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Reliance India Limited to build 168,000 b/d Clean shale oil refinery in Brownsville Texas, to cut US trade imbalance of $58 billion with India by $15 billion a year, about 25%. Much of the product could be exported to India from the port of Brownsville in Texas. This helps improve relations with India as the US president was looking for ways to cut the trade deficit with India. The US India trade agreement is based on increased energy exports by US to India. US has a trade imbalnce with India of $58 billion which was an issue in recent trade talks with India. US wants India to get energy product from the US under the US India Trade Agreement. The president of America First Refining Trey Giggs says- "The United States has a surplus of light shale oil but a shortage of refining capacity designed to process it." This CLEAN refinery will strengthen the domestic supply chain. For India and Reliance (RIL) this is also a way to get out of the quagmire of getting supplies from the Middle East.   ...

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Chris Klomp, 45 years, takes over at 65,000 person $2.6 trillion government agency, Department of Health and Human Services, as Counselor, as Robert Kennedy Jr. heads for the campaign trail in addition to HHS duties March 12 2026. He impressed DJT with his negotiating ability against the drug companies in the government's efforts on Affordability of medicines. DJT calls him "my favorite Mormon." Susie Wiles was looking for a stabilizing force at HHS after vaccine controversies and wants the message to focus on improving health and cutting costs. Robert Kennedy Jr says about Klomp- "He is moving quickly to impose operational discipline, sharpen our strategic direction, and fortify a renewed sense of mission and accountability.” Klomp is pulling together all the agencies under HHS including FDA and others. Klomp takes his role seriously to cut costs and improve Health- .“In health care in particular, I do believe that I’m my brother’s keeper, and our job is to do the very best that we can for the people that we serve — the American people.” ...

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Kylian Mbappe says he is very "impatient" "holds grudges" and is also "direct"- finds it "very surreal" to be closing in on Miroslav Klose's world record of 16 World Cup goals when he is only 27 years. He accepts the fame and the drawbacks of being who he is. He is mature and well rounded for his age, knows what he wants and not afraid to play for it, yet humble. In an intervew with Vanity Fair he says just being home some days doing nothing is all he wants to do, and being with a friend who does not care for soccer thats ok. He also loves to cook , and loves the cooking in Spain, as well as France. He likes life in Spain and is getting to know Spanish culture through Ronaldo, the all time Portuguese great who spent years with Real Madrid. His comment about Spanish culture - they eat late, just chill. And they use the words "muy tranquilo" meaning its all OK, its all OK, that he says is the Spanish cultural attitude to life, and which shrugs off the pressures. ...

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Health experts say olive oil and avocado oil are the healthiest oils for cooking. Mediterranean cooking uses olive oil extensively. One reason is that olive oil and avocado oil go through least processing. Other oils that are highly processed are considered less healthy,

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Plant based foods are good for health, and good for fighting climate change. When choosing vegetables and fruits pay a lot of attention to seasonality. One can also take inspiration from other cuisines- Lebanese, Israeli, Mediterranean, Italian, Japanese, Indian. Plant based including millets are anything but boring. In fact Indian cooking experts used millet and plant based in the G20 cuisine in India recently for all guests. There is a lot of room for creativity in the cooking.

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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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In Asia hardest hit are India for LPG gas used for cooking by most people in a country of 1.4 billion people. Australia is hardest hit for oil and gas with only a 32 day supply and Vietnam. Australia, Vietnam, Japan all three getting 90% of their oil supplies from the Middle East, an untenable situation. These three need to diversify out of the Middle East for their oil supplies. India has the option (now supported by the USA in a 180 degree U turn during the Iran War) of getting supplies from Russia for oil and gas with its good relationship with Russia. Japan has managed Middle East supply by keeping over 254 days of inventory but this looks to be very risky as Germany learned from its dependence on Russian oil which went in the wrong direction under Merkel. Japan has released about 18% of its total reserve amount of the 254 days inventory (146 days in national reserves and 101 days in private mandated reserves). It uses 3.14 million barrels a day in 2026 down from 5.8 million barrels a day in 1996, using about half today through conservation and using renewable energy showing the potential for the US and Europe. ...

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With car prices up Americans are holding on to cars for longer and this has reached 13 years in 2026 up 10% over a decade.  Higher interest rates, sticker shock at prices of new or used cars are causing Americans to get the most out of each car. Car prices on average as per Kelley Blue Book are $50,000 on average and this is up$10,000 in 10 years. Some are driving 2 cars one a newer 4-5 years old model and the other could have 100,000 or upto 200,000 miles if the driver has some knowledge of how to maintain it. Even if they can afford the jump in prices has made people pause before looking for a new car making it take longer to buy, to see if maintenance is the solution. Car dealers are fighting for every piece of the market in the service business, trying special offers, and selling many services all individually priced to wring the last dollar out of the business. Ford Motor is putting ads to change the perception that dealer repair is costlier than smaller repair shops. The certified preowned business is also growing as maintenance takes on a new dimension to increase the life of a good car.  ...

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Staying closer to nature, mindfulness, and making new friends, volunteering, looking forward to some interesting or exciting activity, as ways to peace and happiness. BBC Future team provides some tips.

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Land taken for factories and infrastructure building, disputes about compensation for farmer's land and the coruption of local officials have become a major cause of some 74,000 incidents of unrest in villages and towns across China in 2004 according to government and unofficial reports.

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On Greenland German chancellor Merz takes a different view from that of the Nordic countries.  Merz is looking at it with an open mind and has left it to the German spokesperson to address it.

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It is the biggest change for lives of women in India- the 100 millionth connection of cooking gas LPG connection in India. Nothing like this change has been seen in centuries of history where 100 million women from poor households and their families have been thrust into the modern age. The two videos shown here show the outlines of the Ujjwala Scheme for cooking gas launched in 2016. The prime minister visits the home of the recipient of the 100 millionth cooking gas connection at her home built under loans for new homes under another scheme. This is taking place as Indian Railways has increased its investment in India's largest state of Uttar Pradesh to Rs.17,000 crores, $2 billion for 2023, with complete electrification of rail lines.

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This WSJ report cites estimates showing 11 job openings in the US, with 6.9 million people looking for work or unemployed. About 5 million more job openings than people seeking work. Low wage sectors are hit hard with people shunning these sectors. People are quitting jobs looking for higher wages, better benefits and working conditions, better work-life balance. In August 4.3 million workers quit their jobs as the American workforce goes through big changes.

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See the related piece in BW