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India and the race in Himalayas road buildup on both sides with China and India responding to each other's efforts on ground that is 11,000 to 14,000 feet high. In the latest buildup India in 2026-2028 is building the Zojila Tunnel in Ladakh to cut travel to 20 minutes across mountainous terrain for supplies to frontier outposts in some of the most forbidding terrain on earth. Much of this region of Ladakh and Kashmir is tens of thousands of miles from Shanghai and Beijing, Tibet is far far from China proper, yet the experience of the Sino-Japanese war in the 1930's and the attempted colonization of China by Japan is alive in the minds of the PRC's leaders, see Tibet as a buffer region. Who see India not as as the land of Gandhi and the Buddha Land that has remained that way since the year 1000, see instead a legacy regime of the British Empire of the 1800's that attempted partial colonization of China.

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CPC Central Committee Proposal on Formulating the 15th FIve Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development (4th Plenary Session 20th Central Committee October 23 2025). It gives the outline of main ideas in domestic and foreign policies that China adopts for the next 15th 5 year Plan to 2030. It shows how China wants to navigate the next 5 years in the world. It gives the first signs that China wants to do Socialist Modernization, Chinese style Modernization of its economic and social structures in this phase. The first impression from this and the 2026 National People's Congress is that China is seeking to work with Germany, with EU and with the US to modernize its economy, not as in the past, but now more sensitive to all the changes taking place in the world. The goals are comprehensive yet presented in modest manner ( no China Dream ambitiously worded goals that had ruffled feathers in the US) presenting China in a way that would win acceptance and integration into the world's leading powers.  ...

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At a glance see on a world map with colors which countries have accomplished the transition to renewable so as not to get caught in the quagmire of the Middle East for oil supplies- most of Europe has done very well, and the laggards- Asia from China and India that are making an effort to Japan which has a poor dismal record. Brazil Uruguay 90% Denmark 80% Canada 66% Germany Spain and Finland 50% UK 46% Italy 42%  France 27%- share of renewables in electricity production (2023). This means much of the world is not dependent on volatile energy supplies from the Middle East. It is only in China, India, Japan, South Korea that dependence is high on Middle East. And in China and India this is the time to focus again on renewables. Most baffling is Japan with only 23% and it is the country that has so much of its supplies flowing through the Persian Gulf volatile oil lane- when Europe has moved on and accomplished the task of avoiding volatile Gulf region.

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 Iranian drone attacks and French British interception efforts - a report from the French armed forces staff about shortages in munitions. Drone attacks by Iran in first 2 weeks of Iran war are as follows- 590 on Qatar and Kuwait, 500 and 550 on Saudi and Israel, 1700 on UAE. A flood of low cost Shahed drones intended to overwhelm defenses is used by Iran. Drones can be launched from all parts of Iran including from the countryside in a country 3 times the size of France. The drones also cost little to produce in large numbers in Iran. Munitions cost and cost of aircraft usage, other costs of Navy, run to $12.7 billion for the US and US asks for another $200 billion from Congress. France uses 24 Rafale jets Britain 8 Typhoon jets in this report from French armed forces and French munitions supplies are an issue as the war progresses. France uses MICA missiles for interception made at a factory in Bourges central France, with limited supply.

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Average refund was $3642 for 100 million households in the US, above the $3116 in 2024 tax year by 10 percent. The IRS had sent out $241 billion by April 15, 2026, 14% higher than the $211 billion by April 15 2025. For people in the low wage restaurant industry it makes a big difference. One couple, a chef and a waitress took the no tax on tips and the car loan deductions from the "Big Beautiful Bill" of DJT, and instead of owing $12,000 as in 2024 got a tax refund of $26,000 for 2025 tax year. This family an immigrant from Spain says- “They’re not able to pay us a livable wage. ... If we were only taxed on our wage, not tips, that makes so much more sense for the cost of living here in New York.” 23 million households took the overtime tax deduction. Seniors qualifying got a $6000 deduction to get an additional $1320 in refunds.

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Pricing of hotels in Rome Italy where $100 is a hostel, $200 a budget hotel, luxury $700 a night an up. Dynamic pricing means a hotel can cost $400 in the summer and $60 or $100 in September. This is true of mjor toruist destinations and  major cities in Europe. Staying away from the city in a leafy suburb can get you a normally priced room on Booking.com as shown here in the range of $100-$200 and it is a good idea to stay away from the bustle and crowds. Rome's average nightly rate April 19 is $300 a night up about 15% over 2025.  This tells you the first rule in travel in European Union is to choose destinations which are not the big cities, and away from the seasonal rush and crowds. The advice here is to look for residential neighborhoods (less costly and more peaceful), plan 6 months  for peak season  to get a decent price and a better shot at getting a decent hotel in Europe.

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Polls published by IDEA in Hungary that show less than 10% of Hungarians see EU as a concern most are concerned about corruption and governance and public services cost of living. This was done before the election and showed Tisza at 39% and Fidesz at 30% support with 22% undecided at the time who swung in favor of Magyar and Tisza party. This shows that policies will change and Tisza supporters by large majority want change in policies friendly to EU. Yet the election was fought for good governance, good public services and lower cost of living. This means changes will not be too drastic  with Russia, not keen on Russian oil imports but maintaining pragmatic relations with Russia. But it makes a difference as 18 billion euros will be coming to Hungary from EU that were frozen under Orban which can finance better public services. Rule of law can improve and corruption can be reduced in government for Hungarian society to be seen as healthy after a quarter century of one party government by Fidesz party of Orban. ...

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Iran Ceasefire breaks down as US escorts ships through Hormuz clearing Iranian fastboats. Iran sends missiles at oil hubs of UAE. Two US destroyers were closely followed by 2 merchant ships as they successfully transited through the straits on Monday morning. Iran sent 6 fastboats at the ships which were destroyed, cruise missiles and drones which had no effect. US Central Command says 100 Navy and Air Force planes drones, satellite imagery and more than 15,0000 military personnel are part of this Project Freedom. Trump says a South Korean ship was involved and maybe South Korea should be part of the effort to clear the waters. DJT says the Project Freedom is for the purpose of - “Meant to free up people, companies, and Countries that have done absolutely nothing wrong — They are victims of circumstance." WHich is to say that poor countries and middle income countries around the world are affected by the IRGC Iran actions that affect oil, fertilizer and other energy supplies. ...

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The new coronavirus test for antibody detects antibodies Immunoglobulin G and M. It is designed for people with symptoms and is a quick test used in China, and to be deployed in Britain. The FDA approved the first antibody test for coronavirus developed by Cellex. Immunoglobulin M is made a few days after infection. Immunoglobulin G is made later and is designed by nature in the human body to neutralize the invading virus. The test gives a positive or negative answer whether these antibodies are present to overcome the virus. Unlike the swab test for the nose this test takes only a pin prick and is quick with quick results. For asymptomatic people the swab test is needed as it detects the material in the nose which carries the virus itself.

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The US envoy to Belarus responds to overtures from Belarus's leader Lukashenko for improved relations, release of hundreds of political prisoners including the husband of a opposition leader who is thought to have won the last Belarus open elections in 2020. Today it is not realized that politicians with lack of vision or foresight - Bush, Obama, Merkel, failed to grasp that in 2020 two events happened that were linked- the Belarus electons bringing another pro-EU government on Russia's border which was squashed before it could take office and the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong also squashed in 2020 by China PRC. Crimea was made part of Russia in 2014 when Ukrainian protesters in Kviv and Lviv near Poland ousted the government of pro Russia leader Yanukovych in the Maidan revolution. Russia under Putin responded 2014-2020 with a simmering effort to take parts of eastern Ukraine that were close to and sympathetic to Russia. This was an effort to counter NATO or pro-EU countries coming to Russia's borders in the way JFK opposed pro-Russian regime in Cuba. Obama and Merkel never understood or grasped this or were too involved in the eurozone, migration crises (Merkel) or war in Afghanistan (Obama). The result was that in 2020 Russia helped squash the election results in Belarus with another pro-EU government impending. Within 2 years Russia under Putin with tacit Chinese support invaded Ukraine in Feb 2022. Belarus shares a border with Russia and it is closely allied with Russia in the Eurasian Economic Zone that includes former Soviet Bloc countries such as Kazakhstan. Gradually following the recovery of the Russian economy by 2010 the emphasis shifted to create something similar to the Soviet Union, a bloc of countries in central Asia and in Eastern Europe that are part of a Russian sphere of influence. For much of the period of the Obama/ Merkel administrations in US and Germany this was ignored as most of the politicians never gave Russia the importance it sought, not accepting that the economic power was not measured only in GDP- also in science and technology, nuclear technologies, space, in energy resources, and Russia's position in Northern/Central Europe and Central Asia since 1700.  It is this situation that the DJT administration faced with US challenges of the Mexican and Venezuelan drug and people trafficking in the western hemisphere has responded with the Monroe Doctrine to reassert American influence in Latin America by respecting Russia's effort to have some measure of influence on its borders, that the US seeks on it's borders. Without Russian or Chinese intervention in Latin America and with the the Monroe Doctrine in place America can protect the interests of the American people and the people of Latin America for free and good government. What Bush, Obama, Merkel lost sight of is that by each power having some strong measure of influence in their regions, and the tendencies for benevolent influence put in place, there is significantly more room for respecting the hopes and aspirations of people in their regions through democratic or other people oriented forms of government than by the situation in which economically the US was dominant after the fall of the Berlin Wall but other influences would lead to US decline- open but not free trade with China, and the recovery of the Russian economy, drug and people trafficking by gangs in Latin America where the Monroe Doctrine for US leadership had prevailed till the 1960's. ...

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The experience of Nestle and other consumer product companies selling at low price points in Indonesia and other developing countries.

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DJT calls for Iran to end nuclear program Feb 19 2026, at first Board of Peace meeting in Washington DC. The need for a safer world without the nuclear proliferation to smaller states that increases risks of nuclear war, to North Korea, Pakistan, and Iran. This also means that the US Russia's, China's and India's policy needs to shift to cooperation not just on arms limitation, but also in the area of preventing the spread of nuclear weapons to smaller states. One idea needs to be dispelled the idea that a state gains from its disproportionate use of the country's income and resources to develop nuclear weapons as has happened in Iran, Pakistan, and North Korea, where this has resulted in impoverishment of the country. Another that retaining nuclear weapons would have put Ukraine at an advantage, that states are better off keeping nuclear weapons technologies and weapons for the survival of governments. The world is going through a difficult period- it took many centuries of hardship for China, India, (five centuries since 1500) and other countries to modernize and industrialize, and no one wants to see everything put at risk in the coming generations. Europe and America also have a lot at stake with the countries being poor for most of the period before the 1950's and industrialization. All the achievements of science and technology, all of modern life are at risk of disappearing with this one threat. ...

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“The industry operated in a certain manner in the first half of the decade that is not an appropriate path for the second half of the decade,” says Microsoft President and Vice Chair Brad Smith. Microsoft will now act as aresponsible company and pay higher electricity prices, replenish water supplies, and pay more for land so that electricity prices are not pushed up by AI data centers and passd on to consumers. This draws praise from DJT as the US faces an affordability crisis and AI is suspected to increase the cost borne by consumers of electricity. 

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Subiksha Trading Services closed its 1600 stores in India due to taking on too much debt with overexpansion. It is now in the process of restructuring its $154 million debt with lenders. At one point it was opening 50 stores amonth.

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Unilever is facing higher prices for the vegetable oil, such as palm oil it uses for making soap and margarine. It is passing on the costs to consumers. Nestle and Danone SA are passing on the higher prices to consumers. Nestle increased the average wholesale price for all its products by 5.3%. Higher feed costs make it more expensive for Danone to keep cows, raising milk prices and with it prices of yogurt, cheese and other milk products. As a result food inflation is running at 5% in the USA and prices are higher in Europe and in other parts of the world. Because of the increasing demand for better nutrition levels and better food in diets in China and India and other parts of the world, and low grain production levels, and the increasing amount of land diverted to other uses, including ethanol production in the USA, there are food shortages and higher prices for corn and other grains.

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In a major effort to halt increased missile attacks on Kviv and Ukraine by Russia DJT makes a decision to send Patriot anti missile systems to Ukraine financed by Germany. “It’ll be business for us, and we will send them Patriots, which they desperately need, because Putin really surprised a lot of people. He talks nice, and then he bombs everybody in the evening. There’s a little bit of a problem there, and I don’t like it.” In Congress Senators Graham and Blumenthal have 85 Senators behind a bill to support Ukraine and place penalties of upto 500% tariffs on countries that support Russia in its war effort by buying oil -including China, India and Brazil. Graham says- "China, India and Brazil buy oil and petroleum products and other goods from Russia—that’s the money Putin uses to prosecute the war.” Graham adds- "the U.S. had reached a turning point regarding Russia.” ...

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The actual text of the Feb. 1, 2025 Executive Order  from the White House and president DJT says about the flow of fentanyl that has taken the lives of more of America's young people than the wars- the Korean War, Vietnam War and the First World War combined. That is the astonishing story of what has happened to American society over the last two decades. "The influx of these drugs to our Nation threatens the fabric of our society.  The PRC plays a central role in this challenge, not merely by failing to stem the ultimate source of many illicit drugs distributed in the United States, but by actively sustaining and expanding the business of poisoning our citizens." What the US Supreme Court and Justices Roberts, Thomas, Scalia, Barrett, Alito, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, make of this one can only guess. One has only to walk from the US Supreme Court Building to the faces from the 1950's at the Korean War Memorial to get a sense of what the Justices have to be thinking.  ...

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S&P downgrades Netherlands to double-A-plus and raises Spain's outlook from negative to stable while retaining Spain's triple-B-minus rating.

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Wal-Mart takes up challenge of addressing the Chinese market, which is fragmented and highly competitive, by acquiring Taiwanese chain Trust-Mart. This takes it past Carrefour as the largest retail chain in China. Missteps in S. Korea and Germany led to exit there for Wal-Mart.

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Walmart opens its first store in Amritsar, India, as part of a long term expansion in India. It is a 50,000 square foot Best Price store, a rarity in India. Walmart and its Indian partner Bharti Enterprises plan to open 15 stores in India in the next 3 years. Mike Duke former head of Walmart's international operation is now the new CEO. He has recruited local managers who understand and grasp how to market in India. Walmart India CEO, Raj Jain, has worked for 20 years with Unilever and Whirlpool in India. Unilever India, has a strong local presence in India for decades. Big wholesalers can be a poltically sensitive issue in India, where the retail industry serving 1.1 billion people is mostly an estimated 10 million mom and pop stores, who fear being overrun by these large wholesalers. Walmart operates as a wholesale store selling to local merchants, a cash and carry business selling 10,000 products to licensed store owners, schools, hospitals, hotels and other institutions. Even now under Indian rules governing foreign retailers, this Walmart venture cannot sell directly to consumers....

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Medicare Supplemental insurance (also called Medigap) covers out of pocket cost that are not covered by Medicare Advantage. Over long period of retirement thes plans offer the best protection from unanticipated costs. The Plans use alphabetical leters A B C D F G K L M N with F discontinued. And are standardized, meaning regardless of insurer or state you are in they are the same being set by the US federal government. These plans are sold by private insurers the largest being AARP plan by United Healthcare. One can join when enrolling for Medicare Part B when premiums are usually better yet one can also join afterwards. About 36% of Medicare holders have Medicare Supplemental or Medigap policies for health insurance.

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By pulling back from the kind of erratic immigration enforcement in Minneapolis DJT as shown by the WSJ, the administration is closer to getting a deal on the government's budget for passage in Congress. It averts a shutdown. The DHS part is being discussed and voted separately in that deal. In Congress there is more openness to talk about each other's flaws as Chris Murphy leads the Democrats. Tim Kaine says "we can do better" instead of the belligerant opposition to ICE. Lisa Mukowski says it is hopeful because the talk has shifted away from "abolish ICE" to better law enforcement and doing better law enforcement. The WSJ and business have taken the lead on this issue with "de-escalate." Congressis doing more as Republicans are critical and even in DHS Homan is now in charge, the president say "de-escalate a bit," many Republicans including Kristi Noem at DHS and government officials look for ways to do better. In this way Minneapolis has opened up new dialogue so that the American tradition of law enforcement done right that makes people and neighborhoods safe and law enforcement acts in ways that are a role model, the anger and frustration on boh sides is defused little by little in constructive ways, and topics at the heart of the matter are being discussed and sorted out for the first time in years. ...

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WSJ was effective in calling to the attention of the US president that tactics of one Border Patrol officer were against the American tradition and appeared to be not what police, ICE and Border Patrol, DHS itself was doing in the past. Greg Bovino of Border Patrol led sweeps in LA, Chicago and other cities in what people inside ICE and DHS including Border Head Homan  considered  "unnecessarily aggressive"  and less effective tactics. By being provocative in tactics this attracted more protestors on streets, made law enforcement look worse than when it was using the normal approach of ICE, and by reducing the local authorites cooperation required more and more Border patrol and ICE agents till it became unworkable and attracted critics from within the government and Republicans in Congress. Even DJT said that the this agent was an "out there kind of guy." In Congress many Republicans including Kennedy of Louisiana went on the floor of the Senate asserting the right of peaceful protest enshrined in the US Constitution and called for soul searching to get effective but the right kind of law enforcement that was the tradition in America. Anotehr aspect of what happened in Minneapolis is the troubled history of the city as this is where George Floyd and unarmed man during Covid lost his life in a situation with Minneapolis police, which had already created a sense of unease in that city, compared to Chicago, and Los Angeles BP and ICE sweeps which did not end up like this. In Nashville, and Washington DC National Guard not ICE operated which has different training.  ...