And this news from the United States: The Senate voted 89 to 11 to postpone the cutoff of benefits to legal immigrants. The action would only delay the scheduled August cutoffs until the end of September. But it marked the first backtracking from last year’s overhaul of the nation’s welfare programs, and the size of the vote indicates the issue has become a sensitive one for Republicans. The recent budget pact with the White House promises an additional $10 billion to maintain the benefits over five years, but the cost threatens to provoke a GOP backlash.