“Former French Prime Minister François Fillon has been suspended for 10 years from the Légion d’honneur, France’s highest order of merit, after being found guilty of providing his wife with a fake job in which she was paid a salary using taxpayer money. The decision to suspend Fillon was published Thursday morning in the French official gazette. It was approved by President Emmanuel Macron after being recommended by the body tasked with handling disciplinary measures for the Légion d’honneur. The fake jobs scandal emerged during the campaign for the 2017 presidential election and cost Fillon a shot at the presidency, as he was a front-runner in the contest before the allegations emerged.” (08/20/26)
“A Southern California lobbyist who interned in the Clinton administration with Monica Lewinsky has been making lofty claims to win taxpayer-funded contracts — but some of the cities and public agencies on his killer resumé say they couldn’t pick him out of a lineup. Jaime Rojas, president of Rojas Public Affairs, has been collecting thousands in taxpayer fees from a Southern California agency after he bragged about securing tens of millions in federal funds …. Rojas spoke before the Phelan Piñon Hills Community Services District board in January 2025, touting a record of securing more than $90 million in state and federal funding. The district subsequently awarded Rojas a contract paying $5,000 per month. But in documents submitted to that agency and others, Rojas’ firm has overstated or made up multimillion-dollar funding claims in writing while seeking taxpayer funds, including a three-year lobbying deal tied to Gypsum Canyon Memorial Park and a planned state veterans cemetery in Orange County.” (08/20/26)
“Bond yields edged higher on Thursday morning after pulling back sharply during the previous session following the Treasury Department’s move to dramatically ramp up government debt repurchases in a bid to shore up longer-dated debt. … The Treasury Department, led by Scott Bessent, said Wednesday it would double the size of its debt repurchases, mainly at the long-end of the yield curve. The move sent yields tumbling, with the 30-year yield plunging more than 10 basis points on the day and the 10-year note yield falling more than 6 basis points, reversing this week’s earlier advance. Treasury yields have been pushing steeply higher since June, touching levels not seen since before the 2008 Global Financial Crisis.” (08/20/26)
“Israel’s plans to open up tenders for the construction of some 1,200 [squatter] homes in a strategically important part of the occupied West Bank have sparked fresh condemnation by major Western powers. In a joint statement, the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Canada called the decision ‘unacceptable’ and urged Israel to ‘retract the plans immediately’. All s[squats] are illegal under international law and, under international pressure, Israel held off for decades on plans to build in E1 to the east of Jerusalem. Many of its allies and Palestinians argued this development would deal a major blow to hopes of a two-state solution, effectively cutting the West Bank in two and isolating east Jerusalem.” (08/20/26)
“President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he has nominated White House Domestic Policy Council Deputy Director Heidi Overton to be the next commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration. … Overton has been Trump’s deputy assistant during his second term, advising him on health policies, including lowering prescription drug prices. Overton has stood alongside Trump for several major health announcements at the White House, including his executive order signing on childhood vaccines earlier this month. She has espoused anti-abortion views and supported reductions to the childhood immunization schedule, touting the use of ‘gold-standard science’ and restoring vaccination authority to parents while at that executive order signing.” (08/19/26)
“A New York woman plotted to bomb the New York State Capitol and kill state senators inside, repeatedly surveilling the building and buying materials for an explosive device before the FBI arrested her, according to a criminal complaint reviewed by Fox News Digital Thursday. Jessica Bowie, 35, of Albany, is charged with attempting to provide material support to ISIS. The FBI says she pledged allegiance to the terror group, discussed disguising a bomb in a DoorDash delivery bag and wanted to carry out the attack when state senators were meeting. … At a news conference Thursday afternoon, FBI officials said Bowie’s alleged plans extended beyond an attack on the state Capitol and included ambitions to carry out additional violence after fleeing the country.” (08/20/26)
“Chinese property developer Hui Ka Yan, founder of the Evergrande real estate group, has been sentenced to life in prison and the companies fined a total of $2.3 billion, a court in the southern city of Shenzhen said Thursday. The decision marks a milestone in Evergrande’s saga after it collapsed with more than $300 billion in liabilities when Chinese authorities cracked down on excessive borrowing in the real estate industry in 2020. That triggered a crunch among many developers and brought on a downturn in the property market that has weighed on the broader economy ever since. The Shenzhen Intermediate People’s Court convicted Hui, also known as Xu Jiayin, and Evergrande of engaging in large-scale financial fraud in inflating the group’s assets and concealing its liabilities.” (08/20/26)
“Communities still recovering from last weekend’s hurricane in Hawaii could get pounded again in coming days from another tropical system gaining strength over warm Pacific waters. Hurricane Lala tore roofs off houses, uprooted trees, covered roads in mud and rock and left many households without electricity. With thousands of homes and businesses still in the dark Thursday, forecasters warned another tropical cyclone is likely to form southeast of the islands soon. A depression moving west and northwest could become a tropical storm later Thursday and pass near or south of Hawaii’s Big Island over the weekend or early next week, according to the U.S. Central Pacific Hurricane Center.” (08/20/26)
“The longtime publisher of Stars and Stripes, a newspaper focused on the United States military, has resigned amid what he described as disagreements with the Defense Department‘s leadership. Max D Lederer Jr announced his retirement in a memo to staff on Tuesday, as well as in an interview with Stars and Stripes. The memo suggested that Lederer clashed with the administration of President Donald Trump over government efforts to seek greater editorial control over the publication, The Associated Press reported. … Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth accused the publication of promoting ‘woke distractions’. The Trump administration has also slammed the outlet for bringing attention to poor conditions and declining morale on the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier, involved in the war on Iran. Founded in 1861, Stars and Stripes has been an institution in the US military for well over a century.” (08/20/26)
“[The US government’s] gross national debt topped $40 trillion for the first time on Wednesday, an ominous milestone for an economy that sits on a shaky fiscal foundation after decades of borrowing to pay for the rising costs of the military, social safety net programs and President Trump’s tax cuts. This year alone, the United States [government] is on track to borrow more than $2 trillion to help pay for its obligations, including spending on the war in Iran and the sweeping tax cuts that Republicans enacted in 2025. Soaring interest payments to investors who have purchased America’s debt now make up about half of that red ink, pushing the United States [government] into a deeper financial hole.” [editor’s note: A tax cut doesn’t have to be “paid for,” and unless spending is being cut, taxes aren’t being cut — payment of the taxes, with interest, is just being deferred – TLK] (08/19/26)
