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After making headlines the issue of TikTok is no longer making news. Here is what has happened since- TikTok took the case to the Supreme Court after the Biden Administration's effort to bring it under US security with American ownership. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the government. Social media helped Republicans and DJT in the election. DJT wanted TiTok to be an American company if it was to operate in US. China was opposed to this and would not allow ByteDance the owner of TikTok negotiate this-leading to an impasse. The DJT administration worked out a relationship  with China by September 2025 following tit for tat tariffs in May 2025. Xi's strategy was to put rare earths on the table after it had gained a 90% monopoly on rare earths processing technologies and supplies. Some supplies include a site in Greenland, so that the Greenland issue as opponents of US acquisition have made appear is not fiction. DJT Administration pulled back and negotiated a deal with China but realized how the US had left key gaps in its security which is why the Greenland issue came up in 2025. Similar to how Democrat president Harry Truman had done as the Soviets expanded influence in Greece and Turkey by 1948. Little of this making it to almost the entire US press and the entire European press, including Democrat Harry Truman's 1947 offer of $100 million ($1.5 billion in 2026) for Greenland, rights, title and ownership similar to Alaska purchase by Seward, and US Virgin Islands purchase in 1916 from Denmark.   The deal makes TikTok an American/ China investor run company with Byte Dance ownership of 20%, Oracle 15%, Silverlake US equity firm 15%, Abu Dhabhi (UK type) MGX 15%, and prior investors 30%. Prior investors are General Atlantic, SIG, Steve Case's Revolution with JD Vance having equity, Dragoneer, NJJ Capital. The company now valued at $20 billion based on 200 million US users. Yet this does not address the dangers and damage done by social media hours for youth in the US, endless hours from education shifted to phones and social media videos. Australia has banned it for under 16 year olds, UK parliament has voted to ban, French parliament has also voted for a ban, China has strict rules that protect its youth for use specifying hours and restrictions, leaving the US and India, Brazil vulnerable to dangers of social media. Strictly speaking You Tube is considered as social media even though it serves an information function, Facebook and TikTok are where a lot of the damage to education takes place in social media. US is entirely leaving its young people especially women unprotected. Once the fentanyl issue is tackled attention will again focus on these dangers to creating good citizens in the US  with civic education if democracy is to be preserved, something endless numbers of lobbyists- which even in Teddy Roosevelt's and FDR's, JFK's days have opposed- will again oppose.     ...

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American trainers from Special Forces are training Taiwanese troops on the outlying islands including Kinmen 100 miles from Taiwan and just 3 miles from Xiamen on the Chinese coast.

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"Favorable" District courts are now being used to support illegal migration into the US that was rejected in the 2024 election. A District Court in DC makes a ruling on ending asylum "invasion" of US southern border, by questioning that millions of illegal migrants entering in one year alone is an "invasion." Even though it is publicly known that over 2.4 million people crossed the US southern border in fiscal year 2023. These District Court rulings are being given high priority by the US Supreme Court.  In the most recent ruling from last week the SC stated in a 6-3 decision written by Justice Coney Barrett on birthright citizenship that the law on the lawsuits can apply to the individual case not  be converted into a national injunction.  The situation of asylum seeking deteriorated in three ways, the Mexican government of president Lopez Obrador, Alejandro Mayorkas as Biden's selection for Homeland Security, himself an immigrant from Cuba, and the Biden administration not grasping the true extent of the crisis at the southern border with the unsettled situation in central America and the economic disaster in Venezuela. For the first time in the 400 year history of this hemisphere since the Spanish colonization by 1600 and American independence by 1800 the ideas of the Monroe Doctrine of the US protecting this hemisphere were ignored leading to the disastrous situation at the US borders, leading to fentanyl and illegal migration of such proportions. As a result of the election of 2024 and the public view of illegal migration the DJT administration is taking the approach taken by president Eisenhower in 1952 in Operation Wetback, seeking to return illegal migrants to their home countries.   ...

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This report in DW.com presents a situation where supply of oil runs out as demand way exceeds supply as shale oils in US are depleted, and no new reserves are found. A story in WSJ last week reports that the salty water from shale oil extraction is injected back into reservoirs at a rate that creates serious problems in the Permian Basian of the US including East Texas. The IEA forecast in 2026 shows about 97 million b/d of production and demand slightly exceeding this in both 2030 and 2050 which would suggest defossilization has not taken place. Yet the US pullout from defossilization under DJT is sure to be reversed by future governments in as short as 3 years, and the current DJT policy is simply a response to the cost of living concerns of the majority of Americans. The scenario that fossil fuels will be required forever is promoted by the oil companies and by OPEC+ including Russia. But this situation will reverse as the cost of living crisis and the low wages and incomes, loss of factory jobs, low savings, health care inflation, is tackled under the DJT administration and the US economy becomes stronger with lower inflation.  This scenario of  steady oil demand can be reversed if China and India and Europe push ahead with renewable energy and technological change as is happening today, and will not be seriously impacted when the US joins the battle with its renewable energy push in 2028. This is not just an optimistic scenario, it is a balanced one as private industry in the US will sense this and move ahead with development of new technologies for renewable energy so as not to fall behind and to pioneer on their own. That is the history of innovation in the US for the last 100 years and will not change. ...

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Behind the deal Apple made to buy 100 million chips from TSMC's $165 billion plant near Phoenix is, yes, DJT Tariff exemptions. Yes, it took tariffs to get Apple and TSMC to invest in the US after much if not all of chip manufacturing was sent by Apple to China and Taiwan's TSMC. Was the Biden administration successful in getting Apple to invest in the US on a the scale that was needed? The answer is no. Even when TSMC agreed to invest in plants in the US under Biden it's management described the US as a difficult place to attract talent and build plants as reported in the WSJ at that time. There is a real element of truth in saying that it took a real effort such as the DJT tariffs move to change a situation in which most manufacturing was shipped out by US business to China. The Taiwanese had a condescending attitude that the US could not build advanced technology plants as evidenced in statements by head of TSMC, who was himself educated in the US technology institutions in the 1960's and 1970's. The US business shipped out its industrial and technological knowhow to Asia in a mistaken theory only found in textbooks that this was not going to affect US leadership and US dominance in the world. And with it the dominance of the scientific and industrial revolution culture of Europe and the US that enabled its free institutions of government and ideas of liberty of man. It is an astounding story of our times that this has actually been allowed to happen under previous administrations, technology elites, by economists, and governing elites, with some still clinging on to these ideas found only in textbook economic theory, when something entirely different has happened to neighborhoods, communities and factories now abandoned in the US. ...