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Beijing has sacked its top health official, state media reported on Wednesday (May 25), as the Chinese capital battles a surge in COVID-19 infections despite the country's strict zero-tolerance policy. The city has reported hundreds of cases in recent weeks in an Omicron-variant-fuelled outbreak - its largest since the start of the pandemic. Millions have been ordered to work from home with the vast majority of bus and subway services suspended, while thousands of people were relocated to quarantine hotels after a handful of infections were detected in their residential compounds.

CASA GRANDE, Ariz. (AP) — Two women were arrested after about 500,000 fentanyl pills were found in an SUV pulled over for speeding on Interstate 10 in Arizona, police said. The pills were found concealed in collagen supplement bottles on Monday during a search that also turned up a handgun and a large amount of cash. In the Arizona traffic stop, Martha Lopez, 31, and Tania Luna Solis, 30, were arrested on suspicion of crimes including possession of a narcotic drug for sale, according to police. Court records didn’t list attorneys who could comment on behalf Lopez or Solis, who...

The US Q1 GDP report is due out tomorrow morning. The forecast is for -1.3% decline in GDP. The Atlanta Fed GDPNow real-time GDP tracker is for 1.806% for Q2. If this holds, then recession fears will diminish. Even though the US may avoid consecutive negative GDP quarters, M2 Money Velocity (GDP/M2 Money) got crushed by The Fed’s reaction to Covid back in 2020. Talk about a bad return on “the people’s money”.

Liberal firebrand Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Trump-allied Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) are set to square off next month in a policy debate at a full-size replica of the United States Senate in Boston. The debate series is the brainchild of former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) who is hoping to rekindle the Senate’s tradition of debate and collegiality, which many senators feel has gotten lost in recent years as the use of filibusters has become more common to block debate.

If we hope to preserve a healthy planet for our grandchildren and beyond, our oceans (Big Blue) will be the key. With 71 percent of Earth covered by water, this should be obvious to all. And right now, we have a golden opportunity to further protect our oceans while simultaneously putting the screws to China. Though Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine is on top of everyone's mind at present, China remains the far greater geopolitical risk to the global community, as well as to our oceans. The Mediterranean has long been known as the 'most overfished sea' in the world....

Should teenagers be forced to go to high school? Here’s President Obama from the State of the Union speech on Tuesday: [Obama]: "We also know that when students aren’t allowed to walk away from their education, more of them walk the stage to get their diploma. So tonight, I call on every State to require that all students stay in high school until they graduate or turn eighteen." Another idea that sounds good as a bullet point in a speech, but not so much in reality.

A day after another deadly mass shooting in the United States and with no gun control legislation in sight, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said that “there is a plague upon this nation.” But he admitted action was unlikely. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, reacted to the shooting in his home state by writing, ​“Heidi & I are fervently lifting up in prayer the children and families in the horrific shooting in Uvalde. We are in close contact with local officials, but the precise details are still unfolding. Thank you to heroic law enforcement & first responders for acting so swiftly.”...

According to Governor Abbott, 18-year-old Salvador Ramos posted 3 status updates to his Facebook page warning of the attacks shortly before killing 21 people and shooting his grandmother in the face. 30 minutes before the shootings, he wrote the following: – “I’m going to shoot my grandmother.” – “I shot my grandmother.” – “I’m going to shoot an elementary school.” According to reports, Ramos’ grandmother is still alive and in critical condition. Ramos also posted photos to Instagram before he carried out the deadly shooting.

What happened Shares of cruise line stocks plunged in trading on Tuesday as the market continues to grapple with economic uncertainty. . So what The news continues to be murky at best with companies warning of slowing sales in a variety of sectors, consumers experiencing inflation, and the Federal Reserve continuing to indicate that it will keep raising interest rates. Today's news was that Snap is experiencing far slower advertising spending in just the last few weeks than expected and that indicates companies from direct response retailers to gaming companies to big brands are pulling back on their spending. This...

PARIS -- It was inevitable that sooner or later, leading European countries would start distancing themselves from the aggressive rhetoric that has been the hallmark of the European Union leadership's approach to the armed conflict in Ukraine. Last week in Turin, Italian Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio presented a four-point peace plan to United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who made contact with Moscow and Kyiv in visits a few weeks ago. Di Maio also chaired the group of Europe's foreign ministers at a meeting in Turin, including those of other EU countries which have recently shown interest in de-escalating...

In defending House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s pro-abortion stances, MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough suggested Tuesday that Jesus Christ was not against abortion. The MSNBC host accused pro-life activists of “dragging the politics of abortion up into the altar of the church,” noting that the Southern Baptist Church, to which he says he belongs, was “effectively pro-choice until 1980.” “This wasn’t about Jesus. It was about politics. That was the rise of the moral majority in 1980, bringing abortion politics into the pews of Republican-leaning churches,” he said. Scarborough then claimed that Jesus “never once mentioned” abortion in the gospels, though most religions...

Russian troops are using social media channels to discuss the war, despite potentially punitive punishments. The Kremlin won’t like it. By May, the entire Russian army had begun to feel the strain of the war. The high casualties sustained by the troops, and the fact that the best units were already deployed in Ukraine, became the hot topic of conversation not only among the liberals and journalists, but among the military too. The May 9 Victory Day parade on Red Square figured extensively in those conversations – not only because Vladimir Putin shunned the opportunity to swell the military’s ranks...

"In New York," former Gov. Andrew Cuomo bragged on Sunday, "we passed the best (gun control) laws in the nation." Although those laws manifestly did not prevent the mass shooting that killed 10 people at a Buffalo supermarket on May 14, Cuomo thinks the answer is more legislation of the same sort. Cuomo mentioned a federal "assault weapon" ban, and other politicians have responded to the Buffalo massacre by calling for expanded background checks and more aggressive enforcement of "red flag" laws that aim to disarm dangerous people. But those policies are fundamentally ill-suited to stopping would-be mass murderers from...

Two notorious leftist billionaires funneled millions into some of the same organizations that attacked Tesla CEO Elon Musk as a threat to democracy.

The DPR People’s milita provided evidence that despite having signed international treaties banning their stockpiling and their use, Ukraine still possesses and uses anti-personnel mines, especially in the Donbass. For the seventh year, the Donbass residents live in a state of continuous war. The armed forces of Ukraine use heavy artillery, mortars and shooting weapons. The use of anti-personnel mines, which are prohibited by international treaties, by the Ukrainian military is of particular concern. During the briefing of the official representative of the DPR People’ s Militia Eduard Basurin, based on collected photos and video materials, we will show all...

If you’re only dimly aware of the ongoing D.C. criminal trial of corrupt Hillary Clinton lawyer Michael Sussmann, don’t feel bad. That’s the way they want it, they being the Deep State. On Friday, Hillary’s campaign manager Robby Mook testified under oath. He swore that in the middle of the 2016 presidential campaign, Clinton signed off on secretly handing the corrupt FBI a totally bogus, made-up report on Donald Trump’s alleged communications with the Kremlin through a server for Alfa Bank in Moscow. You see, the fraudulent Steele “dossier” wasn’t the Democrats’ only attempted frame-up of Trump. Hillary et al....

The latest snapshot of the halting count in Pennsylvania’s Republican U.S. Senate primary shows Dr. Mehmet Oz maintaining a 902-vote lead over David McCormick. But with about 10,000 potential votes left to count across all parties and an automatic recount ordered, McCormick’s campaign has shown no appetite for making a concession now. All 67 counties were required to make a report to the Pennsylvania Department of State of their unofficial counts by the close of business Tuesday, along with an accounting of what tallying is still left to complete. Acting Secretary of State Leigh Chapman said Wednesday those reports showed...

The legacy state-run Palm Beach Post published an editorial, disguised as news, that tries to influence school board races, hurt republican candidates, Gov. DeSantis, and support the awful Palm Beach County School Board. Let’s start with the headline, “With Ron DeSantis stoking culture war issues, school boards emerge as major Florida battleground.” That’s an opinion headline. The only fact in that headline is that school board races are a battleground in Florida, but since school board races have been and are a battleground all over the country, throwing in Gov. DeSantis is a tawdry little attack by cowards who hide...

I don’t mean to minimize a big win for sane Republicans by sharing credit for it with Democrats. Brian Kemp and especially Brad Raffensperger prevailing without runoffs is the most encouraging thing to happen in GOP elections since… I can’t even think of the last encouraging thing. Sometime in the Before Times. Anyone inclined to cite last night as proof that Trump is losing his grip on the party, though, should bear in the mind that we have yet to see a truly anti-Trump Republican win anywhere this year. Raffensperger himself is the closest thing, but even Raffensperger won’t rule...