“China pushed back Friday after President Donald Trump accused Beijing of ‘working to influence the results’ of the 2020 presidential election, describing his accusation as ‘entirely fabricated.’ Trump said in a primetime speech Thursday night that ‘in mid 2018, China was working to influence the results of the U.S. midterm elections and later the results of the 2020 presidential election itself.’ … China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian on Friday said ‘the relevant allegations by the U.S. are entirely fabricated and aimed at vilifying China.’ ‘We have no interest in interfering in US elections and have never done so,’ Jian said. … He added that ‘China reserves the right to take reciprocal countermeasures.'” (07/17/26)
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Kerry Jackson
“The Plastic Pollution Prevention and Packaging Producer Responsibility Act, passed and signed in 2022, went into effect on May 1. It demands a lot. By 2032, every shred of single-use packaging and single-use plastic food service ware sold in the state has to be recyclable or compostable. The law covers not just items made and consumed in California, but also those imported from outside the state. Because California is a massive market, many companies don’t produce one package for California and another for the other 49 states. Instead, they use a single design for everyone. That’s why the 17 states and other critics argue that California’s regulations have increasingly become national regulations.” (07/17/26)
“Citizens of liberal democratic societies have grown rich and prosperous off the ideology of rational control, but have unfortunately become complacent in its defense.” (07/17/26)
“A former loyalist blogger turned fierce critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin has been detained and accused of spreading false information about the armed forces, state media reported Friday. The news came just as a court hearing was being held for another Kremlin critic and opposition politician, Boris Nadezhdin, in a sign of an intensified response to mounting internal dissent over the war in Ukraine and its impact on Russian life. The blogger, Ilya Remeslo, stunned many in Russia when he published a scathing manifesto against the Russian leader that went viral in March. He was detained in St. Petersburg early Friday and could face up to 10 years in prison, state news agency Tass reported, citing law enforcement sources. The charge he faces is a common one for opponents of the war in Ukraine and has been used to jail numerous dissidents since the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion of its neighbor in 2022.” (07/17/26)
“Mykhailo Fedorov advanced a successful drone program in part by bucking the patronage system, which, protected by the president, likely led to his sacking.” (07/17/26)
“In less than one week, ICE agents killed twice. Neither victim was the man they were looking for. And each time their excuses made no sense. But the killings served a purpose: terrorizing immigrant communities, in pursuit of Trump’s white nationalist agenda.” (07/17/26)
“Employees from three major Bay Area artificial intelligence companies donated more than $3 million to a political action committee supporting AI regulation, according to new campaign finance records. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei was the top donor to Public First in the last quarter, giving the pro-AI safety [sic] super PAC a $1 million donation to fund candidates who share his company’s vision for safe [sic] AI development. Amodei was joined by five other Anthropic employees, who donated more than $2 million combined, plus a Google DeepMind engineer and a member of OpenAI’s technical staff, who donated $250,000 and $5,000, respectively.” (07/17/26)
