Undumbing Down "Progressive Realism"
Roanoke & N.C.: Two Deeply American Mysteries
William Wolfrum: "Just Forget Everything" & Accountability
In the News
The lack of a cohesive delegation has allowed attention-seeking lawmakers to act on their own.
By Martinn Pengelly in Washington DC for TheGuardian.com, Nov. 30
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tells Ryan Grim life in Congress ‘completely transformed’ after Democratic leader stepped down
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 [....]
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.
By Matt Seyler @ ABC News, November 27, 2023, 6:39 PM
Ballistic missiles were later fired from Houthi areas in Yemen, officials said....continues with a bunch of interesting stuff from the Pentagon presser
@ 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
- Fighting has killed up to 9,000 and forced millions of people out of their homes, either to safer areas inside Sudan or in neighboring countries, says UN humanitarian chief
- The war has displaced more than 4.5 million people were displaced inside Sudan, while over 1.2 million others sought refuge in neighboring countries
CAIRO: Six months of war between Sudan’s military and a powerful paramilitary group has killed up to 9,000 people and created “one of the worst humanitarian nightmares in recent history,” the United Nations humanitarian chief said Sunday.
Sudan has been engulfed in chaos since mid-April, when simmering tensions between military chief Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan and the commander of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, exploded into open warfare.
“For six months, civilians ... have known no respite from bloodshed and terror,” UN Undersecretary-General Martin Griffiths said in a statement marking the six-month anniversary of the war. “Horrific reports of rape and sexual violence continue to emerge.” [....]
current Law and Justice (PiS) party government has warred for eight years with Brussels over accusations it’s backsliding on the bloc’s democratic rules." @Politico