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on healthcare.gov by the end of November, and Monday was the first business day since the date passed.
• Brokers and online assisters in Utah say three of every four people successfully signed up for health coverage on the online within an hour of logging in. A state official overseeing North Dakota's navigators said he had noticed improvements in the site, as did organizations helping people sign up in parts of Alabama and Wisconsin.
• But staffers at an organization in South Florida and a hospital group with locations in Iowa and Illinois said they have seen no major improvements from the federal website, which 36 states are relying on.
• Amanda Crowell, director of revenue cycle for UnityPoint Health-Trinity, which has four hospitals in Iowa and Illinois, said the organization's 15 enrollment counselors did not see a marked improvement on the site.
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Thai protests ease as police lift barricades from key spots in reversal of strategy
• BANGKOK (AP) -- Anti-government protesters swarmed into the Thai prime minister's office compound Tuesday as police stood by and watched, allowing them to claim a symbolic victory after three days of bitter clashes. The unexpected reversal in the government's strategy brings at least a lull in the violence before the revered king's 86th birthday later this week.
• Hundreds of protesters poured onto the lawn of Government House, waving Thai flags and blowing whistles. After speeches and shouts of "victory belongs to the people!" they left the compound an hour later, and the gates were locked again. Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra was not there at the time.
• Declaring that the government would use "only gentleness and tenderness to solve problems," Deputy Prime Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul said the step was taken to reduce tensions so that people could celebrate King Bhumibol Adulyadej's birthday on Thursday. The king is seen as the sole uniting figure in the country.
• The move was widely seen as offering the protesters a face-saving way to end the demonstrations -- although it remains to be seen whether protests will resume in the future.
• Protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban vowed to keep up the struggle to topple Yingluck and keep her brother, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, from returning to power. Thaksin was ousted in a 2006 military coup, and Yingluck's rivals (Continued on page 28)
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