Chinese Summit, DEA, and Underage Vaping

Multipolarity, fentanyl probe, and age-gating tech.

Aug 31, 2026

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🌎 GLOBAL NEWS

🇨🇳 China, Russia and India convene at summit challenging American influence. Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi have gathered in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit. The organization was founded in 2001 by China, Russia and four Central Asian states as a regional security forum. It now has 10 members, including India, Iran, Pakistan and Belarus. Many other countries participate as dialogue partners. Beijing and Moscow increasingly present the SCO as an alternative to Western-aligned groups such as the Group of Seven (G7). Putin met separately with Xi and Modi ahead of formal sessions. He told Xi that Russia is ready to make visa-free travel with China permanent. Putin also said Moscow’s relationship with India is strengthening. He is expected to meet Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian as formal talks proceed. Russia enters the gathering 4½ years into its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Iran arrives six months into its war with America and Israel. Both governments are using the summit to deepen ties with non-Western partners. China has pushed to broaden the SCO’s reach while pledging development and financial assistance. United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres also met Kyrgyz President Sadyr Zhaparov around the summit. The gathering gives major powers with distinct interests a shared venue for closer coordination outside institutions dominated by Washington and its allies.

🇵🇼 Pacific island summit becomes arena for great-power rivalry. Leaders from the Pacific Islands Forum are meeting in Koror, Palau, as competition among China, America, Taiwan, Australia and New Zealand presses into the region’s agenda. Host Palau has about 18K residents, with delegates expected to swell the population to roughly 20K during the gathering. The forum comprises 18 countries and territories. Its decisions are made by consensus rather than majority vote. That model gives tiny states collective weight but can also stall action when members split. Many members control large exclusive economic zones rich in fisheries and seabed minerals. Their geography has also become strategically valuable to larger military and economic powers. Palau President Surangel Whipps Jr. urged outsiders to let Pacific leaders focus on climate change and struggling economies. El Niño has brought droughts and floods that threaten food security and clean water across the region. Iran-war fuel volatility has also pushed some fuel-dependent Pacific states into economic emergencies. Whipps has urged wealthy partners to finance a region-wide shift toward solar power. Palau is one of only 12 countries worldwide that formally recognize Taiwan. Beijing regards Taiwan as part of China and objects to its international recognition. America and China participate as dialogue partners, while Taiwan holds separate development-partner status. The summit will test whether Pacific governments can keep their own priorities ahead of the geopolitical competition surrounding them.

🇺🇸 LOCAL NEWS

🚨 House Republicans probe DEA tactic that let fentanyl reach streets. House Oversight Committee Republicans are investigating a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) strategy that monitored major fentanyl shipments without immediately seizing them. Committee Chairman James Comer of Kentucky requested records from Attorney General Todd Blanche. The inquiry follows whistleblower claims from New Mexico that agents were ordered to stand down while large pill shipments moved through investigations. A prior investigation found the tactic was used repeatedly between 2023 and 2025. Some monitored shipments involved hundreds of thousands of fentanyl pills. The drugs moved during the deadliest drug epidemic in American history. A 2017 policy had directed agents to seize or otherwise stop fentanyl distribution as soon as practicable. Justice Department rules were rewritten in 2024 to give investigators more discretion when preserving a larger case could yield benefits. Comer requested records covering the Biden administration and blamed that policy change for weakening safeguards. The same tactic continued into President Trump’s second administration. Agents seized about 3M pills during a May 2025 takedown described as the largest fentanyl bust in DEA history. Yet agents in Albuquerque also watched couriers enter hotels with backpacks believed to contain as many as 100K pills. A former DEA supervisor says the network could have been dismantled six months earlier. The Justice Department inspector general has opened a nationwide review of whether similar methods were used elsewhere. DEA Administrator Terry Cole says major investigations are complex but welcomed the review.

🏜️ Grand Canyon flood kills one as about 15 remain missing. Search crews are looking for roughly 15 people after a flash flood tore through Grand Canyon National Park and killed at least one person. The National Park Service recovered the body of a 46-year-old man near Crystal Rapids. More than 60 people were airlifted from the canyon. Forecasters warn additional rain and thunderstorms could trigger more flooding. The surge hit Bright Angel Creek after four waves of rainfall moved through two drainage areas. Muddy water carried boulders, debris and what appeared to be pieces of a bunkhouse downstream. Floodwater destroyed footbridges across Bright Angel Creek. It also destroyed the canyon’s only water pipeline. Emergency water restrictions are now in place for roughly 1,600 year-round Grand Canyon Village residents. Tourists have been barred from staying in park lodges and hotels. The damaged pipeline normally supports a destination that receives about 6M visitors annually. The National Weather Service says the area averages less than 10 inches of rain per year. Summer monsoon storms can nevertheless turn clear conditions into dangerous floods quickly. Rain also reached the 227-square-mile burn scar left by the 2025 Dragon Bravo wildfire, adding another runoff concern. Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs says state emergency officials are coordinating with federal and county teams as search and recovery efforts continue.

🗂️ MISC

🔐 Juul wins federal authorization for age-gated vaping device. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has authorized Juul Labs to sell Juul2, an updated e-cigarette with optional age-verification technology. It is the company’s first federally authorized new version of its flagship device in more than a decade. Juul2 will launch with updated tobacco- and menthol-flavored cartridges. Users can choose to require age verification through an online app before the device unlocks. Regulators stressed that authorization does not amount to an endorsement of vaping. They also said people who do not smoke should not use Juul or other e-cigarettes. Company studies reviewed by the FDA found 20% to 50% of participating smokers stopped smoking after six weeks. Quit rates varied depending on flavor. Regulators say smokers who switch completely from cigarettes can reduce exposure to carcinogens and other toxic chemicals from combustion. Juul has paid roughly $3B to settle government and private lawsuits tied to teen use of its products. The company discontinued mango, mint and creme cartridges in 2019 after those flavors became especially popular with teenagers. CEO K.C. Crosthwaite says Juul plans to seek authorization for additional flavors aimed at adult nicotine users. Juul no longer leads American e-cigarette sales and now trails Vuse. Federal data show teen vaping has declined overall. Teenagers who still vape now mostly use unauthorized disposable products imported from China.

📉 Oil rises and stocks fall after new Strait of Hormuz strikes. Oil prices climbed and American stocks fell after American forces struck Iranian rocket launchers in the Strait of Hormuz, ending a monthlong lull in military action. The Standard & Poor’s 500 (S&P 500) fell 0.4% in morning trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 348 points, or 0.7%. The Nasdaq composite fell 0.3%. Exxon Mobil ($XOM) gained 2.9% and Chevron ($CVX) rose 3% as energy shares benefited from higher crude prices. Brent crude jumped 3.2% to $90.91 per barrel. The benchmark traded between $72 and $102 last month as expectations for an Iran-war settlement repeatedly shifted. The Strait of Hormuz carries about 20% of global oil shipments. The United Arab Emirates also said it intercepted an Iranian drone over its waters. GameStop ($GME) climbed 4.2% after issuing a preliminary quarterly outlook above year-earlier results. Aon ($AON) fell 5.8% after announcing a $17B deal, including debt, to buy USI Insurance Services from KKR ($KKR). Average American gasoline prices remained above $4 a gallon throughout August. Inflation is still above 3%, complicating the Federal Reserve’s effort to return it to 2%. The two-year Treasury yield held at 4.34%, up from about 3.50% at the start of 2026. The renewed violence pushed markets back toward the oil, inflation and interest-rate risks that have defined the six-month war.