The lack of a cohesive delegation has allowed attention-seeking lawmakers to act on their own.

@ Reuters, Nov. 29

 U.S. health insurer Cigna (CI.N) is in talks to merge with peer Humana (HUM.N), a source familiar with the matter said on Wednesday, a deal that could exceed $60 billion in value and would be certain to attract fierce antitrust scrutiny.

The discussions come six years after regulators blocked mega-deals that would have consolidated the U.S. health insurance sector.

After U.S. courts upheld antitrust challenges in 2017, Cigna gave up on a $48 billion deal to acquire Anthem -- now known as Elevance Health. Losing the legal battle also caused Aetna -- now owned by pharmacy chain operator CVS Health (CVS.N) -- to abandon a $37 billion deal to acquire Humana.

Cigna and Humana are discussing a stock-and-cash deal that could be finalized by the end of the year, according to the Wall Street Journal, which first reported on the potential deal earlier on Wednesday. Humana declined to comment, while Cigna did not respond to requests for comment.

A merger would give the combined company more scale to rival bigger U.S. health insurance players UnitedHealth Group (UNH.N) and CVS Health [....]

AFP, Nov. 28

Indian police in occupied Kashmir have arrested seven university students under tough anti-terrorism laws for alleged intimidation and “anti-India sloganeering” after Australia's victory over India in the Cricket World Cup final.

Excerpt follows in first comment.

@ Bloomberg, Nov. 27 

• Incoming leader stops in Queens before any other US meetings
• President-elect’s stand is largely unique in Latin America

see first comment for excerpt

By Iftikhar Shirazi @ Dawn.com, November 4, 2023 

Nine terrorists were killed in a clearance operation after the Pakistan Army foiled a terrorist attack on the Mianwali Training Air Base of the Pakistan Air Force in the early hours of Saturday, the military’s media wing said.

The development comes on the heels of a series of incidents that left at least 17 soldiers martyred in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

They include a militant attack in Gwadar, a remote-controlled bomb explosion in Dera Ismail Khan and a security operation in KP’s Lakki Marwat. A fourth incident, another remote-controlled blast in Dl Khan, had left five people dead and at least 24 injured, including police officials.

In a statement issued in the morning, the Inter-Services Public Relations had said the attack on the air base had been foiled, with three terrorists “neutralised” and three others “cornered/isolated”.

In an afternoon update, the military confirmed that the “combing and clearance operation at PAF Training Airbase Mianwali has been concluded and all nine terrorists have been sent to hell”.

It added that the operation was launched to “eliminate any potential threat in the surrounding area following the cowardly and failed terrorist attack on the base this morning”.

The ISPR further said that no damage had been done to any of the PAF’s functional operational assets, while only some damage was done to three already phased-out non-operational aircraft during the attack [....]

The justice failed to repay much, perhaps all, of the $267,230 loan. His benefactor wiped the slate clean, with ethical and potential tax consequences.

Israel’s conflict with Hamas, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the rise of China have brought a boom for weapons makers and a chance for Washington to build closer military ties to other countries