Emergency teams working day and night sealed a 117‑meter breach on the east‑bank levee of the Jialu River in Chuanhui District, Zhoukou, Henan at 20:29 on Aug. 15.

Qiushi magazine's Aug. 16 issue will publish an article by General Secretary Xi Jinping, Improving Disaster Prevention, Mitigation and Relief Capacity. Xi warns China's large, geographically complex territory and varied climate make natural disasters frequent. He says since the 18th Party Congress the central leadership has treated disaster prevention, mitigation and relief as a major national priority, implementing shifts in thinking, institutional reforms, system building and capacity upgrades that have helped minimize casualties and property losses. He calls for continued adherence to Party leadership, people- and life-first priorities, respect for natural laws, prevention-first policy, reform and innovation, a systemic approach and social co-governance, and urges these practices be maintained and adapted to new conditions.

Next week's UK CPI will be market focus; AI-driven memory-chip shortages and higher energy costs are keeping the Bank of England cautious. Wednesday's print is expected to show CPI accelerating for the first time in four months; economists' median forecast is July CPI 2.9% YoY. Forecasts indicate this may mark the start of an upward trend into H2, reversing earlier easing. With the Iran conflict increasingly feeding into prices and domestic activity still firm, the data could unsettle BoE rate-setters. The Bank of England warns rapid expansion of AI compute is pushing up memory-chip costs for phones, laptops and game consoles, and British Retail Consortium July data shows chip-cost increases are passing through to electronics prices.