China's economy is stumbling, again. Slower-than-expected second-quarter growth statistics have put "further pressure" on the Communist Party as its leaders gathered this week to plan the way forward, said The New York Times. 

Those leaders have tried to offset the country's long-standing property slump by boosting export-driven manufacturing, but that has led to a "glut of goods, from chemicals to cars" and a backlash, in the form of tariffs, from countries whose leaders "fear the flood of Chinese goods will overwhelm local industries". The result? China is "limping along precariously", said one analyst.

What did the commentators say?
This week's meeting is about "long-term reform not short-term stimulus", said The Economist. One long-term problem: consumer spending is "chronically weak in China". That is partly due to a "thin social safety net" that forces China's poorest households to scrimp and save instead of spend. Communist leaders could help increase that spending with a series of reforms, including "fatter state pensions and improved health care". To fix the economy now, any long-term reform must be accompanied by "further stimulus spending in the short term". 

China must "recognise that its fundamental recipe for success has not changed", Brian Y. S. Wong, of the University of Hong Kong, said in the South China Morning Post. In the post-Mao era, China exploded from a poor nation into the world's second-largest economy by opening its doors to the world. A burgeoning "Cold War II" between China and the West has recently shifted the focus to "intense strategic rivalries". The best thing to do now is make China newly welcoming to foreigners, "whether they are tourists, students or skilled labour".

What next?
Chinese leaders have this week pledged to "better manage" the country's economy, said Nikkei Asia. But there have been "no clear bombshells and few details" about the plans or reforms going forward. "There's nothing hinting at China heading toward a different policy direction," said one analyst. 

"Has China's economy peaked?" asked Deutsche Welle. The country is burdened with a "heavy debt load, slowing productivity, low consumption and an ageing population" and faces increasing tensions with the West. There's a possibility that China's "impending economic supremacy may be delayed or never happen".

A new gel that men rub into their shoulders every day is the latest development highlighting the challenges in winning men over to the idea of birth control.

The NES/T gel lowers sperm production and, in eight weeks, it becomes as effective at preventing pregnancy as the female contraceptive pill. It follows the development of a male contraceptive pill that began UK trials in December last year. The pill trials will determine whether the medication is "safe and effective", said author Jill Filipovic in The Guardian. "But the manufacturers are no doubt wondering about something else: will men take it?"

'Up for it'
Male contraceptive methods beyond condoms have evolved at a snail's pace compared to women's options, so why has it "taken so long?" asked USA Today, to "get from sheep intestines to pills and hormonal gels?"

Plenty of men are in favour of male hormonal contraception, as demonstrated by a 2023 YouGov poll suggesting that just over half of British men aged 18 to 44 would be open to taking a contraceptive pill. "Men and boys are afraid of accidental pregnancies" too, said one man speaking to The Times. "Count me in." But "I don't think I'm alone in suspecting that if they were genuinely up for it", a male pill "would have been invented long ago", said Anna Tyzack in The Telegraph.

A big 'if'
"Ever since the invention of contraception – and before the concept even existed", said Helen Coffey in The Independent, "women have always known it's up to us to take care of the distinctly unsexy 'not falling pregnant' part of sex." Dr Diana Blithe, a clinical researcher in contraceptive health, told The Telegraph that "male contraception will always be a female issue". 

There's also "the issue of trust", said Dazed. "How can women trust men who say they're on the pill, when stealthing – non-consensual condom removal – is so widespread?" And even with the best intentions, relying on men for birth control, "when the weight of a lapse of memory will fall on women's bodies, health, and careers if they don't – well, that's a big if", said Charlie Gowans-Eglinton in The Times.

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Suffolk: Clare, Sudbury
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Hertfordshire: Melbourn Street, Royston
This handsome 17th-century Grade I Jacobean house retains a wealth of original features, including murals and wood panelling. 9 beds, 3 baths, 4 receps, garden, outbuildings, parking. £1.85m; Savills

West Sussex: Barnham Court, Barnham
Magnificent 17th-century Grade I English baroque property set in landscaped grounds. 5 beds, 5 baths, kitchen, 6 receps, self-contained 1-bed cottage, swimming pool, garden, garage. £3.75m; Knight Frank

A record sentence for a Zoom call, arrests for those holding signs outside. This is a blight on British democracy
George Monbiot in The Guardian
"How do you know when protest tactics are working?" asks George Monbiot. "When governments ban them." The Tories said their "draconian measures" would lessen "disruption to the public", but if "a few people sitting in the street is an impediment to traffic", look at what a "flash flood" or a "rail-buckling, road-melting, bridge-jamming heat event can do to transport infrastructure". Labour must "repeal" anti-protest laws and "establish a positive right in law to protest peacefully".

Donald Trump sounds sombre – and strange
Freddy Gray in The Spectator
"Normally, at rallies", writes Freddy Gray, Donald Trump "revs up the crowd", but last night at the Republican National Convention he was "sombre and slow". He "can do funny and he can do angry", but "sombre Donald Trump" is "a different man altogether". His speech was "poignant" but it was "also odd". The shooting "really does seem to have changed him", but "we'll have to wait and see for how long that remains true".

Dressing Down
The Times editorial board
Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the Commons Speaker, is "quite right" to remind male MPs that they should wear a tie in the Palace of Westminster, says The Times, because they are "the most dispensable item of male apparel" and their "value lies in symbolism". To many, the tie "screams pale, male and stale" but it still acts as "an expression of respect for one's office". And a dress code is "no bad thing".