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China Begins Purging Health Sector Post-Pandemic

China’s National Health Commission (NHC) announced a “sweeping and more vigorous than ever” campaign against corruption in Chinese health care this week, allegedly intended to eradicate widespread bribery and kickback schemes in medicine, the pharmaceutical industry, and academia.

The announcement followed mounting public outrage over sensational expenditures allegedly intended to combat the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic, such as the construction of massive “makeshift hospitals” that now sit largely unused. Chinese state media, acknowledging concerns about the hospitals in early August, admitted that some regional governments still have plans to build them, even though China ended its pandemic emergency in December.

China has also seen a growing number of protests over the Communist Party, desperately seeking to save funds after the lavish expenditures of the “zero-Covid” era, dramatically cutting healthcare benefits to seniors. China reportedly spent $975 billion in health care in 2022, then proceeded to limit healthcare benefits for the elderly in the beginning of this year. Thousands of elderly Chinese joined the “white hair movement” against the communists in protests in February, most of them convening in the origin city of the coronavirus, Wuhan, and the seaside resort city of Dalian.

The press conference on Tuesday intended to announce an “unprecedented anti-corruption storm” in medicine, according to China’s government propaganda newspaper the Global Times. The NHC explained that it had launched a campaign of top-down inspections of hospitals, clinics, and local health care officers to investigate “numerous reports of fallen officials.” Another nine agencies within the Chinese Communist Party’s totalitarian regime will be involved in the persecution of health workers and administrators in the system, the NHC announced.

The Beijing-based NHC said it would be investigating six types of corruption including “medical institutions engaging in ‘kickback sales’ of drugs and devices, as well as the improper use of medical insurance funds, stressing that the pharmaceutical field is the ‘main battleground.'”

https://www.breitbart.com/asia/2023/08/18/china-begins-purging-health-sector-post-pandemic/

Border Numbers Explode as July Migrant Apprehensions Jump 33 Percent

The apprehension of migrants along the southwest border in July jumped more than 33 percent from last month’s drop. Border Patrol agents apprehended nearly 137,000 migrants who crossed the border between ports of entry. This brought the total for the year to 1.65 million migrants.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection released its July Southwest Land Border Encounters report showing a dramatic spike in apprehensions by agents between ports of entry. In July, Border Patrol agents apprehended 136,652 migrants in the nine southwest border sectors.

In June, migrant apprehensions dropped briefly to less than 100,000 for the first time since the first full month of the Biden administration. The numbers bounced right back despite the scorching July heat along the southwestern U.S. border with Mexico. July’s numbers represent a 33 percent increase over June.

A chart from USAFacts.org shows the massive increase in migrant encounters after President Joe Biden took office in January 2021. This chart reflects encounters through the end of June.

The trend is continuing into August. Through the first 15 days of August, Border Patrol agents apprehended more than 83,000 migrants, according to unofficial Border Patrol reports obtained by Breitbart. Approximately 50,000 of those entered through the five Texas-based border sectors, Breitbart Texas reported.

The El Paso and Tucson Sectors remain the only southwest border sectors showing a year-over-year increase in apprehensions — 59 and 29 percent, respectively.

Of the 132,652 migrants apprehended in July, 62,446 were classified as single adults. Family units accounted for 60,161 of the apprehensions, up by more than 40 percent from last year. Border Patrol agents apprehended more than 10,000 unaccompanied minors in July.

Migrants from Mexico accounted for the largest demographic group with more than 36,000 apprehensions. Hondurans and Guatemalans followed with more than 23,000 and 21,000, respectively. Migrants from countries other than Mexico and the Central American Northern Triangle countries accounted for more than 49,000 apprehensions. This is up by more than 36 percent over last July.

https://www.breitbart.com/border/2023/08/18/border-numbers-explode-as-july-migrant-apprehensions-jump-33-percent/

US officials admit they missed opportunity for peace – Politico

With Ukraine’s counteroffensive failing, the White House now recognizes that it should have heeded earlier calls for talks, anonymous sources have claimed

American officials have told Politico that they may have “missed a window” to push for peace talks between Russia and Ukraine. Speaking anonymously, they conceded that Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley “had a point” when he offered a grim pronouncement on Kiev’s chances for victory last year.

More than two months into Ukraine’s counteroffensive against Russian forces, Kiev has failed to capture more than a handful of hamlets and villages in Zaporozhye region, and has lost at least 43,000 men and nearly 5,000 pieces of equipment in the process, according to the latest figures from the Russian Defense Ministry. Although the Ukrainian government still insists it can retake all of its claimed territory by force, Washington is increasingly unsure.

“We may have missed a window to push for earlier talks,” a US official told Politico on Friday, adding that “Milley had a point.”

Speaking in New York in November, Milley said that a military victory would likely be unachievable for Ukraine, and that Kiev could use the wintertime pause in fighting to enter negotiations with Moscow and avoid any further losses.

His comments reportedly angered Kiev and caused panic in the White House, which rushed to reassure the Ukrainian leadership that it would continue to support President Vladimir Zelensky’s maximalist aims – which include retaking Crimea, an historic Russian territory that voted to rejoin the Russian Federation in 2014.

Media reports suggest that Washington has been divided on the idea of peace talks since at least last year, with President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken vehemently rejecting negotiations, against the wishes of some members of the military and intelligence agencies. This split persisted as Ukraine geared up for its counteroffensive, with reports indicating that despite Biden’s and Blinken’s optimism, the Pentagon knew Kiev wasn’t ready for the operation, and the CIA expected it to end in failure.

Pessimism is now spreading in the White House, another anonymous official told Politico, saying that the Biden administration is increasingly asking itself “If we acknowledge we’re not going to do this forever, then what are we going to do?”

Milley has continued to suggest a diplomatic solution to the conflict. “If the end state is ‘Ukraine is a free, independent, sovereign country with its territory intact’… that’s gonna take a long, long time, but you can also achieve those objectives — maybe, possibly — through some sort of diplomatic means,” he told the Washington Post this week.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said that any negotiations will be held “not with Zelensky, who is a puppet in the hands of the West, but directly with his masters.” The Kremlin also maintains that any potential peace deal will have to recognize the “new territorial reality” – that the regions of Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson, and Zaporozhye will not be ceded back to Ukraine.

https://www.rt.com/news/581509-milley-missed-peace-ukraine/

Stock markets face a ‘perfect storm’ as high rates and China fears bite, analysts warn

Stock markets were hit with a “perfect storm” this week, as concerns over a Chinese economic slowdown and persistently high U.S. interest rates rattled global sentiment.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index closed Friday’s trade in bear market territory, down 2.1% on the day and almost 21% from its January highs, after embattled Chinese real estate giant Evergrande filed for bankruptcy protection in a U.S. court. This led to broad declines for shares across Asia-Pacific.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index

followed suit, down 1% on the day and more than 3% for the week, while U.S. stock futures pointed to another lower open on Wall Street.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average

was on track for its worst week since March, and the S&P 500

and Nasdaq 100

were both heading for a third consecutive week of losses.

The Dow closed Thursday’s trade below the 50-day moving average — typically a bearish signal for investors — for the first time since June 1.

“Whether it’s the brewing crisis in the Chinese property market, the surge in U.S. bond yields on fears rates will stay higher for longer or the big drop in U.K. retail sales, things are starting to look a bit ugly out there,” AJ Bell Investment Director Russ Mould said by email.

The Friday declines compounded losses logged earlier in the week, after minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve’s last meeting showed policymakers pointed to “upside risks” to inflation, while the committee remained open to further interest rate hikes to bring price growth down sustainably.

This prompted a spike in U.S. Treasury yields that sent the 10-year yield to a 16-year high, while 10-year German bunds rallied to their highest level since the March collapse of Silicon Valley Bank.

Evergrande’s bankruptcy protection filing, though worrisome in isolation, prompted greater concern about China’s real estate market when combined with peer Country Garden’s decision earlier this week to suspend payments on some of its bonds from Monday.

“Markets are being hit by the perfect storm, amid surging rates, worsening economic data in China, poor summer liquidity and a buyers’ strike,” Barclays Head of European Equity Strategy Emmanuel Cau said in a research note Friday.

Cau suggested the British bank’s previous view on China had arguably proven “too hopeful,” given the “lack of decisive policy action” since the Politburo meeting in late July.

“Complacency has gone, but absent a circuit breaker (i.e. large scale fiscal stimulus) we acknowledge sentiment on China is unlikely to reverse sustainably on its own.” Cau suggested this poses a problem for European and U.K. stocks.

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/08/18/stock-markets-face-a-perfect-storm-as-high-rates-and-china-fears-bite-analysts-warn.html

Trump decides to snub the first GOP debate in favor of an interview with Tucker Carlson

Former President Donald Trump has made up his mind not to attend the first GOP debate next week, according to two sources familiar with his thinking, and is seeking a sit-down interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson as a means of counter-programming the event.

A source close to Carlson says the host is currently en route to Europe, where he has interviews and events lined up all next week. The source said Carlson is “always in discussions” with all the candidates, and nothing is firmly set with Trump and Carlson.

Asked about the former president’s plans for next week, a Trump campaign spokesman told NBC News, “We haven’t confirmed anything on our end.”

Carlson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The New York Times first reported on Trump’s plans to skip the debate for an interview with Carlson.

Trump had been hinting that he might forgo the Wednesday night debate with his 2024 GOP rivals, and was exploring options for counterprogramming, people familiar with his deliberations told NBC News last month.

The former president indicated during a Newsmax interview this month that he wouldn’t sign the required loyalty pledge committing to support the eventual GOP nominee, which is required to secure a spot on the debate stage.

Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said Thursday that she believed Trump will sign the pledge if he decides to debate.

“He’s signed the pledge before. He signed it to get on the South Carolina ballot,” McDaniel said in an interview with NewsNation’s Blake Burman. “I have a feeling if he wants to be on the debate stage, he’s going to sign that pledge.”

A person familiar with the matter said the RNC hasn’t heard from Trump or his team on whether he’ll participate in the debate.

The loyalty pledge also asks candidates to agree not to take part in any non-RNC sanctioned debate for the rest of the election cycle.

Trump is one of at least nine GOP presidential candidates who appears to have met fundraising and polling criteria set by the RNC to qualify for next week’s debate hosted by Fox News in Wisconsin.

Former Vice President Mike Pence’s campaign announced this month that he had qualified for the debate. If Trump had decided to participate, he would have gone head-to-head against his former vice president after being indicted in two separate probes related to his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

Special counsel Jack Smith’s indictment referred to “contemporaneous notes” written by Pence that described meetings and conversations between the two men after Trump’s election loss.

Trump and 18 co-defendants were also indicted on felony charges in connection with alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in Georgia.

In a post to his social media platform, Truth Social, on Thursday Trump touted his poll numbers as a reason not to participate in the GOP debate. “People know my Record, one of the BEST EVER, so why would I Debate? I’M YOUR MAN. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” he wrote.

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a GOP presidential candidate who has qualified for the debate, said, “not going? his loss,” after The New York Times reported on Trump’s plan to skip the debate.

At least three of Trump’s closest congressional allies — Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Florida Reps. Matt Gaetz and Byron Donalds — plan to travel to the Milwaukee debate to defend the former president on his behalf, NBC News reported on Wednesday.

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/08/18/trump-decides-to-snub-the-first-gop-debate-in-favor-of-an-interview-with-tucker-carlson.html

Seattle law expiring leaves door open to legal hard drug use in the city

A local law in Seattle aimed toward criminalizing public drug use expired earlier this week without lawmakers instituting a replacement, meaning known possession of drugs and its public use is effectively legal in the city until council members implement new restrictions.

The Seattle City Council voted 5-4 against a statewide bill that would make known possession and public drug use a gross misdemeanor, making it the only city in the state of Washington “where it is legal to use hard drugs in public,” according to City Attorney Ann Davison. Local lawmakers have not yet come to an agreement on how to prosecute drug use, leaving the city in limbo until a new bill is passed.

The situation comes after a statewide temporary drug law expired earlier this week, ending a two-year statute that listed drug possession as a misdemeanor and offered treatment to those who were found in violation rather than prosecution for their first two offenses. The stopgap measure was implemented after the state Supreme Court struck down the state’s previous law making all drug possession a felony, which opponents argued was unconstitutional because residents could be charged even without knowing they possessed drugs.

State legislators were then tasked with passing a replacement bill, which proved difficult as lawmakers disagreed on how to address the issue. That put the state government in a scramble as they quickly approached the expiration date on Tuesday, prompting Gov. Jay Inslee (D) to call a special session in mid-May to find a solution.

Lawmakers later passed a bipartisan bill that would make known drug possession and public drug use a gross misdemeanor, with offenders being punished with up to 364 days in jail. The law would also allow prosecutors to recommend treatment as an alternative.

However, Seattle’s municipal code exempts the city from automatically adopting changes to the state code — teeing the legislation up for a vote that was shot down by the city council.

“We had one job — conform to state law making drug possession and public use a gross misdemeanor — and we failed,” councilwoman Sara Nelson said after the vote failed in June. “I’m disappointed that for the time being, the majority of Councilmembers have chosen to stick with the status quo that’s claiming more and more lives every day.”

Law enforcement can still make arrests in Seattle under the new state law, but prosecutions could be delayed as the city attorney is responsible for handling misdemeanors.

It’s not yet clear when lawmakers will reconsider legislation to tackle the city’s drug crime problem, but the city council said it plans to reconvene on Sept. 12. That would put the council on track for a vote as soon as Sept. 19. After that, the bill would need to be signed by Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell, allowing the bill to take effect 30 days later.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/crime/seattle-law-expiring-makes-public-drug-use-legal

The war for Christmas: Using the Church to fight Russia

In Ukraine, the war of churches has gone to a new level as the NATO-backed Orthodox Church of Ukraine seeks to establish a new narrative for a Western-aligned Ukraine at the cost of identity, history, and faith.

Over the past months, one thing has become clear: the war in Ukraine will determine the future of the world order. In the event of a military win for NATO and its allies, which appears highly unlikely, Russia would be “contained”, once again, as the Minsk Agreement confessions revealed by former German Chancellor Angela Merkel aimed to achieve, through the expansion of NATO’s eastern flank.

In my previous article titled How the war on the Moscow Patriarchate is a war on collective identity, I underscored how the West had employed multiple soft power strategies to create a false narratove for Ukrainian national identity, which would allegedly be framed as independent from Russia and the Orthodox Church of the Moscow and Kiev Patriarchates [which play a significant role in the collective identity of Eurasia and former USSR countries]. In this article, I will continue to highlight the unfolding of events within this content and show the significance of the battle of churches taking place in Eastern Europe.

As explained in the previous article, the US, alongside its collective West allies, utilizing the Resistance Operating Concept (ROC) strategy, have found religion to be the most efficient component of collective identity that they can exploit to their advantage. The idea was to create an allegedly national-religious divide that would create the following equation: A patriotic Ukrainian will reject any Russian-affiliated form of Christian Orthodoxy, such as that of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), and adopt the new, only partially-recognized, Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU).

This equation would entail that anyone who does not accept that illusive division as an “objective fact” would be considered a ‘traitor’ and dubbed a ‘Russian propagandist.’

Subsequently, this dresses Russia up as an enemy, despite the fact that an honest objective analysis of reality, grounded in the study of histography, shows that Ukraine is an extension of Russia. This is true to the extent that previously, Ukraine was known regionally as Kyivan Rus, even by the admission of notorious US foreign policy strategist and former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/the-war-for-christmas:-using-the-church-to-fight-russia

Timing is everything for Donald Trump’s legal strategy

A dramatic and unsettling political situation continues — namely, former President Donald Trump’s many legal challenges. While they are complex, we can peek in on some insight about Mr. Trump’s potential strategy as the action unfolds.

“In politics, timing is everything. Trump’s announced press conference is on Monday. As usual, he is dominating media coverage which people will know will be negative. He knows that at least one segment will be devoted to his legal troubles on all the Sunday morning news shows, which typically set the storylines for the following week. All of these don’t bother Trump,” a new commentary released by the Tippinsights.com editorial board stated.

“He likes it this way because he is in the news, and his other GOP opponents are not. Even if they are, they are sure to be questioned about Trump’s troubles, and answering those can be a political trap for them. Trump is betting that his Monday news conference will be a win-win,” the pollster and news organization said.

“If Trump releases new evidence in the report, he could place question marks on several independent minds. The latest proof would reinforce his three-year grievance that the 2020 elections were rigged and strengthen his GOP fan base, further disadvantaging his rivals,” said the commentary, found at Tippinsights.com.

The news organization is, by the way, the force behind the well-known TIPP poll, which it launched 30 years ago.

“If Trump presents a nothing-burger, the Left and the media will pounce on him for the millionth time. He wins even then as the narrative that the Deep State is out to bring about his downfall further strengthens,” it said.

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2023/aug/17/inside-beltway-timing-everything-donald-trumps-leg/

Hurricane Hilary: Here is everything you need to know about the West Coast's rare storm

Severe weather warnings are in effect for certain parts of Southern California this week, including San Diego and Los Angeles, as the West Coast braces for potentially dangerous flooding and hazardous winds spurred by Hurricane Hilary.

A tropical storm and flash flood warnings were sent out Friday night, marking the first tropical storm warning for the region in the National Hurricane Center's history. Hurricanes and tropical storms are rare in Southern California.

“Catastrophic and life-threatening flooding is likely over Baja California and the Southwestern U.S. through Monday,” the National Hurricane Center warned Saturday.

Here is everything you need to know about the hurricane headed for Southern California and the Southwest U.S.

What regions can expect heavy rainfall:

Southern California and parts of the Southwest are bracing for heavy rain and flooding, with the National Weather Service in Los Angeles warning of “dangerous rip currents” and south swells ranging from four to 10 feet.

The storm is expected to affect the San Diego and Los Angeles regions, Lake Havasu, Death Valley, Arizona, and Nevada. Death Valley could see more than twice its annual rainfall over the course of just three days, and some parts of Southern California are expected to see more than 10 inches of rain, according to the Washington Post.

“Preparations for the impacts of flooding from rainfall should be completed as soon as possible, as heavy rain will increase beginning Saturday,” the National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center said.

Hilary is expected to weaken to a tropical storm by the time it approaches the Golden State over the weekend and early next week but is still expected to cause major damage. The hurricane has already started weakening to a Category 3 with sustained winds of 125 miles per hour as of Saturday morning. Hilary was a Category 4 on Friday.

Threat of damaging winds:

The main concern for the Southwest is the rain, which could bring flash floods. But high winds are also a major concern, and their potential to bring down powerlines and knock over trees.

The coastlines and high elevations are expected to be the most affected, with deserts and mountains seeing possible wind gusts of more than 70 miles per hour. But even the metropolitan areas closer to the coast could have gusts up to 40 and 50 mph.

Officials are urging residents to prepare for possible power outages by charging devices and having multiple ways to receive emergency information.

If Hilary does make landfall as a tropical storm, it would be the first tropical storm to hit California in 84 years. The last tropical cyclone hit the West Coast in 1939. The severe storm made landfall near Long Beach, California, causing 93 deaths across the southern part of the state and millions of dollars in damages.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/hurricane-hilary-everything-you-need-to-know-about-west-coasts-rare-storm

UK Warns of ‘Likely’ Terror Attacks in Denmark over Qur’an Burnings as Sweden Raises Terror Threat Level

Britain’s Foreign Office has warned travellers that terror attacks are “likely” in Denmark amid the Islamic backlash to burnings of the Qur’an as Sweden has increased its terror threat level.

In updated travel advice, the UK Foreign Office said on Friday: “Terrorists are likely to try to carry out attacks in Denmark. Attacks could be indiscriminate, including in places frequented by foreigners.”

The warning comes amid increased concerns throughout the region of potential Islamist retaliation over several highly public burnings of the Qur’an. The Danish government has even considered introducing anti-blasphemy-style legislation to prevent the burning of the Muslim holy book outside embassies in the country in an attempt to quell the outrage.

It also came as Sweden raised its terror threat level to “high” from “elevated” for the first time since 2016. Announcing the decision, the head of the Swedish Security Service (Sapo) Charlotte von Essen said per Aftonbladet: “Today I have made the decision to raise the terror threat level from an elevated to a high threat, we are going from a three to a four on the five-point scale.”

She said that the decision to raise the terror threat level was not prompted by intelligence of a single imminent attack but rather by Sweden becoming a “priority” target for Islamic terrorists.

Von Essen said that while a main factor for the increased threat was anger over the Qur’an burnings, it was also impacted by outrage in the Islamic community over the government’s LVU (the Care of young persons special provisions act) campaign that takes vulnerable children into social care, which Islamic critics claim disproportionately impacts Muslim children.

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2023/08/19/uk-warns-of-likely-terror-attacks-in-denmark-over-quran-burnings-as-sweden-raises-terror-threat-level/