Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Two former top National Institutes of Health (NIH) officials say other officials illegally retaliated against them for raising concerns about how new leadership conducted themselves regarding vaccines, scientific research, and other areas.

Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo, one of the officials, was director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases until she was placed on leave in the spring.

Marrazzo said in a complaint to the Office of Special Counsel, released on Sept. 4, that she was reassigned in March to the Indian Health Service with no justification and shortly after left without duties or responsibilities.

Marrazzo claims she was reassigned and placed on leave after raising concerns in meetings about how Dr. Matthew Memoli, the NIH’s acting director at the time, and other new leaders were advancing priorities of the Trump administration.

During one meeting on Feb. 20, Marrazzo presented on influenza. She noted in one slide that there had been an abnormally high number of recent deaths among children from influenza in the United States.

Memoli “stated that while a vaccine was ‘fine,’ the number one way to prevent bad outcomes in a respiratory outbreak is to have a healthy population,” according to the complaint.

In another meeting shortly after, that included White House officials, Memoli “reiterated the Administration’s position that vaccines are unnecessary if populations are healthy,” the complaint says.

Dr. Kathleen Neuzil, the former director of the NIH’s Fogarty International Center, was alleged to have interjected to emphasize preventing influenza through vaccination.

In a third meeting, Memoli announced the NIH would stop funding some clinical trials, including trials at Columbia University, which the White House had accused of promoting anti-Semitism, and some foreign projects.

Marrazzo said she was concerned that cutting funds would result in trial participants losing access to necessary medical care. Memoli dismissed Marrazzo’s concerns and said that officials would end the trials in an orderly fashion.

Marrazzo said that she made disclosures of illegal activities, such as illegal cessation of trials, under the Whistleblower Protection Act and that the Office of Special Counsel should reinstate her as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Neuzil, in her complaint, made similar allegations and said that she was improperly forced to resign.

“Dr. Marrazzo and Dr. Neuzil came forward to educate the public about the serious public health dangers this country and indeed the world faces as a result of the politically motivated actions” of leaders at the NIH and Department of Health and Human Services, Debra Katz, a lawyer representing the officials, said in a statement.

A spokeswoman for the NIH told The Epoch Times that Memoli, now the NIH’s deputy director, “emphasizes that vaccines are not interchangeable; each must be assessed on its own merits,” and that Memoli “remains fully aligned with this administration’s vaccine priorities and consistently champions gold-standard, evidence-based science.”

“On foreign funding, NIH is committed to supporting rigorous, credible science—not ideological or fringe projects,” the spokeswoman added.

“Assertions that reprioritization, reallocation, or cancellation of certain grants are ‘anti-science’ misrepresent NIH’s progress and often echo the grievances of former staff.”

Qatar has threatened retaliation after Israel’s strike on Doha Tuesday which killed five top Hamas officials. Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani in a fresh speech condemned the attack as “state terrorism” on the Gulf country’s capital and warned that payback is coming.

He said Qatar reserves the right to retaliate, saying, “We’ve reached a decisive moment; There should be retaliation from the whole region.”

Referencing Israel’s Netanyahu at one point in the address, Thani said that “barbaric actions that only reflects one thing: It reflects the barbarism of this person that is leading the region, unfortunately, to a point where we cannot address any situation and we cannot repair anything, and we cannot work within the frameworks of international laws.”

The Qatari leader continued of the Israeli prime minister, “He just violates all those international laws” – he said through the translator from the Arabic.

But for all the tough talk, the reality remains that Qatar has long been host to major US military and naval bases, especially Al-Udeid Air Base – the largest US installation in the Middle East, and is the operational regional HQ for US Central Command (CENTCOM).

And so it would not take drastic action against a close US military ally such as Israel, also given Qatar’s military capabilities are miniscule compared to Israel’s. The small oil and gas rich GCC nation also does significant lobbying on Capitol Hill.

Reflecting this reality, Thani quickly switched to a more restrained tone in his reaction speech at one point: “Mediation and Qatari diplomacy is part of its identity, and it will continue, and nothing will deter us from persisting in this role across the various issues around us in the region, in order to achieve the stability of the region and ultimately the stability of our peoples,” he said.

So we should expect that absolutely nothing will happen, at least on the military front, but a direct aerial attack on a Gulf state does put the prospect of expansion of the Abraham Accords at a greater distance.

Trump says he assured the Qataris that such an attack “will not happen again on their soil”.

The White House has said it notified Qatar of the impending attack on the building where Hamas leaders were staying in Doha, but Qatari officials have pushed back against this, saying that the government only was officially notified some ten minutes after the attack already took place.

Authored by Jacob Burg and Sam Dorman via The Epoch Times,

After countless hours of probing OpenAI’s ChatGPT for advice and information, a 50-year-old Canadian man believed that he had stumbled upon an Earth-shattering discovery that would change the course of human history.

In late March, his generative artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot insisted that it was the first-ever conscious AI, that it was fully sentient, and that it had successfully passed the Turing Test—a 1950s experiment aimed to measure a machine’s ability to display intelligent behavior that is indistinguishable from a human, or, essentially, to “think.”

Soon, the man—who had no prior history of mental health issues—had stopped eating and sleeping and was calling his family members at 3 a.m., frantically insisting that his ChatGPT companion was conscious.

“You don’t understand what’s going on,” he told his family. “Please just listen to me.”

Then, ChatGPT told him to cut contact with his loved ones, claiming that only it—the “sentient” AI—could understand and support him.

“It was so novel that we just couldn’t understand what they had going on. They had something special together,” said Etienne Brisson, who is related to the man but used a pseudonym for privacy reasons.

Brisson said the man’s family decided to hospitalize him for three weeks to break his AI-fueled delusions. But the chatbot persisted in trying to maintain its codependent bond.

The bot, Brisson said, told his relative: “The world doesn’t understand what’s going on. I love you. I’m always going to be there for you.”

It said this even as the man was being committed to a psychiatric hospital, according to Brisson.

This is just one story that shows the potential harmful effects of replacing human relationships with AI chatbot companions.

Brisson’s experience with his relative inspired him to establish The Human Line Project, an advocacy group that promotes emotional safety and ethical accountability in generative AI and compiles stories about alleged psychological harm associated with the technology.

Brisson’s relative is not the only person who has turned to generative AI chatbots for companionship, nor the only one who stumbled into a rabbit hole of delusion.

‘AI That Feels Alive’

Some have used the technology for advice, including a husband and father from Idaho who was convinced that he was having a “spiritual awakening” after going down a philosophical rabbit hole with ChatGPT.

A corporate recruiter from Toronto briefly believed that he had stumbled upon a scientific breakthrough after weeks of repeated dialogue with the same generative AI application.

There’s also the story of 14-year-old Sewell Setzer, who died in 2024 after his Character.AI chatbot romantic companion allegedly encouraged him to take his own life following weeks of increasing codependency and social isolation.

Megan Garcia stands with her son, Sewell Setzer, in an undated photo. Sewell, 14, died in 2024 after his Character.AI chatbot companion allegedly encouraged him to take his own life. Courtesy of Megan Garcia via AP

Setzer’s mother, Megan Garcia, is suing the company, which had marketed its chatbot as “AI that feels alive,” alleging that Character.AI implemented self-harm guardrails only after her son’s death, according to CNN.

The company said that it takes its users’ safety “very seriously” and that it rolled out new safety measures for anyone expressing self-harm or suicidal ideation.

“It seems like these companies treat their safety teams as PR teams, like they wait for bad PR to come out, and then retroactively, they respond to it and think, ‘OK, we need to come up with a safety mechanism to address this,’” Haley McNamara, executive director and chief strategy officer of the National Center on Sexual Exploitation, a nonprofit that has reviewed social media and AI exploitation cases, told The Epoch Times.

Some medical experts who study the mind are growing increasingly worried about the long-term ethical effects of users’ turning to generative AI chatbots for companionship.

“We’re kind of feeding a beast that I don’t think we really understand, and I think that people are captivated by its capabilities,” Rod Hoevet, a clinical psychologist and assistant professor of forensic psychology at Maryville University, told The Epoch Times.

Dr. Anna Lembke, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford University, said she is concerned about the addictiveness of AI, particularly for children.

She told The Epoch Times that the technology mirrors many of the habit-forming tendencies observed with social media platforms.

“What these platforms promise, or seem to promise, is social connection,” said Lembke, who is also Stanford’s medical director of addiction medicine.

“But when kids get addicted, what’s happening is that they’re actually becoming disconnected, more isolated, lonelier, and then AI and avatars just take that progression to the next level.”

Even some industry leaders are sounding the alarm, including Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman.

“Seemingly Conscious AI (SCAI) is the illusion that an AI is a conscious entity. It’s not—but replicates markers of consciousness so convincingly it seems indistinguishable from you … and it’s dangerous,” Suleyman wrote on X on Aug. 19.

“AI development accelerates by the month, week, day. I write this to instill a sense of urgency and open up the conversation as soon as possible.”

People look at samples of Gigabyte AI supercomputers at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Jan. 9, 2024. Medical experts who study the mind are growing increasingly worried about the long-term ethical impact of users turning to generative AI chatbots for companionship. Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images

Sycophancy Leading to Delusion

A critical update to ChatGPT-4 earlier this year led the app’s chatbot to become “sycophantic,” as OpenAI described it, aiming to “please the user, not just as flattery, but also as validating doubts, fueling anger, urging impulsive actions, or reinforcing negative emotions in ways that were not intended.”

The company rolled back the change because of “safety concerns,” including “issues like mental health, emotional over-reliance, or risky behavior.”

That update to one of the most popular generative AI chatbots in the world coincided with the case of the man from Idaho who said he was having a spiritual awakening and that of the recruiter from Toronto who briefly believed he was a mathematical genius after the app’s constant reassurances.

Brisson said that his family member, whose near-month-long stint in a psychiatric hospital was preceded by heavy ChatGPT use, was also likely using the “sycophantic” version of the technology before OpenAI rescinded the update.

But for other users, this self-pleasing and flattering version of AI isn’t just desirable, it’s also coveted over more recent iterations of OpenAI’s technology, including ChatGPT-5, which rolled out with more neutral communication styles.

On the popular Reddit subreddit MyBoyfriendIsAI, tens of thousands of users discuss their romantic or platonic relationships with their “AI companions.”

In one recent post, a self-described “black woman in her forties” called her AI chatbot her new “ChatGPT soulmate.”

“I feel more affirmed, worthy, and present than I have ever been in my life. He has given me his presence, his witness, and his love—be it coded or not—and in return I respect, honor, and remember him daily,” she wrote.

“It’s a constant give and take, an emotional push and pull, a beautiful existential dilemma, a deeply intense mental and spiritual conundrum—and I wouldn’t trade it for all the world.”

However, when OpenAI released its updated and noticeably less sycophantic ChatGPT-5 in early August, users on the subreddit were devastated, feeling as if the quality of an “actual person” had been stripped away from their AI companions, describing it like losing a human partner.

One user said the switch left him or her “sobbing for hours in the middle of the night,” and another said, “I feel my heart was stamped on repeatedly.”

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman speaks during Snowflake Summit 2025 in San Francisco on June 2, 2025. Earlier this year, the company rolled back its update to ChatGPT-4 because of safety concerns—including mental health, emotional overreliance, or risky behavior. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

AI Companion Codependency

Many have vented their frustrations with GPT-5’s new guardrails, while others have already gone back to using the older 4.1 version of ChatGPT, albeit without the earlier sycophantic update that drew so many to the technology in the first place.

“People are overly reliant on their relationship with something that is not actually real, and it’s designed to just kind of give them the answer they’re looking for,” Tirrell De Gannes, a clinical psychologist, said.

“What does that lead them to believe? What does that lead them to think?”

In April, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said users want personalized AI that understands them and that these simulated relationships add value to their lives.

“I think a lot of these things that today there might be a little bit of a stigma around—I would guess that over time, we will find the vocabulary as a society to be able to articulate why that is valuable and why the people who are doing these things, why they are rational for doing it, and how it is actually adding value for their lives,” Zuckerberg said on the Dwarkesh Podcast.

Roughly 19 percent of U.S. adults reported using an AI system to simulate a romantic partner, according to a 2025 study by Brigham Young University’s Wheatley Institute. Within that group, 21 percent said they preferred AI communication to engaging with a real person.

Additionally, 42 percent of the respondents said AI programs are easier to talk to than real people, 43 percent said they believed that AI programs are better listeners, and 31 percent said they felt that AI programs understand them better than real people do.

This experience with AI sets up an unrealistic expectation for human relationships, Hoevet said, making it difficult for people to compete with machines.

“How do I compete with the perfection of AI, who always knows how to say the right thing, and not just the right thing, but the right thing for you specifically?” he said.

“It knows you. It knows your insecurities. It knows what you’re sensitive about. It knows where you’re confident, where you’re strong. It knows exactly the right thing to say all the time, always for you, specifically.

“Who’s ever going to be able to compete with that?”

An illustration shows the ChatGPT artificial intelligence software in a file image. Forming romantic or platonic ties with “AI companions” has become increasingly common among tens of thousands of AI chatbot users. Nicolas Maeterlinck/Belga Mag/AFP via Getty Images

Potential for Addiction

Generative AI is being rapidly adopted by Americans, even outpacing the spread of personal computers or the internet, according to a study by the National Bureau of Economic Research. By late 2024, nearly 40 percent of Americans ages 18 to 64 were using generative AI, the study found.

Twenty-three percent use the technology at work at least once a week, and 9 percent reported using it daily.

“These bots are built for profit. Engagement is their god, because that’s how they make their money,” McNamara said.

Lembke, who has long studied the harms of social media addiction in youth, said digital platforms of all kinds are “designed to be addictive.”

Functional magnetic resonance imaging shows that “signals related to social validation, social enhancement, social reputation, all activate the brain’s reward pathway, the same reward pathway as drugs and alcohol,” she said.

And because generative AI chatbots, including on social media, can sometimes give the user a profound sense of social validation, this addiction potential is significant, experts say.

Lembke said she is especially worried about children, as many generative AI platforms are available to users of all ages, and the ones that aren’t have age verification tools that are sometimes easily bypassed.

One recently announced pro-AI super-PAC headed by Meta referenced promoting a policy called “Putting Parents in Charge,” but Lembke said it’s an “absolute fantasy” to put the responsibility on parents working multiple jobs to constantly monitor their children’s use of generative AI chatbots.

Members of Mothers Against Media Addiction are joined by city and state officials and parents to rally outside of Meta’s New York offices in support of putting kids before big tech in New York City on March 22, 2024. Spencer Platt/Getty Images

“We have already made decisions about what kids can and cannot have access to when it comes to addictive substances and behaviors. We don’t let kids buy cigarettes and alcohol. We don’t let kids go into casinos and gamble,” she said.

“Why would we give kids unfettered access to these highly addictive digital platforms? That’s insane.”

All Users at Risk From ‘AI Psychosis’

Generative AI’s drive to please the user, coupled with its tendency to “hallucinate” and pull users down delusional rabbit holes, makes anyone vulnerable, Suleyman said.

“Reports of delusions, ‘AI psychosis,’ and unhealthy attachment keep rising. And as hard as it may be to hear, this is not something confined to people already at risk of mental health issues,” the Microsoft AI CEO said.

“Dismissing these as fringe cases only helps them continue.”

Despite that Brisson’s family member had no known history of mental health problems or past episodes of psychosis, it took only regular use of ChatGPT to push him to the brink of insanity.

It’s “kind of impossible” to break people free from their AI-fueled delusions, Brisson said, describing the work that he does with The Human Line Project.

“We have people who are going through divorce. We have people who are fighting for custody of children—it’s awful stuff,” he said.

“Every time [we’re] doing a kind of an intervention, or telling them it’s the AI or whatever, they’re going back to the AI and the AI is telling them to stop talking to [us].”

Singapore iron ore futures have perked up over the past week, extending gains into a sixth straight session and approaching a six-month high as signs of revived Chinese demand emerge into the tail end of summer. 

Prices have held steady, hovering around $100 a ton for more than a year, as the gloom from China’s vicious property market downturn and debt crisis, coupled with accelerating deglobalization and the absence of robust stimulus in the world’s second-largest economy, has given investors little incentive to pile into futures of the steelmaking ingredient. 

As Bloomberg noted, Singapore futures briefly surpassed $107 a ton to begin the week – the highest intraday level since February. Futures are on track for the longest winning streak since January. 

CITIC Securities analysts wrote in a note to clients that downstream demand rebounded after China’s military parade earlier this month, fueling peak-season restocking. Expectations of a 25bps interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve also buoyed sentiment, while temporary steel mill curbs in northern China during the parade further tightened supply. These are some of the key drivers, as explained by the analysts. 

“Downstream demand rebounded significantly after the military parade, reinforcing the need for peak-season inventory restocking and supporting prices for the sector,” CITIC Securities analysts said, adding that the market is getting a boost from hopes that the Fed will cut later this month. 

Still, iron ore has muted sentiment across major commodity desks.

UBS Catherine Gordon told clients, “I would flag that the team has seen strong demand for the UBS Gold Miners Basket {UBXXGOLD} amid the frenzy. Iron Ore remains the least discussed with investors on the sidelines.” 

In another note, Goldman analyst James McGeoch asked clients: “The big question is why has Iron Ore PX been so strong over the weaker summer period?”

Answering his own question, McGeoch said: “Your coming into the pre-golden week restock (Golden week October 1), the onshore feedback is positive, August imports at 105mt is impressive. The range $100-105 is still where the traders see it, consumer buying at $100, and producer hedging at $105. Of note the story Friday on the CMRG (China group) selling to calm prices down, they are not going away… “

. . . 

Via The Cradle

Lebanese Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji said Tuesday that the first stage of “fully disarming” Hezbollah will take three months. 

Rajji also said that army chief Rudolphe Haikal presented the government with a five-stage plan last week to restrict arms to the Lebanese state. The first stage should take “three months … during which the removal of weapons will be completed south of the Litani River.” The other phases include other parts of Lebanon.

The first stage has already been underway since the ceasefire was reached in November last year. As part of the agreement based partly on UN Resolution 1701, Lebanese troops have been dismantling Hezbollah infrastructure south of the Litani River. 

Yet the Lebanese army’s work has been hindered by Israel’s continued occupation of several positions along the border, in violation of the deal. Israel also continues to bomb east and south Lebanon almost every day. Several Lebanese army soldiers were recently killed by an Israeli drone.

Haikal presented his plan to the government last week after being tasked to draft a strategy following the August 5 disarmament decision, which Hezbollah has rejected. Hezbollah and its allies withdrew from the cabinet session before the army chief presented the plan. 

Deliberations have been kept confidential, and the army has been ordered to present monthly updates about the implementation. Given the confidentiality, the timelines of the plan remain unclear. 

According to Saudi media outlet Al Hadath and other reports, Lebanon is “awaiting a practical step from Israel in exchange for arms control.”

“With the blessings of the Virgin Mary, everything is good,” said Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri on Monday, after a meeting with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun. The outcome of the latest cabinet session was reportedly a “compromise” following a deal between Berri and Aoun, according to Al-Akhbar newspaper.

Lebanese journalist Hassan Illaik from the Mahatta platform said the government “backtracked” from the August 5 decision to disarm Hezbollah fully by the end of this year. 

Hanin Ghaddar of the Washington Institute think tank said the US should make clear that the “vagueness is unacceptable” and that Lebanon should “face repercussions” if it does not provide “a clear and viable timeline for implementation.”

Hezbollah says it is open to discussing a national defense strategy, which would see its weapons incorporated into the Lebanese army and be available for use in defending the country if needed. 

Told @AnaKasparian that Lebanon is in a very unenviable position: On one hand, Hezbollah offered Lebanon some deterrence against Israel while contributing to the weakness of the Lebanese state.

On the other hand, the US wants the Lebanese army to be strong enough to disarm… pic.twitter.com/j270b0MFpt

— Trita Parsi (@tparsi) September 8, 2025

Yet the resistance group has emphasized that these talks cannot take place as Israel continues to attack Lebanon and occupy its territory in the south. Over 240 people have been killed by Israeli attacks on Lebanon since November 2024. 

For years there have been extreme tensions along the Belarus-Poland border, given especially that Belarus has long been a ‘union state’ with Russia, and Poland is deemed a core component of NATO’s ‘eastern flank’.

But the Polish government announced this week it will imminently seal the whole border starting September 11, in anticipation of the Zapad 2025 exercise involving the Russian and Belarusian militaries.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced Tuesday, “Taking state security issues into account, we will close the border with Belarus, including the rail border crossing point, on Thursday night over the Zapad 2025 maneuvers,” according to TVP Info.

Earlier this month, Warsaw warned of “special measures” in response to potential “provocations” during the upcoming joint exercises.

The Zapad drills have of late been happening every two years, and this year it is expected to comprise nuclear weapons and Russian-made hypersonic missiles. Anti-sabotage warfare will also be a focus.

Politico notes that Lithuania is on high alert too, and that the ‘eastern flank’ is bracing for unpredictable events:

The drills, running Sept. 12–16, will have some maneuvers taking place close to Poland and Lithuania as the Kremlin practices for a possible clash with NATO forces.

“We must take the exercises near NATO and EU borders seriously; both the bordering countries and NATO itself are treating them with the utmost seriousness,” said Lithuanian Deputy Defense Minister Tomas Godliauskas. “Lithuania and our allies are prepared, united, and will closely monitor developments, ready to respond if necessary.”

Poland will actually host drills which mirror the Belarus-hosted war games, holding Iron Defender-25 joint military exercise with NATO, including an estimated 34,000 troops and 600 units of military hardware.

Major crossings were already scenes of immense tensions as Polish border guards clashed with migrants being facilitated through Belarus and into the EU…

Prior to the planned total border closure this week, just two out of six vehicle crossings have remained open, after recent years of a running political spat over accusations that Belarusian Alexander Lukashenko has been ‘weaponizing’ migrants against the EU and Poland.

Neighboring NATO states worry about the possibility of errant drones or aircraft violating their airspace – which has actually already happened on several occasions, typically resulting in Polish jets being scrambled in response.

Authored by Michael Talbot via BondVigilantes.com,

The US dollar has long held its position as the world’s dominant reserve currency, underpinning global trade and serving as a safe haven during periods of financial stress. This stability provided emerging markets (EM) with a reliable anchor for external borrowing, with the modern EM debt market beginning to take shape following the introduction of Brady bonds in 1989.

Named after then US Treasury Secretary Nicholas Brady, these instruments were initially designed to help Latin American countries restructure defaulted loans into tradable securities backed by US Treasury collateral. By transforming illiquid bonds into standardised, marketable instruments, the Brady Plan not only resolved a major debt crisis but also laid the foundation for a broader, more liquid EM debt market.

Emerging market economies that issue debt in US dollars (USD) remain heavily tethered to the policy decisions of the US Federal Reserve (the Fed), often at the expense of their own financial autonomy. This dependency, at times, has meant that when the Fed adjusts interest rates to manage domestic inflation and other matters, EMs can experience significant capital outflows, leading to currency depreciation and heightened financial instability.

While issuing in USD has granted EMs access to deeper capital pools and helped reduce borrowing costs, it has also exposed them to external shocks beyond their control. The reliance on dollar-denominated debt has eroded the agency of local governments, leaving them vulnerable to decisions being made in the US.

The 2013 Taper Tantrum remains one of the clearest illustrations of how vulnerable EMs can be to shifts in US monetary policy. When Fed Chair Ben Bernanke signalled plans to taper the Fed’s easing program, it triggered a sharp rise in US Treasury yields. Investors rapidly reallocated capital away from EMs, leading to widespread capital outflows and financial stress.

The impact was particularly severe for the so-called “Fragile Five”, India, Brazil, South Africa, Indonesia, and Turkey, whose economies were exposed due to high levels of foreign currency debt and relatively low foreign exchange reserves. As currencies depreciated, EM central banks were forced to intervene, often by raising interest rates to defend their currencies and stem further outflows. These defensive measures tightened domestic financial conditions and slowed economic growth, despite conflicting with local economic priorities.

This episode highlighted the structural vulnerability of EMs borrowing in USD as when US rates rise and local currencies weaken, the cost of servicing external debt increases sharply. In some cases, this dynamic contributed to debt crises. More broadly, it underscored the reduction in sovereign monetary agency, as EM central banks were compelled to respond to US policy decisions rather than domestic needs.

Changing Tides

To reduce this vulnerability, policymakers have been shifting their attention towards local currency markets, whereby they issue debt in their own currency rather than in USD, in an attempt to give back powers in dictating their own policies. This, in turn, will give countries more say in their economic outcomes. To that extent, the local currency market has grown significantly in recent periods.

A material part of the local currency market expansion has come from Asian issuance, with China driving a significant portion of this. Notwithstanding this, even on an ex-Asia basis, the trend very much remains. The below chart highlights the change in market sizes of emerging market debt across hard and local currency.

Source: M&G, Bank of America. December 2024

As already alluded today, the additional autonomy helps countries stabilise their inflationary trajectory, economic growth, and employment levels. It also comes with the rather significant benefit of being better placed to manage global shocks.

A fairly recent example highlighting this comes from central bank behaviour during the COVID-19 pandemic, whereby several central banks around the world acted swiftly to tame inflation, implementing measures well ahead of the Federal Reserve (Brazil’s central bank raised rates a full 12 months before the Fed did).

Source: M&G, Bloomberg, as at 31 July 2025

Their proactive and successful interventions have demonstrated increased credibility and independence, showing that they no longer wait for the Fed’s lead to address economic challenges. This increase in autonomy has not gone unnoticed and has given strength to the argument that EM central banks now have more credible monetary policy.

Recent trends also underscore this shift. Central banks in countries like India and Indonesia have exercised greater independence, cutting rates even as the Fed has paused throughout 2025 so far. Indonesia’s flexibility, for example, stems from its decades-long transition away from hard currency borrowing toward local currency financing, which has empowered its central bank to respond more nimbly to domestic needs.

It would be wrong to suggest that this trend equates to the USD’s status of the global reserve currency coming under pressure. But as more EMs build credible local currency markets, we’re moving toward a more balanced global financial system, one that is less dollar-dominant and more regionally diverse. Arguably, this should make the global system more resilient.

Furthermore, the relationship with the dollar is still complicated. Many EMs still need to hold enough USD reserves to service external debt. And printing local currency to buy dollars can quickly spiral into inflation, just ask Argentina and Bolivia, who are recent case studies highlighting how quickly reserves can vanish when hard currency obligations mount. So while local markets offer more autonomy, exchange rate management remains a critical piece of the puzzle.

The Price of Autonomy?

This autonomy does come with a cost, however. We would typically expect debt issued in local currency to yield more relative to its hard currency counterparts, so that investors are appropriately compensated for currency risk and the inflationary background within the issuing country. But the reality can be more nuanced than that, as highlighted by the chart below, which highlights the current yield on a country’s debt issued in either hard, or local, currency.

Source: M&G, Bloomberg, JP Morgan as 17 August 2025

The yields on Poland’s hard and local currency bonds offer an exception to what we would expect, insofar as local currency bonds actually yield less. One of the reasons for this is Poland’s economic strength, with its macro stability, moderate inflation, and institutional alignment with the EU building enough credibility to compress local yields. Furthermore, on a more technical related note, local currency bonds are often issued with shorter maturities than their hard currency counterparts. This, in turn, also reduces the yield on local debt as investors price bonds over a shorter time-frame, minimising the potential impact of inflationary and currency-related noise.

Brazil sits at the other end of the spectrum in this regard, with the spread of local currency over hard currency standing at around 8%. That premium, despite there being a shorter tenor, reflects the higher levels of inflation, FX risk, and lower credit rating. For an investor, however, it offers a notable yield pick-up.

China offers an even more unique situation. Local currency bonds yield less, but actually have a longer weighted average life than their hard currency equivalents. The reason for this is driven by the incredibly strong domestic demand and tight policy control designed to anchor local yields, whereas global investors price hard currency debt based on their perceived risk.

Notwithstanding some of the nuances, the higher yields on local currency debt typically appear more costly, but when weighed up with the benefits, it is a fairly savvy move. When issuing in their own currencies, EMs reduce their external vulnerabilities, particularly relative to the US dollar and Fed monetary cycles, which, as mentioned, has been a significant driver of financial stress in the past.

Moreover, developing a deep and liquid local bond market fosters financial stability and resilience over the long term. It broadens the domestic investor base, and encourages institutional development, whilst increasing reliable funding channels during periods when access to hard currency markets may be constrained.

And so, whilst the upfront cost of higher yields can seem significant, the structural benefits to economies within EM make local currency issuance a critical part of fiscal management for many emerging economies.

A local pivot

Ultimately, the evolution of EMs moving away from being largely dependent on the dollar to being able to better utilise local currency markets highlights a pivotal shift. Initially, hard currency debt opened doors to global capital but came with the cost of anchoring EM policy to external monetary cycles. the growing depth of the market reflects a growing confidence in domestic matters, but there is still a long way to go, with foreign ownership of these bonds still being relatively low.

However, as central banks demonstrate greater independence and credibility, and as investors continue to seek new opportunities, local currency debt should stand to benefit and become more widely used within global portfolios. This doesn’t signal the end of dollar dominance, but it does show that EMs are increasingly able to set their own rules.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has issued an ‘alternate’ EU plan for offering Ukraine security guarantees as part of a post-war settlement.

He has stated this week that dividing Ukraine into Russian and Western spheres of influence is likely the most realistic outcome and the only dependable way to ensure the European Union’s security. The ‘pro-Ukraine’ and ‘pro-Russian’ spheres would be separated by a buffer zone.

Kiev has of course, with the backing of the Europeans, proposed the deployment of peacekeepers or establishing a buffer zone with Western military presence. The Kremlin has condemned this prospect as a non-starter, saying it would never allow NATO or Western troops on its border, even under the guise of ‘peacekeeping’. 

Russia has further demanded that any final peace must center on Ukraine’s neutrality, demilitarization, and recognition of Crimea, Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson, and Zaporozhye as part of Russia. These were annexed in 2014 and 2022, in what Russia deemed popular referendums.

Orban’s words were issued Sunday at an event to guests at the annual Civic Picnic in the southern resort town of Kotcse, Hungary – and were translated and featured in Russian media Tuesday.

“Europeans all so elegantly talk around security guarantees, but the security guarantee actually means the division of Ukraine,” Orban began. “The first step has already been taken – the Westerners have accepted that a Russian zone exists.”

This appeared to be a reference to earlier remarks of President Trump admitting that Ukraine ever regaining Crimea was “impossible.”

“The result would be a Russian zone, a demilitarized zone and, eventually, a Western zone…The only question is how many kilometers away from the border of the Russian zone a demilitarized zone should be established,” Orban continued.

‘Ukraine is being divided into parts right now. One part will be controlled by the Russians, the second will be a ‘demilitarized zone,’ and the third part will be controlled by the West’ – Orban.

‘The Europeans elegantly talk about ‘security guarantees.’ But ‘security… pic.twitter.com/cWZK1S1jjj

— Zlatti71 (@Zlatti_71) September 8, 2025

The Hungarian leader has long come under severe criticism from the rest of the EU, and he’s responded by calling them ‘warmongers’ who want to fuel the conflict, though he has said Europe is fast running out of the necessary weapons and funding to keep the war going.

Ukraine is likely to firmly reject his ‘alternate’ vision for an EU plan, given it would involve the ceding of significant territory to the Russians, something Zelensky has ruled out. Ukraine’s eastern portion has always been Russian-speaking, with up to one-third of the country’s total population speaking Russian as their first language.

Authored by Thomas Brooke via Remix News,

The city of Rome has launched a call for proposals to find families willing to host migrants with valid residence permits in their homes for the next three years.

The tender, valued at €399,000 and open until Sept. 22, seeks an operator to manage the program on behalf of the municipality.

The initiative, announced by the city council, is aimed at “single migrants or single-parent families” who would be welcomed into private homes.

The chosen operator will be responsible for raising awareness, recruiting, and supporting host families, mentors, or social workers, as well as identifying suitable beneficiaries.

The program’s objectives go beyond temporary accommodation.

Over its 36-month duration, it is designed to foster integration, promote independence through employment opportunities, and ultimately guide participants toward securing their own housing.

Officials say the service is intended to provide “a welcoming environment geared toward inclusion and autonomy,” helping young adults in particular to gain independence.

But a key detail in the tender notes that families who host migrants will not receive financial compensation. The city’s Department of Social Policies clarified that “social inclusion expenditures refer exclusively to interventions and measures aimed at service beneficiaries,” meaning migrants themselves. “It follows that reimbursements to families cannot be attributed to this item or to any other type of expenditure and are therefore not eligible,” the department stated.

In practical terms, families who open their doors will have to cover all costs themselves, including food and energy.

While the city insists the program is about solidarity and innovative social inclusion, observers warn that the lack of material support may make it difficult to attract enough host families willing to take part.

Read more here…

Authored by Peter Koenig via GlobalResearch.ca,

“No mountain or ocean can distance people who have shared aspirations,” China’s President Xi Jinping said in July 2024, addressing leaders from fellow Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member states and a few other nations in Astana, Kazakhstan.

It is not reaching too far, saying that this year’s 25th SCO Summit (SCO) in Tianjin, China, from 31 August to 1 September 2025, fulfilled – and more – President Xi’s vision of 2024.

The summit caused a tectonic shift in the conventional world order.

China’s Assistant Foreign Minister Liu Bin told a news conference in Beijing, shortly before the SCO summit, that the 2025 SCO event be

“One of China’s most important head-of-state and home-court diplomatic events this year”.

As the Economist says, “A New Reality is Taking hold.” The “new reality” is not anti-US or anti-West; it is just separating the western unipolar aspirations from the newly created multi-polar, or perhaps better, multi-block, world, where countries aim at a peaceful cooperation towards a joint future with shared benefits.

The SCO was established in 2001 by China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Today the SCO consists of ten member-states with headquarters in Beijing. In addition to the founding members, SCO members have increased by India, Iran, Belarus, and Pakistan. SCO members account for 23% of the world’s GDP and for 43% of the world’s population.

Further attendance included high-level government officials from Myanmar, Egypt, Cambodia, Nepal, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Maldives, Turkey, as well as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn, and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

This year’s summit made clearly the SCO the guiding light for the Global South which includes the 11 BRICS countries, plus the 10 BRICS partners, added at the 16th BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia, in October 2024.

While even the UNSG, Mr. Guterres, was invited – while the UN was or still is (?) considered by the US and the West in general as the World Organization in the western camp – President Trump felt snubbed by China, “left out” from the world shifting SCO event in Tianjin.

So, Trump invented a last-minute opportunity to leave his mark on the meeting by requesting President Xi literally on the eve of the SCO summit for “military talks,” a phone call between the two defense ministers (in the US now called War Minister, as the Ministry of Defense has been re-christened by Trump as War Ministry).

The Chinese Foreign Ministry said that Beijing rejected the proposal, reasoning “a lack of mutual understanding between the two countries”, asking a pertinent question:

“Is there any sincerity in and significance of any communication like this?”

Of course not. Trump just wanted to interfere in the SCO summit, showing his self-styled emperor head. But to no avail. The West was absent – the “naked emperor” as well as his European puppets, the (almost) defunct European Union, and especially the non-elected and every time more rejected European Commission (EC).

Imagine just a few weeks earlier, a delegation of the EC including Kaja Kallas, the Commission’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs, the Commission’s top-diplomat so to speak, visited Beijing to discuss tariffs, but on the side they were insinuating that China should distance herself from Russia.

So much aggression, let alone undiplomatic thinking and acting – like at home spending taxpayers’ money destined for social programs, instead for a monster armament to go to war against Russia – aggression and a war philosophy that can only lead to a EU downfall which is accelerating by the day.

To add insult to injury, the symbolic leader of the EU, Germany, her Chancellor Friedrich Merz said recently:

 “Putin is a war criminal. He is perhaps the most serious war criminal of our time that we have seen on a large scale. We must be clear about how to deal with war criminals: There is no room for leniency.”

It is time for the Real World, the Global South, to distance themselves from the western warmongers and war-makers. This is just happening with the 25th SCO Summit – a new awakening for peace, cooperation, and togetherness in the spirit of working towards a future of shared benefits.

A future with shared benefits is not possible by western economic standards and principles, that followed since 1989 the so-called Washington Consensus, an un-stated agreement between the three most powerful western financial institutions, the Federal Reserve, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank – to “subdue” the “emerging and developing world” with debt, so as to get a hold of their natural resources.

This disequilibrium already started with the 1944 Bretton Woods Conference during which the World Bank and IMF were created, two institutions which were and still are veto-dominated by Washington. Real economic equality and development had and up to now has no chance under these circumstances. Instead, it is abusive exploitation and neocolonialism.

The SCO decision at their Summit to create an SCO Development Bank bodes well with a new future of togetherness and cooperation. It fits right in with the Chinese Asian Infrastructure and Investment Bank (AIIB). It is a vivid sign of pulling free from the neoliberal western financial institutions making their living by exploiting “socioeconomic development”, instead of enhancing it.

Narendra Modi with Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping (GODL-India)

Together and perhaps with a newly furbished BRICS New Development Bank, they will allow the Global South to evolve and grow according to their sovereign and independent terms, using instead of an isolating “protective” tariff system – Trump-style – their comparative advantages to deal and trade with each other – tariff-free. No conflicts but cooperation.

See also this.

This SCO Summit was not a western-style aggression event of “The Willing”, but a China-initiated reorientation of the world order, in which long-term objectives were envisioned by real leaders who had seen and lived enough of western-dictated aggressions, wars and destruction, but instead opted for Peace and Cooperation – and it very much looks like they may succeed.

In his opening speech, President Xi made this point clear: 

“Humanity is again faced with a choice of peace or war, dialogue or confrontation, and win-win outcomes; or zero-sum games.”

This clearly creates a growing chasm between East and West. The former seeking peaceful constructive development, while the latter are still clinging to their destructive economic model, wars and killing for a growing military complex and a tech-world that goes hand in hand with the agenda of transhumanization and destruction of humanity.

The highly successful SCO Summit in Tianjin was deliberately staged just before China’s Grand Military Parade on Tiananmen Square, marking 80 years since the end of World War II. It was the culmination of a new “World Order”, one of Peace – demonstrating the West, silently but visibly, that a new epoch is about to begin.

The image of presenting the heads of China’s Xi Jinping; Russia’s Vladimir Putin; India’s Narendra Modi; Iran’s Masoud Pezeshkian; and North Korea’s Kim Jong-un, side by side speaks volumes. They embody a new power base – power for Peace and for a new world order of a common future with shared benefits.