Elon Musk has authorized his super PAC, America PAC, to commit $100–120 mln to a new grassroots midterm campaign to help Republican candidates in November. The nine-figure budget, expected to roll out next month, will fund activity in at least eight states and initially target Senate races in Alaska, Iowa, Maine, Michigan and Ohio; North Carolina, Georgia and Texas are under discussion. The size could change, but the commitment was treated as credible enough that America PAC informed other GOP g

On July 24 at Zhongnanhai, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China convened a forum with leaders of democratic parties, the All‑China Federation of Industry and Commerce and non‑party representatives to solicit views on the current economy and H2 economic work. Xi presided and said H2 priorities are to adhere to the principle of seeking progress while maintaining stability, fully and accurately implement the new development philosophy, accelerate construction of the new development pattern, better coordinate domestic and external conditions and development with security, deepen reform and opening, speed conversion from old to new growth drivers, implement a more proactive fiscal policy and an appropriately loose monetary policy, maximize the effectiveness of existing stock policies while timely designing pragmatic incremental measures, step up countercyclical adjustment, expand domestic demand, optimise supply, secure and improve livelihoods, and bolster growth momentum and social dynamism to push for sustained, higher‑quality economic development and strive for a good start to the '15th Five‑Year Plan'.

China’s State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) said since June regulators sampled 50,900 beverage batches nationwide, with a 99.45% pass rate. Inspections spanned producers, catering outlets, supermarkets, canteens, street vendors and online platforms, targeting high-consumption items such as fruit/vegetable juices, packaged drinking water and protein drinks; authorities tested 214 items across eight categories, including microbiological indicators, food additives, heavy metals and organic pollutants.