Important Takeaways:
- A top Chinese general on Thursday told White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan that the U.S. must stop its “collusion” with Taiwan, during a high-stakes meeting in Beijing.
- Zhang Youxia, vice chairman of China’s Central Military Commission, told Sullivan that Taiwan “is at the very core of China’s core interests, the bedrock of the political foundation of China-US relations, and the first red line that must not be crossed,” according to a readout from the Chinese Ministry of National Defense.
- “The PLA will definitely take countermeasures against the provocations of the Taiwan independence forces,” the readout said…
- “China urges the US side to stop military collusion with Taiwan, stop arming Taiwan, and stop spreading false narratives on Taiwan.”
- The U.S. has unofficial relations with Taiwan, which China claims as its own, but commits to supporting and arming the self-governing island nation.
- Intimidating Chinese drills and military exercises around Taiwan have increased in recent years, and accelerated after the inauguration earlier this year of pro-U.S. Taiwanese President William Lai Ching-te.
- Xi told Biden in the San Francisco summit that he would reunify with Taiwan, by force if necessary.
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Important Takeaways:
- This is the astonishing moment a Russian attack submarine was escorted through the English Channel by a British warship.
- The Royal Navy’s HMS Iron Duke was spotted tracking the Kilo-class vessel as it transited through the Dover Strait.
- The Daily Express understands the Type 23 frigate left Portsmouth on Sunday morning and intercepted the Russian submarine in the North Sea, off the coast of Felixstowe and Great Yarmouth, later that evening.
- It then followed the sub through the English Channel, where it was then spotted off the coast of Dungeness on Tuesday morning.
- The Kilo-class submarine is currently understood to be off the coast of Cornwall, being closely monitored by the Royal Navy.
- Kilo-class submarines can fire Russian Kalibr cruise missiles, torpedoes and lay mines.
- Ukrainian defense minister Rustem Umerov is in London today (Tuesday) for urgent talks with Defense Secretary John Healey about accelerating the delivery of Western weapons to the front line.
- Healey confirmed a £300million ammunition contract – to supply 152mm artillery shells – will mean Kyiv’s troops receive thousands of shells by the end of this year.
- And the International Fund for Ukraine – set up by the UK – has raised more than £1billion in aid for Kyiv, said the Ministry of Defense.
- Denmark, Lithuania, the Netherlands and Norway have also confirmed they will contribute more money to the IFU to buy more drones and “vital air defense capabilities”.
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Important Takeaways:
- Major Banks have closed 41 branches in just two weeks as the shift toward online banking continues.
- Major banks such as Bank of America, Chase and Wells Fargo were among those shuttering locations.
- Customers of U.S Bank were worst hit, with the bank closing 13 local brick-and-mortar branches between August 4 and August 18.
- Wells Fargo closed seven, with Chase, Citizens Bank and Bank of America each closing four. Scroll down for the full list with addresses.
- The rest were closed by the likes of First National Bank, PNC, SouthState Bank and Huntingdon.
- The closures, which spanned from Florida to Missouri, were confirmed to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) which monitors branch closures and openings and publishes them in a weekly bulletin.
- Major banks are increasingly moving away from expensive brick-and-mortar branches in favor of online services.
- US banks shut 539 branches in just the first half of the year, research by DailyMail.com shows.
- The worst hit state was California, which saw 72 closures. New York was second with 51 closures, followed by Pennsylvania at 40.
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Important Takeaways:
- Eastern equine encephalitis, commonly known as EEE or ‘Triple E’, is a virus transmitted to humans through the bite of an infected mosquito. The virus causes brain inflammation and affects the brain and nervous system’s functionality.
- First detected in horses in the 1830s, hence the name, EEE affects both horses and humans with acute symptoms.
- EEE naturally resides in certain birds and rodents in the United States – mostly on the East Coast – and has also been found in Central and Latin America, Canada, and the Caribbean.
- Mosquitoes become carriers of EEE after feeding on an infected bird or rodent. These mosquitoes can then transmit the virus to humans and other animals.
- It cannot be spread directly between humans, and neither humans nor horses circulate enough of the virus in their bodies to pass it back to mosquitoes.
- EEE has a very high fatality rate of at least 30 per cent, meaning that around one in three people who contract the disease will die, according to the CDC.
- Survivors of EEE can be left with lifelong mental and physical disabilities due to the damage caused to the brain and central nervous system. Effects can range from behavioral changes and memory loss to paralysis and permanent brain damage.
- Other mosquito-borne diseases like West Nile virus, dengue, and Zika have caused significant outbreaks around the world this year and spread to new geographical areas
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Important Takeaways:
- Andriy Yermak, the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, and Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, will meet with US officials “to try to concretely convince the White House to lift restrictions on long-range weapons strikes on Russian territory,” the lawmaker said.
- “They will provide a list of priority targets, without which it will be difficult to change the course of the war in Ukraine’s favor.”
- Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky once again called for allowing Ukraine to carry out strikes deeper inside Russia and “lifting the restrictions on long-range strikes for Ukraine now,” arguing it would end the war sooner “for Ukraine and the world as a whole.”
- “We consider strikes deep into Russian territory with American weapons no more provocative than strikes with American weapons on Russian territory near the border,” the Ukrainian lawmaker told CNN. “Both are Russian territory and it makes no difference how deep the targets are.”
- The Ukrainian seizure of Russian land in Kursk earlier this month injected a fresh wrinkle of uncertainty in what had become a grinding war of attrition with only small incremental gains apparently possible for either side.
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Important Takeaways:
- The debate will be hosted by ABC News on Sept. 10 at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia at 9 p.m. ET and will be moderated by David Muir and Linsey Davis.
- There’s been much back-and-forth over the debate, the first in which Trump and Harris will face off since she launched her campaign last month.
- A big point of contention between the two campaigns has been over whether the candidates’ microphones should be muted when it isn’t their turn to speak
- While ABC News has not officially released its rules for the debate, on Tuesday, Trump said on Truth Social that they would be “the same as the last CNN debate” that took place between him and President Biden on June 27.
- Those rules included no studio audience, no props or pre-written notes allowed on stage, no questions shared in advance and no campaign staff allowed to interact with the candidates during the commercial breaks.
- Neither ABC News nor the Harris campaign has publicly confirmed these rules.
- A date for the second presidential debate has not been set yet, but it is expected to be hosted by NBC News. The vice-presidential debate will be hosted by CBS News on Oct. 1.
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Important Takeaways:
- Kamala Harris on Thursday will give her first major interview since becoming the Democratic presidential nominee in what is being seen as a key test of her credibility
- She and her running mate, Tim Walz, will face CNN’s Dana Bash in a pre-recorded event that was scheduled following some criticism of Harris’s reluctance to expose herself to media scrutiny
- The interview is expected to focus in part on Harris’s policy positions, which have been criticized in some quarters as both vague and for representing a departure from the more liberal stances she assumed in her unsuccessful bid for the Democratic nomination in 2020
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Important Takeaways:
- Wesslin Omar Ramirez Castillo, 18, was arrested Sunday after Nassau County police responded to reports of a “suspicious male” wearing a mask.
- Ramirez Castillo allegedly “continued to display suspicious behavior while attempting to conceal a large bulge in his waistband” that ended up being a 14-inch knife, officials said.
- Police said that officers stopped him and patted him down under the mask law and found the knife. Ramirez Castillo allegedly refused to comply with officer commands and was placed under arrest.
- He was charged with criminal possession of a weapon, obstructing governmental administration and charged with violating the Mask Transparency Act.
- The controversial ban on wearing face coverings in public was signed into law Aug. 15 in Nassau County, which covers part of Long Island, just east of New York City.
- Those who violate the law face a misdemeanor charge punishable by up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine.
- County legislator Howard Kopel had said the mask ban bill was introduced in response to “antisemitic incidents, often perpetrated by those in masks” since the start of the Israel-Hamas war on Oct. 7.
- Critics say the ban poses a risk for those who want to peacefully protest while concealing their identities.
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Important Takeaways:
- Israeli forces killed five Palestinian gunmen overnight who were hiding in a mosque in the West Bank city of Tulkarem, including a local terror leader, the Israel Defense Forces, police and Shin Bet security agency said on Thursday morning.
- Among the dead in the mosque was Muhammad Jaber, known as Abu Shuja’a, who Palestinian media had previously reported to be the commander of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s local wing in the Nur Shams camp in Tulkarem.
- The detained terror operative in the building adjacent to the mosque was identified by Palestinian media as Mohammed Qassas, a founding member of Islamic Jihad’s local wing in Tulkarem.
- The large operation, involving the Kfir Brigade, the Duvdevan Commando Unit, combat engineers, and Border Police, was expected to last at least several days, military sources said Wednesday.
- The ongoing operation was focused on dismantling a Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror network in the Tulkarem area, as well as in Jenin and the Far’a camp near Tubas.
- The large-scale operation was also launched in part following an intended suicide bombing in Tel Aviv earlier this month.
- Since October 7, troops have arrested some 4,850 wanted Palestinians across the West Bank, including more than 1,960 affiliated with Hamas.
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Important Takeaways:
- California Democrats are “crazy” for passing a progressive legislature that would give illegal immigrants up to $150,000 in first-time homeownership, officials said.
- The bill, AB 1840, would require the California Housing Finance Authority’s home purchase assistance program, or California Dream for All Program, to include illegal immigrants’ applications.
- The bill cleared the state Senate on Tuesday.
- In a statement to Fox News Digital, California Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher of Yuba City argued that the legislation would exacerbate the border crisis, the housing crisis and the high cost of living in the Golden State.
- “I didn’t know it was possible to make the border crisis and the housing crisis worse with just one vote, but Democrats found a way,” Gallagher said. “Giving taxpayer-funded housing subsidies to illegal immigrants will drive costs even higher and encourage more chaos at the border.”
- “This is crazy, and it needs to stop,” he said.
- The California Dream for All program passed despite funds running out just 11 days after being instituted in June, which was awarded to 1,700 first-time homebuyers at the time.
- California Gov. Gavin Newsom has not said whether he will sign the bill into law if it clears the legislature before the Aug. 31 deadline.
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