New Messages To Hunter Deepen Concerns Over Chinese Influence

 by Jonathan Turley,

After the initiation of the Biden impeachment inquiry, new messages are deepening concerns over the influence of Chinese figures on the Biden family. Messages from longtime Biden associate Fran Person show the Chinese stepping in to support Hunter’s lavish lifestyle as funds dried up during his divorce. Person wrote Hunter that Chinese businessman Bo Zhang “will help you with what you need.”

Fran Person was not just a close aide to Joe Biden for years, but someone that the First Lady Jill Biden described as a member of the family: “Fran has been like a son to Joe and me. For eight years, we traveled the country, shared holidays together … Fran may be leaving the office, but he will always be a part of our family.”

Fran left the staff of Joe Biden and went to work with Chinese figures . . . and Hunter.

In a July 2017 WhatsApp message, Person told Hunter that Zhang was aware that he was in financial distress during his divorce and would cover his costs. Hunter sounds desperate for the Chinese support as he gushes money to fund his lavish lifestyle: “100K at least gets me until next month.”

Person assures him that Zhang has his back: “He will help you with what you need.”

Fox News Digital reported on Person’s messages. They include this assurance:

“I talked to Bo previously about the 37K – he didn’t flinch. I will talk to him about 56K and possibly 100K. It really depends on his liquid assets in the US…I will ask. His only problem is getting large sums out of China (especially right now).”

Hunter appears in distress and presses Person if he knew whether anything was wired or if they were in a “holding pattern.”

Person responds “No holding pattern…he was on his way to the bank this morning. He will be in touch when it’s confirmed.”

“He will help you with what you need. He also mentioned that you should take a trip to China some time this month to just get away for a week or so…just decompress.”

Hunter later schedules the trip.

The concern is that Hunter was receiving money from figures closely associated with foreign government and foreign intelligence, including the CCP.  These operatives often look for people who are in desperate situations to exercise influence over them. Hunter Biden’s massive spending and addictions would have been a draw for intelligence services.  He offered an obvious entry into potential influence or access with regard to Joe Biden.

At one point, Hunter offers in July 2017 to hold Zhang at his father’s McLean home after Joe Biden left the vice presidency.

Zhang met repeatedly with Hunter Biden, Person, and Eric Schwerin several times.

Person’s message shows him showering Hunter with praise and promises of Chinese funds. In one message, Person told Hunter that he

“selfishly want[s] to work” with him “because I know what the hell your capable of, AND I want to learn from you. I’m putting myself out there right now, and I’m learning quickly. But I’d love to be there with you doing some of this stuff. I mention the 500K on 10M raise be I’m about to get started on that, and I could really use your help. We could knock it out together. I’d think that’d help take some bite out, and you wouldn’t feel like your ‘resorting’ to anything…I’ve got one loyalty brother. That’s to my family. Your family.” 

Person is obviously going to be busy during this impeachment inquiry. Despite President Biden’s repeated denials that anyone in his family received any money from China, The Washington Post and other media outlets have found those denials to be false.

Indeed, at least two transfers of funds to Hunter Biden in 2019 from a Chinese source listed the President’s home in Delaware where Hunter sometimes lived and conducted business.

The latest messages reveal how Hunter Biden’s personal and financial distress may have been viewed as an opportunity for foreign interests. Hunter suggests that he was existing month to month on such payments. The question is what he did in return for such foreign generosity in what is clearly an influencing peddling operation.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/he-will-help-you-what-you-need-new-messages-hunter-deepen-concerns-over-chinese-influence

Novo Holdings CEO says IPO window to open within 18 months

 Novo Holdings' CEO Kasim Kutay made the remarks while speaking to a group of journalists at the investment company's headquarters in Copenhagen.

Novo Holdings holds 28.1% of economic (or A) shares and 76.9% of voting (or B) shares in the Denmark's Novo Nordisk.

Novo, the drugmaker, is riding a wave of record profits from its new weight-loss and diabetes drugs, Wegovy and Ozempic. Its share price has roughly tripled over the past four years

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/novo-holdings-ceo-says-ipo-093945663.html

Amgen's late-stage data for lung cancer drug 'not adequate' - FDA staff

 The comments come ahead of a panel meeting of expert advisers to the U.S. health agency, who will vote on the reliability of the data on Thursday.

Amgen's drug, Lumakras, was approved by the U.S. FDA in 2021 under an accelerated pathway for advanced lung cancer patients with KRAS mutations after an initial treatment failed or stopped working. The study was required by the U.S. regulators as a condition of accelerated approval for the drug.

Staff reviewers said the company's late-stage trial may not be considered "adequate and well-controlled", according to briefing documents published on the agency's website.

High censorship and the absence of a follow-up with patients who withdrew consent, among other issues with the study, may have impacted the extent of benefit Lumakras provided, compared with chemotherapy, the FDA staff said.

Data from the confirmatory study showed Lumakras reduced the risk of disease progression in patients with advanced lung cancer by 34%, compared with chemotherapy in a clinical trial.

There was no significant difference in overall survival between the two treatments in the study, and Amgen has said the trial was not designed to detect a survival difference.

Amgen's drug targets a mutated form of a gene known as KRAS that occurs in about 13% of non-small cell lung cancers, the most common form of the disease, and less frequently in some other solid tumors.

Lumakras bought in sales of $285 million in 2022.

The U.S. health regulator usually follows the advice of its panel, but is not bound to do so. The agency is expected to make a decision on the drug by Dec. 24.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/1-fda-staff-says-stage-134830201.html

Mexico sends buses for migrants in south, as thousands reach northern border with US daily

 Several hundred migrants in southern Mexico awaited buses north on Monday under a new government program meant to help manage the numbers arriving, as Mexico's president said 10,000 people have been reaching the northern border with the U.S. daily.

Thousands of migrants have crossed into the U.S. from Mexico in recent weeks, alarming officials in U.S. border cities and prompting delays to trade.

In the northern city of Tijuana on Monday, opposite San Diego, California, several dozen people scrambled over a part of the U.S. border wall that cuts across the beach at the Pacific Ocean in a video seen by Reuters.

More than 3,000 km (1,864 miles) south, at a bus terminal in the city of Juchitan in Oaxaca state, some migrants said they would enter the U.S. with appointments secured via a U.S. government app, CBP One, and request asylum.

"Let's wait for the appointment, because we've suffered so much just to get this far," said Victor Salma, from Venezuela.

Salma was among about 400 people, including families with small children, awaiting buses headed to the state capital or Mexico City.

Oaxaca officials opened the site last week in an effort to reduce risks for migrants, who had been gathering in large numbers at local bus terminals while trying to buy bus tickets north.

Jesus Gonzalez, a representative of the local civil protection agency, said 800 to 1,000 migrants pass through the Juchitan site per day.

Migrants must pay their own fares, ranging from 386 to 1,500 pesos (about $22-$85), and some people said they were awaiting money transfers from relatives, or seeking work, to raise funds.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador at his morning news conference on Monday said about 6,000 people are entering southern Mexico daily, and that last week 10,000 migrants reached the U.S.-Mexico border every day.

In September, the number of migrants encountered at the U.S.-Mexico border was on pace to approach, or surpass, previous monthly highs.

Lopez Obrador called for countries to address root causes driving migration and lamented the deaths of 10 Cuban migrants in a traffic accident in southern Mexico on Sunday.

Many migrants have been undeterred by the challenges of the journey. Last week at the border in Ciudad Juarez, opposite Texas, a man crawled beneath coils of barbed wire as a young boy followed behind crying, "Papa, Papa."

According to four videos of the incident seen by Reuters, an armed man in Texas National Guard uniform then stepped in the man's path, and yelled, "I have no mercy, animals. Why did you send a baby? Why did you send a boy?"

Texas officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In response to questions from Reuters, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said maintenance was underway at the border where migrants crossed from Tijuana, and that smugglers look to take advantage of "temporary gaps in border infrastructure due to maintenance."

CBP added that it had taken steps to improve security and border infrastructure in the area.

The agency previously said it would impose consequences, including deportation, on migrants without a legal basis to stay in the U.S.

https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/10-000-migrants-reach-us-163843642.html

Parents of Michigan teen school shooter to face trial

 he parents of a teenage school shooter who killed four students and wounded six other people in 2021 at his Detroit-area high school will stand trial for involuntary manslaughter, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday.

The court, in Lansing, Michigan, ruled that it would not hear the appeal of the parents of Ethan Crumbley, who was 15 at the time of the Oxford High School shooting. His parents, Jennifer and James Crumbley, are seeking to avoid trial on four counts of involuntary manslaughter each.

The case appears to be the first time that parents of a teenage school shooter have been charged for involvement in their offspring's alleged crimes, and is seen by some as a litmus test on whether parents can be held accountable in school shootings.

The Crumbleys' attorneys, Shannon Smith and Mariell Lehman, were not immediately available for comment.

Prosecutors argued that the parents can be charged because they showed gross negligence for failing to secure the weapon. The Crumbleys have been accused of knowing their son was troubled and too young to own a gun, but buying him one anyway. The 9mm semi-automatic pistol was used in the slayings two years ago.

The parents had sought to have the charges thrown out.

In a terse, one-sentence ruling, the state Supreme Court in Lansing, Michigan, ruled that the "judgment of the Court of Appeals is considered, and it is DENIED, because we are not persuaded that the question presented should be reviewed by this Court."

An Oakland County Circuit Court and a panel of three Michigan Court of Appeals judges have already ruled against the Crumbleys.

The Crumbleys' attorneys have argued that prosecutors cannot demonstrate that a juror could decide that a reasonably foreseeable outcome of the Crumbleys' alleged gross negligence was their son committing a shooting in November, 2021, the Detroit News reported. They said their son's criminal conduct was the sole cause of harm to the victims and the shooting was not reasonably foreseeable.

The Crumbleys each face charges connected to the deaths of Oxford High students Madisyn Baldwin, 17; Tate Myre, 16; Hana St. Juliana, 14; and Justin Shilling, 17.

Ethan Crumbley has pleaded guilty to charges including one count of terrorism causing death and four counts of first-degree murder.

https://news.yahoo.com/parents-michigan-teen-school-shooter-141755583.html

Russian tech firm Astra to open books for IPO

 Astra's listing, which is expected to result in a free float of about 5%, could breathe some life into Russia's moribund equity capital markets, which have been starved of deals since Moscow sent its troops into Ukraine in February 2022, prompting sanctions and the departure of Western bankers and lawyers.

Alfa Bank analysts valued Astra, which more than doubled its core earnings year on year to 5.4 billion roubles in 2022, at around 70 billion-90 billion roubles ($712 million-$915 million) in a report published on Monday.

Gazprombank analysts estimated the company's value at 100 billion-160 billion roubles.

Sberbank, Gazprombank, Alfa Bank and Start Capital were chosen as organisers of the offering, said the sources, who asked not to be named because the information is private.

Astra Group declined to comment.

Astra dominates Russia's operating system (OS) market with its Astra Linux software. It offers a range of software solutions to Russian government entities and state companies, including those in critical infrastructure, many of which were deprived of access to Western technology after Russia started what it calls its "special military operation" in Ukraine.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/russian-tech-firm-astra-open-151537550.html

PNC Bank buys $16.6 bln capital commitment portfolio from Signature Bridge Bank

 The portfolio comprises fund subscription credit lines extended to private-equity firms to help manage liquidity and bridge financing for investments and includes $9 billion of funded loans.

"PNC has long participated in the capital commitments business and the acquired portfolio is highly complementary," the bank said in a statement.

The popularity of the credit vehicles has soared over the past decade among PE and private real-estate investment firms.

The transaction, to be funded with cash on hand, is expected to immediately add to PNC's earnings, and will represent about 10 cents per share in the fourth quarter of 2023, PNC Bank said.

PNC Bank purchased these commitments and loans without any funding, guarantees or loss-sharing agreements from the FDIC, the company added.

The FDIC closed Signature Bank in March amid an intensifying regional banking crisis and transferred all of its deposits and substantially all of its assets to Signature Bridge Bank, a full-service financial institution that is operating under a board appointed by the watchdog.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/1-pnc-bank-buys-16-134925960.html