Rolando Torres-Pena walking in the unit, with his legs covered by material wrapped around his waist.

UK: The Anatomy of Destroying a Once Great Health Service – the Tories, LibDems & Labour Have Blood on Their Hands! (16.9.2026)

As I live in the UK – there are certain realities regarding this case (which is far from uncommon) which if I state in writing – I risk being contacted by the police, warned, arrested, charged, and imprisoned. Draconian measures practiced by desperate governments do not change material facts. If you know me, you know I have no malice in my heart – and you know whose side I am on. However, as I have an insight into the internal workings of a collapsing NHS – I know exactly what is happening. Unqualified “guests” are being invited to take posts in the NHS that are the product of “deskilling” – or the deliberate government policy of replacing university-educated medical staff with uneducated and unqualified friends from abroad. Labour has continued the shut-down of the NHS – so do not look for any solace there. Ten unqualified “guests” are supposed to controlled by one qualified staff member – but this is seldom the reality on the ground. As I suspect this story will disappear down the memory-hole – I have reproduced it in detail here.

Nation to Advance Fertility-Friendly Push!

China: Nation to Advance Fertility-Friendly Push! (15.9.2026)

With more than 10 million students enrolling in colleges and universities each year amid a boom in the higher education sector, China is building an expanding and highly skilled workforce, Lei said.

Official data shows that, by the end of 2025, China had about 851.36 million people ages 16 to 59, and that group had an average of 11.3 years of schooling, up 0.1 year from a year earlier.

Lei added that the annual number of newborns has remained at about 8 million despite an overall downward trend.

“Compared with other developed and developing countries, very few have births at this level, so China will still have a relatively ample labour force in the future,” he said.

Lei noted that China will continue to roll out fertility-friendly measures to ease the burden of childbirth, child-rearing and education.

Among the latest fertility support policies are the rollout of a fertility subsidy, which has so far benefited more than 30 million families, and the establishment of nearly 12,600 early pregnancy care clinics nationwide, providing counselling and assessments.

Archives Report of the Special Rapporteur on the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights, Alena Douhan.pdf

Cuba: 63rd Regular Session of the Human Rights Council – Geneva [9.9.2026] – Statement By Ambassador Rodolfo Benitez Verson! (10.9.2026)

The perverse and deliberate purpose of the United States is to cause extreme shortages and total asphyxiation to Cuban families. They are trying to invoice a humanitarian tragedy to destabilise the country and achieve their political objectives.

In what constitutes an unprecedented reinforcement of the blockade, since last January the United States has imposed a brutal energy siege against Cuba. They threaten reprisals against any country that supplies oil to the island. The shortage of fuels has had a devastating impact on almost all areas of society.

Due to a lack of electricity and supplies, the national health system is forced to postpone non-urgent surgeries to prioritize life-defining ones. More than 100,000 patients are waiting for surgery, of which 12,000 are children. Life expectancy for children with cancer fell from 85% to 65%. The infant mortality rate has grown from 4.4 per thousand births in 2018 to 9.9 in 2025. Of the 395 drugs that Cuba produces within its basic health system, 300 are in short supply due to difficulties in accessing raw materials.

Childhood trauma affects brain pathways linked to adult anhedonia

US: Childhood Trauma Affects Brain Pathways Linked to “Adult Anhedonia”! (21.8.2026)

Experiencing trauma in childhood can lead to a lack of motivation and less pleasure from rewards-or anhedonia-later in life. In humans, childhood trauma is linked to changes in the activity of reward-related brain pathways stemming from an area called the hippocampus. Preclinical work in animals suggests that hippocampal changes may contribute to anhedonia. But do hippocampal changes linked to childhood trauma make people more vulnerable to developing anhedonia? New in JNeurosci, a research team led by Kathleen O’Brien at Temple University and Vishnu Murty at the University of Oregon sought to answer this question.

colorized CT scan of the liver showing metastases from prostate cancer. Picture: Alamy

UK: Burnham’s Labour Continues “Stealth Shutting-Down” of Socialist NHS – as Prostrate Cancer Treatment Cut! (15.8.2026)

The shutting-down of a “free at use” NHS requires the New Labour government to keep encouraging the importation of migrant labour – whilst simultaneously bleating-on in Parliament that it is trying to “do something about it”. Do you know, I was part of the “LEXIT” (hard-left) “left Out of the EU” campaign for precisely this reason. Many unions backed LEXIT as did many non-White British workers – as this is NOT about race – but ALL workers’ rights! In many meetings I saw, non-White (British) workers gave speeches about how unfamiliar foreign communities had sprung-up, took-over areas, and aggressively competed for housing and work. Why? Just so our Socialist system can be dismantled and sold to the US? I met some of these new arrivals and by and large they were good people – the victims of post-1991 (Soviet-collapse) capitalism (the US again). Most told me that life was good under the Soviet system – but now it was terrible under capitalism. The US has injected far-right ideology into Eastern Europe to prevent what it fears will be a resurgence of Soviet Socialism. We should be “comrades” and not “competitors”! Without properly funded and empowered unions all over Europe (the EU must go) – the workers are reduced to scrambling individuals fighting desperately for scraps from the master’s table.

Medical staff use brain-computer interface equipment to conduct rehabilitation training for a patient at the Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province. (Photo: The Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University)

China: Guangzhou Hospital Launches Art & Humanities Healing Centre! (12.8.2026)

Nurses conduct nutrition education sessions using food models, translating complex dietary requirements into practical daily choices through individualized guidance.

“Medicine is shifting from a disease-centred approach to a health-centred one. In the AI era, humanistic care should run through the entire patient journey, from hospital admission to returning home,” said Wu Jinghong, Party secretary of the hospital and director of the healing centre.

The centre also plans to address the mental health needs of healthcare workers through art-based activities, psychological support and stress relief programmes.

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