Michigan Senate Race Shaken Up, Crypto Exchange Hacked, and China Wants Bull Semen

Democratic Congresswoman Haley Stevens lost the Michigan Senate primary to Abdul El-Sayed earlier this year. But instead of supporting El-Sayed in the general election, she crossed party lines and endorsed his Republican rival, Mike Rogers. She even attended a church event in Detroit with Rogers and spoke to the media alongside him. House Speaker Mike Johnson praised Stevens for her decision, and President Donald Trump said he planned to reach out to her as well.

El-Sayed, the Democratic candidate, said he would not let the news distract him. His campaign team said the controversy may have actually helped him — he reportedly raised about $1.2 million in just a few hours after Stevens made her endorsement. Reporter Nathan Layne, who was in Detroit covering the race, said Michigan is a must-win state for Democrats. The Democratic senator currently holding the seat, Gary Peters, is retiring, so a loss there cannot be made up anywhere else.

The fight for control of the Senate is very close this year. In Texas, 37-year-old James Talarico — a state lawmaker, seminary student, and former teacher — is running against Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton. No Democrat has won a statewide race in Texas since 1994, but polls show Talarico with a slim lead. Reuters visited a famous Austin dance hall to hear from local Republicans, who said they were worried but not giving up hope.

In other U.S. news, Democratic Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut was taken to the hospital after suffering a stroke. His staff said he felt numbness in his arm during his son's hockey game. He was described as awake and alert, and his team believes he will make a full recovery. President Trump also said the U.S. and Canada are getting closer to a trade deal after months of back-and-forth tariffs.

Binance, the world's biggest cryptocurrency exchange, was hit by what experts say could be one of the largest financial thefts in history. The exchange shut down briefly but came back online and said it recovered most of the stolen money. The company claimed customers would not lose any funds, but many users quickly pulled their money out anyway. The hack also happened during a week when tech stocks fell sharply, with chipmaker Intel dropping nearly 30% in a single day.

Finally, there is a surprising story from Australia and China. A bull named Utopia, who lives west of Melbourne, is one of Australia's finest Angus bulls — jet black, muscular, and known for producing fast-growing, high-quality cattle. China wants to breed animals just like him, because Chinese cows were raised for farm work and are much smaller than cattle in the West. To fix that, China is now importing bull semen frozen in liquid nitrogen from Australia and Canada, with a strict new four-month review to ensure only the very best genes make it through.

China had previously bought most of its bull semen from the United States, but stopped in 2025 because of a trade dispute. The average Chinese cow carcass weighs about 150 kilograms, compared to 400 kilograms in the U.S. Chinese farmers are eager to close that gap and are waiting desperately for the imported genes. Only semen from the top 10% of bulls in their home countries is allowed into China, making the process tough for sellers and buyers alike.