Cuba's foreign minister said the U.S. continues to sanction Cuban firms to damage Cuba's economy and impede the government's delivery of basic services, which are already strained by the long-standing embargo.

US Treasury Secretary Bessent said employment data has been highly volatile.

China's Draft Medical Security Law will be submitted for a third reading at the National People's Congress Standing Committee meeting in Beijing from Aug 25-28, the NPC legal affairs committee said at an Aug 21 briefing. Proposed third-reading revisions would: explicitly reflect a health-first development strategy; tighten provisions on the medical security system; strengthen rules for medical security fund management; specify cross-region medical expense settlement requirements; add provisions for long-term care insurance; and refine legal liability rules.