USA - The insane healthcare costs in the US have a solid record in shocking the rest of the world. The killer bills are what a staggering 83% of Americans, regardless of their income, said make quality medical care virtually unaffordable in this Pew Center research. Moreover, almost half, or 41%, of working-age Americans, regardless of their income, are struggling to pay off their medical bills and have accumulated debt over time, showed this research. So if there’s an American horror story people are honestly dreading, it must be the healthcare costs. Today, two-thirds of people who file for bankruptcy cite medical issues as a key contributor to their financial downfall. A recent study reported that 66.5% of all bankruptcies were directly tied to medical issues, because of either high costs for care or time out of work. An estimated 530,000 families turn to bankruptcy each year because of medical issues and bills, which for many seems like a worst-case scenario.

USA - Apple is pushing back against criticism over its plan to scan photos on users iPhones and in iCloud storage in search of child sexual abuse images. In a Frequently Asked Questions document focusing on its 'Expanded Protections for Children,' Apple insisted its system couldn't be exploited to seek out images related to anything other than child sexual abuse material (CSAM). The system will not scan photo albums, Apple says, but rather looks for matches based on a database of 'hashes' - a type of digital fingerprint - of known CSAM images provided by child safety organizations. While the measures are initially only being rolled out in the US, Apple plans for the technology to soon be available worldwide.

USA - Amos Miller and his family has been running Miller’s Organic Farm for over a century, providing willing and highly satisfied customers with milk, chicken, beef, and eggs. All of the food coming from Miller’s farm is beyond organic, humanely raised in a non-factory setting and the animals treated with dignity as they spend their entire lives naturally and stress-free out on pasture. By any moral standard, Miller’s farm is the leading example of what farming in America should look like. Unfortunately, because Miller uses humane techniques and treats his animals well, this has put a government target on his back. Recently, federal Judge Edward G Smith, imposed sanctions on his farm, ordering the family farm to pay over $250,000 in fines or go to jail. Because the Millers don’t use the USDA factory farm methods, this makes them non-compliant and thus an enemy of the state.

CHINA - China could prevail in a conflict over Taiwan ‘even if the US intervenes', a panel of experts have warned. The panel of experts, questioned during a virtual meeting hosted by LaTrobe University, set out to discuss the possibility of war in Asia amid surging tensions in the South China Sea. Professor Nick Bisley, dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, said: "Xi Jinping has made a very public and very clear signal that says ‘Taiwan is not a problem that will be passed down to the next generation’." When asked who the conflict will involve, Dr Oriana Skylar Mastro, a China expert at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University, said the US is guaranteed to participate. However, she said one of the main reasons for Beijing’s more aggressive tactics in recent years is the thought China might actually win the conflict. Dr Mastro believes the reason China could win the conflict is simply due to geographical proximity. “It’s possible that China can move before the United States even has the time to respond,” she added.

USA - Soldiers are in training for "America's worst day" amid fears of a nuclear or biological attack and ballistic threats. The Army’s Task Force 46 were coached on how to respond to an attack on New York City, including a focus on its subway system and tourist hotpsots like the Yankee Stadium. Around 170 soldiers from across the country joined forces with the city's police force and firefighters for the three day exercise on Randall’s Island last week. Task Force 46, which was formed in 2013, spent their time practising chemical decontamination and how to carry out search and rescue efforts. Training included simulated nuclear, chemical and biological attacks, Army Times reports.

AFGHANISTAN - Over the weekend a second provincial capital has fallen to the Taliban, this time in the north of Afghanistan, just days after the southern Nimruz province, which borders Iran, fell reportedly with barely any resistance from US-trained Afghan national forces. On Saturday Sheberghan, the capital of Jowzjan province, was captured at a moment when the US State Department has sounded the alarm for any American citizens still remaining in the country, with just a little over a month to go until Biden's September 11 complete troop exit deadline. The US embassy in Kabul had urged Americans to leave the war-torn country "immediately" while noting they can't rely on government flights. It could now be a mere matter of months or even weeks before Kabul finds itself under siege.

USA - The White House’s $1.2 trillion infrastructure package includes a pilot program for a national mile-driven tax, contradicting President Biden’s previous dismissal of the policy. Tucked within the 2,702-page infrastructure bill is obscure language requiring the Department of Transportation to test the feasibility of taxing drivers for the number of miles they travel. The tax would be broad enough to target any “passenger motor vehicles,” including "light and medium-to-heavy duty trucks.” The bill also requires Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg (or their successors) to report to Congress about the findings of the program within three years of its creation. Those findings, the bill’s authors say, can then be used by federal lawmakers to assess whether such a tax should be implemented to fund improvements on roads and highways.

USA - The new “Delta Plus” variant has arrived in San Francisco as authorities ramp up the fear to level 100. Just two months ago, most Americans were convinced that the COVID pandemic was on the way out, and much of the country was celebrating as a “return to normal” seemed to be in the cards. But now the Delta variant has caused a brand new wave that very few experts anticipated. Right now, the US is averaging more than 100,000 newly confirmed cases per day, and the only other time we have been at that level was during the dark days of the dramatic surge that we witnessed just after the presidential election last fall. If that wasn’t bad enough, now we are being warned about other variants that could potentially be even more dangerous than the Delta variant. If you go back to late June, the US was averaging about 11,000 newly confirmed cases per day, but thanks to the Delta variant that number is now nearly 10 times higher…

Since coronavirus pandemic lockdowns were implemented by many governments in 2020, people around the world have held largely peaceful protests against unprecedented social distancing restrictions that are devastating global economies and ruining people’s lives. Now, faced with being ordered to obey new laws that require them to be injected with COVID-19 vaccines in order to enter public spaces or hold a job, on July 24, 2021 — World Freedom Day — hundreds of thousands of people of all ages took to the streets in Australia, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Greece and Germany to publicly challenge oppressive public health laws.

USA - Drought and grasshoppers ravage fields in Northwest, some producers bale 10% of normal hay crop. Grasshoppers are invading pastures and fields. The corn is so short farmers are forced to chop with a draper head. Ranchers continue to cull cows. The drought in the West is producing many firsts, as farmers and ranchers grapple with dire decisions as the latest US Drought Monitor shows 98% of the West is covered in drought. “It’s so widespread that I’m afraid it’s going to be pretty devastating to the industry,” says Bob Skinner, a rancher in southeast Oregon. “Hay in our country is going to be really hard to find. Prices are going up every day.”

USA - The pandemic is not coming to an end soon — given that only a small proportion of the world population has been vaccinated against Covid-19, a well-known epidemiologist told CNBC. Still, only 15% of the world population has been vaccinated and more than 100 countries have inoculated less than 5% of their people, noted Brilliant. “I think we’re closer to the beginning than we are to the end [of the pandemic], and that’s not because the variant that we’re looking at right now is going to last that long,” said Brilliant, who is now the founder and CEO of a pandemic response consultancy, Pandefense Advisory. “Unless we vaccinate everyone in 200 plus countries, there will still be new variants,” he said, predicting that the coronavirus will eventually become a “forever virus” like influenza.

CANADA - Videos being shared online falsely suggest the Canadian province of Alberta dropped COVID-19 restrictions after failing to produce evidence in court that the SARS-CoV-2 virus exists. The office of the health minister of Alberta said the lifting of public health measures was in no way connected with the case referenced in the video. The virus has been isolated in countries worldwide, including Canada.

USA - The official narrative has shifted from “we can beat the coronavirus” to “we can coexist with it but only if you follow our shifting instructions very carefully.” The pandemic has become endemic, going from something we can beat to “another virus that we’ll have to live with.” As far back as February, an article in Nature asked if we could ever be “coronavirus-free… [by maintaining] heavy restrictions… could the world hope to rid itself of the virus?” Probably not. The good news from a San Francisco hospital coronavirus cluster is that the vaccinated don’t get very sick anymore. The bad news is that they can test positive. “At least 233 staff members at two major San Francisco hospitals, most of them fully vaccinated, tested positive for the coronavirus this month, and most, according to a hospital official, involved the highly contagious Delta variant.” However, few were seriously stricken. This shift in tone is a significant one because it sets the stage for an indefinite period of vigilance. Gone are the categorical expectations of quick triumph. In its place is a protracted total war where the key word is “mandatory.”

USA - Health officials continue to lose credibility over COVID-19. They seem to change their minds daily based on whim rather than science. But that’s been the case since the pandemic started. Going back to last January, official comments on COVID have been mostly wrong. The comments were either outright lies or were prescriptions based on politics, not medicine. In January 2020, the World Health Organization said there was no human-to-human transmission of COVID. They knew better because of data from China, so that was a lie. Dr Anthony Fauci said there was little risk of COVID coming from China to the US. Another lie. Then, over the course of 15 months, Fauci said not to wear masks, then he said to wear them, then he said you could take them off. Now, he says it’s time to put them on again.

JAPAN - Japan has ordered the evacuation of some 300,200 people from the prefectures of Hiroshima, Shimane and Ehime over the Lupit typhoon, media reported on Monday. Japanese airline canceled 63 flights in the southwestern part of the country over the typhoon, the NHK broadcaster reported. The Lupit's central atmospheric pressure is 985 hectopascals, with winds reaching 23 meters per second (51 miles per hour) and maximum gusts of up to 35 meters per second. The experts warn of stronger winds and higher waves. Typhoon Lupit was reported to have lashed the coastal provinces of China on Thursday, causing heavy downpours in other regions.