Gordon Chang warns Chinese EVs entering US via Canada could become ‘rolling spy machines’

 President Donald Trump’s upcoming meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping is drawing renewed attention to concerns that Chinese electric vehicles entering North America through Canada could pose national security risks inside the United States.

Gatestone Institute senior fellow Gordon Chang joined FOX Business’ Maria Bartiromo on "Mornings with Maria" to discuss tensions surrounding China’s trade practices, energy policy and Beijing’s growing EV footprint ahead of the high-stakes Beijing meeting.

The discussion comes as lawmakers push legislation aimed at blocking Chinese electric vehicles from entering the U.S. market, citing concerns over surveillance technology and connected-vehicle systems capable of collecting sensitive data.

Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, warned that the vehicles function as "little Trojan horses" because of the amount of information they can collect and transmit.

"These cars have lots of cameras. They send back data to the Communist Party and can be remotely controlled by the Communist Party," Moreno said during a recent appearance on "Sunday Morning Futures."

Chang expanded on those concerns, warning that Canada’s decision to lower tariffs on some Chinese EV imports could create another pathway for the vehicles to reach the United States.

"We should not allow Canadians to drive their Chinese EV across our border into our country because China will be able to surveil the United States with the Canadian cars," Chang said.

Chang also described Chinese EVs as "rolling spy machines," arguing that the issue underscores broader tensions between Washington and Beijing ahead of Trump’s expected meeting with Xi later this week.

https://www.foxbusiness.com/media/gordon-chang-warns-chinese-evs-entering-us-via-canada-could-become-rolling-spy-machines

Iran Says It’s Deployed Mini Subs in Contest to Control Hormuz

 

Iran says it’s deployed small submarines to act as an “invisible guardian” of the Strait of Hormuz amid a series of rejected peace deals between Tehran and the US.

The Islamic Republic has at least 16 of the Ghadir-class midget submarines, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies. Each has a crew of fewer than 10 people and can carry either two torpedoes or two Chinese-designed C-704 anti-ship cruise missiles.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-05-11/iran-says-it-s-deployed-mini-subs-in-contest-to-control-hormuz

'Zelensky Touts That 20 Countries Seek Ukraine Drone Deals'

 Ukraine is emerging as a global drone export powerhouse, coming fresh off vast experience gained in over four years of war with Russia - or at least that's the image Kiev is seeking to present to the world.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Monday that nearly 20 countries are pursuing drone agreements with Ukraine, with four deals already finalized.

Agreements already confirmed include deals with Germany, Norway and the Netherlands, alongside ‌long-term security partnerships with Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates which were inked in late March as Zelensky personally toured the Gulf, even amid the ongoing Iran war, according to Reuters.

Zelensky has been offering Ukraine's services and drone supplies to Gulf countries as a cheaper, effective alternative to dwindling and costly American-supplied anti-air defenses.

"Nearly 20 countries are currently involved at various stages: 4 agreements have already been signed, and the first contracts under these agreements are now being prepared," Zelensky has newly proclaimed on X.

"Ukraine has ​already ⁠started to receive the necessary volume of fuel thanks to the agreements," Zelensky also stated. Interestingly, he's also of late been pitching being a supplier of battlefield robots, as we've detailed before.

Starting in April, Zelensky had hailed that Ukrainian personnel were able to help partners build effective air defenses using interceptor drones to combat Iranian Shaheds.

Low-cost interceptor drones deployed by Ukraine are among the most effective ways to combat the inexpensive $20,000 Shaheds, as a war of attrition makes little economic sense when interceptor missiles cost hundreds of thousands of dollars or more.

Ukraine has had four years to develop low-cost one-way attack drones and interceptors during its war with Russia. Now, this technology is clearly being exported across multiple theaters in Eurasia.

Zelensky did not identify the countries or the exact interceptor drones used in his comments at the time, but it is possible that Octopus-100 autonomous interceptor drones were deployed.

The past couple months have seen Zelensky touring around proclaiming Ukraine's ability to fill defense tech sector gaps for allied countries:

Zelensky:

If Ukraine, Türkiye, Norway, and the UK were EU members, you would have the strongest army in the world.

It would become the strongest alliance in the world.

Together, these countries and the EU have smart engineers, the best technologies, the best drones,… pic.twitter.com/xFRe5nVz5Z

— Clash Report (@clashreport) April 21, 2026

He said Ukraine had deployed hundreds of experts to the Gulf area, and, in return, has received weapons to protect its energy assets as well as financial support.

After the Trump White House began signaling a significant drawdown in direct military aid to Ukraine and to Europe more broadly, the Zelensky administration began launching more creative means to ensure ongoing funding for the war with Russia. Support from EU countries, however, doesn't look to have wavered.

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/zelensky-touts-20-countries-seek-ukraine-drone-deals

GLP-1 Drugs: Interaction Risks With Oral Medications

 GLP-1 receptor agonists (RAs) are increasingly used in the treatment of diabetes and obesity. Their mechanisms of action include delayed gastric emptying, inhibition of glucagon secretion, beneficial modulation of the intestinal microbiome, and direct effects on hypothalamic nuclei.

These medications provide benefits beyond glycemic control and weight reduction. However, they are associated with gastrointestinal adverse events, including nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea, constipation, bloating, belching, and flatulence. Additional concerns include hypoglycemia in individuals receiving concomitant antidiabetic therapy; cholelithiasis, particularly at higher doses and with prolonged use; rare pancreatitis; loss of muscle and bone mass; treatment discontinuation rates of 4%-8%; weight regain after discontinuation; and high cost. 

Long-term data on benefits and risks remain limited, particularly regarding loss of muscle and bone mass, fracture risk, and other adverse outcomes.

These are challenges that highlight the need for further research and for strategies that improve access, adherence, and safety with GLP-1 RAs.

However, an additional challenge warrants closer attention: potential drug interactions.

Drug Interactions 

Interactions related to metabolism or transport have limited clinical relevance. The most clinically relevant interactions are linked to delayed gastric emptying, which can affect the absorption of co-administered oral medications and increase the time required to reach maximum concentration.

Interactions with concomitant use of of GLP-1 RAs and these drugs include:

• Oral contraceptives: Tirzepatide demonstrated significant changes in oral contraceptive levels.
• Levothyroxine: Oral semaglutide showed significant changes in levothyroxine levels.
• Insulin and sulfonylureas: When these agents are used together with GLP-1 RAs, the risk for hypoglycemia increases, requiring dose reduction

• Dipeptidyl peptidase 4 inhibitors: These agents should be discontinued when initiating GLP-1 RA therapy because both act through GLP-1 signaling and their combined use has not been adequately studied.
• Dabigatran: Pharmacokinetic modeling suggests that concomitant use with GLP-1 RAs may increase dabigatran levels by 205%, resulting in a substantial increase in systemic levels of dabigatran. 

In contrast, when used concomitantly with GLP-1 RAs, no clinically relevant changes in pharmacokinetics were seen for warfarin, digoxin, lisinopril, metformin, atorvastatin, and acetaminophen, despite changes in maximum concentration (Cmax) and time to reach maximum concentration (Tmax).

Implications 

Evidence on these interactions remains limited. Given widespread use of GLP-1 RAs, greater attention is needed, particularly with medications that have a narrow therapeutic index or require specific peak concentrations to achieve efficacy, such as certain antibiotics. Potential consequences include failure of contraception, hypoglycemia, hemorrhage, or decreased efficacy in treatments for hypothyroidism and infections.

https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/glp-1-drugs-interaction-risks-oral-medications-2026a1000eg8

Concurrent Proton Pump Inhibitor, GLP-1 Use Linked to Increases in Gastro Side Effects

 For patients taking GLP-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs), the use of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) is associated with an increased risk for gastrointestinal (GI) adverse effects, according to research presented at the Society of General Internal Medicine (SGIM) 2026 Annual Meeting in Washington, DC.

Side effects of GLP-1 drugs commonly include nausea, vomiting, and delayed gastric emptying that can lead to heartburn and sulfur burps, all which mimic symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). PPIs are commonly prescribed to treat GERD.

“A lot of patients are on PPIs and GLP-1s at the same time,” said Mustafa Naveed, DO, internal medicine resident at Carilion Clinic, Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine in Roanoke, Virginia, who presented the poster. “PPIs can be prescribed unnecessarily sometimes, or for an extended amount time often longer than necessary…and I wanted to look into whether that kind of combination of prescription medications is making things worse.”

An estimated 1 in 8 US adults use GLP-1 RAs, which are used to treat type 2 diabetes and obesity. Although GLP-1 use has become more common, clinicians are still trying to understand the myriad of interactions the drugs have with other oral medications.

Patients who took GLP-1s and PPIs concurrently were more than twice as likely to experience adverse effects of the upper GI (risk ratio [RR], 2.37; 95% CI, 2.30-2.44; P <.001) than those taking GLP-1s alone, according to findings from an analysis of data from more than 1.2 million adults in the TriNetX Research Network over a 20-year span starting in 2005. The analysis showed approximately 18% of these patients had an active prescription for a GLP-1s and a PPI.

Using propensity score matching, 395,082 adults (60.9% women; 67.4% White; average age, 58 years) were included who were prescribed a GLP-1 RA, half of whom also had a prescription for a PPI.

Nausea and vomiting were nearly twice as likely to occur for patients who took both medications than for those who took GLP-1s alone (RR, 1.81; 95% CI, 1.75-1.88; P < .001). They were also almost four times more likely to experience indigestion (RR, 3.50; 95% CI, 3.28-3.75; P < .001). Patients taking both medications were three times as likely to develop acute pancreatitis and almost twice as likely to develop gallstones (P < .001).

Lower GI side effects were also more common for those taking both drugs, including diarrhea, constipation, and obstruction or temporary stoppage of intestinal movement (RR, 2.62; 95% CI, 2.33-2.93; P < .001).

Patients taking both medications were five times as likely to need exploratory procedures such as upper endoscopy than those who were just on GLP-1s.

Because of the invasive nature of the procedure, “deprescribing both PPIs and GLP-1s to see what is causing the symptoms before moving onto endoscopy would definitely be beneficial,” Naveed said.

Karthik Ravi, MD, a gastroenterologist at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, said the results should be interpreted cautiously, as de-identified data limit what is known about why a patient is on a PPI and the specific type of GLP-1, since short- and long-acting versions have different side effects. Ravi said, patients on PPIs might have GI-related issues independent of GLP-1 use.

“All this tells me is that patients who are on GLP-1s and have GI symptoms are more likely to be on a PPI,” Ravi said.

Naveed said, his recommendation is for clinicians is to follow a recent push to deprescribe PPIs or try shorter courses of the medication when possible.

“The most important thing is just being conscious and aware of patients that are taking both of these medications, especially when they do present with upper GI or abdominal symptoms, nausea, vomiting, or reflux, and making sure that we kind of cover all of our bases,” Naveed said. “We need to continually evaluate our patients to see if they really need to be on these [PPI] medications.”

To help patients ease heartburn and other upper GI adverse side effects associated with GLP-1 use, Ravi said, he will continue to prescribe PPIs for patients, but believes this study indicates a need for further study into how the two medications function together.

“If you’re having heartburn, let’s treat it. I worry that a study like this, where a patient starts with a GLP-1, they have bad heartburn, and now you’re making providers afraid to put them on a PPI because you think it’s going to make it worse — that’s probably not helpful,” Ravi said.

The study received no external funding. Naveed and Ravi reported having no relevant financial disclosures.

https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/concurrent-proton-pump-inhibitor-glp-1-use-linked-increases-2026a1000f38

Preventive Care With the Most Bang for Your Buck

 Some preventive services are more lifesaving than others, according to a poster presented at the Society of General Internal Medicine (SGIM) 2026 Annual Meeting in Washington, DC.

Investigators evaluated 42 recommendations from the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) and the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, ranking them by how many years of quality life would be gained (quality-adjusted life years [QALYs]) and quality years per hour of physician time.

“We often have patients that qualify for up to dozens of preventative care recommendations, and we really have little guidance on how to prioritize,” said Justin Porter, MD, an assistant professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Chicago, Chicago, who co-led the research. “The costs of prioritizing incorrectly include delaying much needed services or oftentimes not giving them entirely.”

The top six interventions by patient quality years gained were:

• Prescribing preexposure prophylaxis for patients with high-risk sexual activity (0.41 QALYs) and intravenous drug use (0.13)
• Offer to prescribe medications to reduce the risk for breast cancer(0.21)
• Prescribe statins for primary prevention for adults aged 40-75 years at high risk for cardiovascular disease (0.12)
• Screen for alcohol use and provide brief behavioral counseling for adults with hazardous drinking behaviors (0.11)
• Weight-loss counseling and referral to a dietician for adults with obesity (0.07)

When physician time was factored in, the top four services maintained their position but hepatitis B screening for high-risk patients (1.19) and hypertension screening (0.74) rose in value.

Vaccination for respiratory syncytial virus; influenza; and tetanus, diphtheria, and acellular pertussis (TDAP) ranked lowest in QALYs per intervention. Breast cancer screening, folic acid supplementation, and TDAP ranked lowest when physician time was factored in.

The rankings were based on an analysis of approximately 55 time- and cost-effectiveness studies that estimated QALYs for each intervention.

The framework speaks to a common frustration in primary care — managing a growing list of preventive recommendations with limited time, said Jeffrey A. Linder, MD, MPH, chief of general internal medicine at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, who was not involved in the study.

The findings may help clinicians prioritize their actions, instead of relying on a stream of electronic health record alerts that provide no sense of what matters most, Linder said.

For example, “a lot of people are thinking about cervical cancer screening, but that’s actually lower down on the list,” Linder said. Once the paper has undergone peer review, “I should probably be reordering my thinking and making sure that the women who would benefit from medications to reduce breast cancer are actually on them.”

The analysis also led Linder to rethink the emphasis on statins, which are widely discussed but ranked fourth. Linder said he would like to see researchers include non-USPSTF services, such as controlling high blood pressure, on the list.

Porter presented an example of a 65-year-old woman with obesity: she would be a strong candidate for statins for primary prevention. If she declined the medication, clinicians could move down the list to other services she would qualify for, including behavioral interventions for weight loss, followed by colorectal cancer screening, the latter of which ranked ninth for QALYs gained.

Porter said in an ideal setting, clinicians would have time to execute all preventive services.

“The reality in clinical practice is that you certainly can’t do all of these in one visit,” Porter said. “And because patients are lost to follow-up and there’s a time delay between appointments, the order you choose to do these things does actually matter.”

The authors reported having no disclosures or funding sources. 

https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/preventive-care-most-bang-your-buck-2026a1000f2p

'CNN: Iran talks said to depend on results of Trump's China trip'

 The progress of the peace negotiations between the United States and Iran will depend on the outcome of US President Donald Trump's visit to China later this week, CNN reported on Monday, citing a regional source close to the negotiating process.

According to the report, the source claimed that China will be "an important player in ensuring that the dialogue continues." The source added that it is "very likely" that Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Arahchi will be present at the BRICS meeting of foreign ministers, which is set to take place in Delhi on the same days as Trump's visit to Beijing. The Iranian foreign minister's attendance at the meeting is reportedly considered "important" because the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia and Egypt are also set to attend the summit, with both of those countries aiding Pakistan in mediating between Washington and Tehran.

https://breakingthenews.net/Article/Iran-talks-said-to-depend-on-results-of-Trump's-China-trip/66265937