U.S. special envoy Cole said he is in communication with the appropriate parties regarding the release of civilians caught up in the Russia-Ukraine war.

China’s Ministry of Finance will re-open a 10-year fixed-rate book-entry coupon Treasury bond (2026, 16th series) via competitive tender for 90 bln yuan. Class A members may submit additional bids. The coupon is set by auction and fixed at 1.66%, matching the prior same-tenor issue. Interest accrues from Aug 15, 2026, paid semiannually on Feb 15 and Aug 15 (holiday roll), with principal and final interest repaid on Aug 15, 2036.

OpenAI said on Wednesday it has launched advertiser-facing AI tools and begun testing company-sponsored chatbots for user interaction to expand into the AI-driven marketing market. A sponsored agents feature will let users converse with company-sponsored agents inside ChatGPT and, after interacting with an ad, access the sponsor's website; agents will be clearly labeled and segregated from ChatGPT's independent replies and users' original chats. The feature is being piloted with select US advertisers. Separately, a ChatGPT Ads Manager plugin will let advertisers use natural-language prompts to create, update and analyze campaigns—converting websites or campaign briefs into campaigns, reviewing performance and providing recommendations, including copy and image suggestions based on landing pages and campaign objectives.