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James Purnell Work and Pensions Secretary in 2008 Labour government selected for position of chief of staff to UK's Andy Burnham. He worked at a an advisory firm owned by Cinven. (Cinven stands for Coal Investment Nominees for Venture Capital with its funding base coming from British Coal, the Railway Industry and Barclays Bank). The advisory firm provided advice to companies like Apple, Amazon, Google and others. There is scrutiny within the Labou Party of his appointment and any connection to lobbying the government. Burnham served in the Labour government in 2008 and 2009- first as junior minister in the Departemnt of Health and in the Home Office in 2008, and in 2009 under Gordon Brown as chief secretary to the Treasury. Burnham and Purnell are friends.

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Peter Magyar Explained- Magyar 45 years was a follower of Orban till 2024 when he broke from the Fidesz ruling party. He married the Justice Minister Judit Varga of the Fidesz in 2006. He was a Hungarian diplomat in Brussels and held senior positions in state companies. The break with Fidesz came when Varga resigned over a government scandal. There is some skepticism even among Magyar's supporters and hope that things will change from the corruption that this report says is the most corrupt in the EU with funds from the EU for public services. Hungary now gets access to 18 billion euros of EU funds that were blocked because of Orban's policies.

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Grades 1 through 9 in China are not for profit and China's education system is highly important and sensitive for Beijing. Particularly at this time with different ideas in Hong Kong compared to adjoining Shenzen. Uptil now private compnies were allowed to effectively control some schools with contractual agreements and funnel out money through service fees. This practice is now halted by tighter restrictions. Draft legislation is prepared and expected to be finalized this year. 

Earlier 25 companies in the education sector brought $3.8 billion of private capital through IPO's in Hong Kong and the U.S., according to Dealogic. These education companies are seeing shares drop by a half in 2018-2019, as China moves to protect its basic education from what may be seen as wayward ideas and thinking. More so today after the events at Hong Kong schools and universities.

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AI stakes are big enough to expect the US Congress "the most underachieving branch of the US government ," to be jolted into action says The Editorial Board of the Washington Post. Illinois wants to set the national standard after California and New York set rules for AI. Senator Bill Cunningham of Illinois says the 3 states could together cover 40% of the AI market in the US. Illinois laws would have the following rules-

1. Chatbots would remind users they are not human every 3 hours.

2. companies using Ai for customer service would disclose they are not areal person.

3. Teachers cannot use AI to set grades in schools and colleges.

4. Landlords would not be allowed to set monthly rent using AI. 

5. BanAI companions for minors.

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The US share of Japanese exporting companies went down from 20% to 16% in the 2007-2010 period, while the exports from Japan to China, India, and Brazil have gone up by 25% in the same period. Korean companies like Hyundai and Samsung plunged early into the Indian market. LG and Samsung have a significant share in the electronics and consumer appliance markets in India. By comparison Sony's share is about 5% according to Euromonitor research. Now Japanese compaies are putting a new focus on India. In food products Nissin is expanding aggressively by doubling its noodle making capacity, and making its Ramen brand available in smaller packages costing 10 cents each. The idea is to customize the effort to the unique nature of the Indian market.

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A new foreign investment law passed by the Chinese People's Congress is designed to address concerns of western companies facing problems operating in China. This includes unequal market access, forced technology transfers, unfair treatment in public procurement. It was passed in only 3 months after the first draft was debated showing the importance Beijing places on the bill. Its a step designed to help in the trade talks with the U.S. about leveling the playing field. China amends its intellectual property law and introduces a punitive damages "mechanism" so that infringements are fairly dealt with. The new Chinese law replaces three foreign capital laws passed between 1979 and 1990, and is a unified legal standard for foreign investment in China. It eliminates the requirement for foreign companies to transfer proprietary technology to Chinese joint venture partners and protects against "illegal government interference." The European Union Chamber of Commerce says Article 40 still allows for"political issues to influence investor-state relations." Experts say this is a small step in the overall effort to level the playing field. ...

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Apple, Caterpillar, and Microsoft, Amex pushed the Dow higher to get to 50,000 from 25,000 in 2018 in just 9 years when it took decades to get to 25,000. Sales Force, because of AI threat, Boeing because of its engineering and quality issues acted as laggard. Exxon was removed, Chevron stayed on. Intel was taken out and Nvidia took its place. The PE ratio in 2026 for Dow is 22 times earnings. Companies with higher stock price Goldman $929 a share as an example have a bigger impact in moves of the Dow just because of the higher price per share. Compared to Apple at $249 a share. The calculation is to take the price s of 30 stocks add them together and divide by a factor that adds effect of stock splits and new index entrants. That factor was 0.162 in 2025. Note that it took 76 years to 1972 to get to 1000 for the Dow Jones Average in 1972.