Independent News & People Network Desk of News

Elon Musk’s X latest to block Saudi dissident accounts inside kingdom

Source: The Guardian - World · Published: 2026-08-04T15:20:21+00:00

Exclusive: More than 60 accounts on X have been made unavailable in Saudi Arabia, after similar action on Snapchat and FacebookElon Musk’s X has become the latest major US social media company to block the accounts of Saudi Arabian dissidents so they are no longer visible inside the kingdom, following orders from Saudi authorities.Earlier this year, the Guardian reported that platforms including Snapchat and Meta’s Facebook and Instagram had blocked dissidents’ accounts over allegations by Saudi authorities that they were violating local law. Continue reading...

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India can source 20% of gold demand domestically by 2047, says WGC

Source: The Hindu Business Line – Markets · Published: 2026-08-04T15:19:56+00:00

The council’s Swarnim Udaan 2047 report proposes the creation of a National Gold Board to bring policy coordination under a single institutional framework

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US Senate committee votes to advance Todd Blanche’s nomination for attorney general – US politics live

Source: The Guardian - World · Published: 2026-08-04T15:17:33+00:00

Judiciary committee votes along party lines despite concerns that deal withdrawing $1.8bn ‘anti-weaponization’ fund could be reversedTodd Blanche’s attorney general nomination will advance to full US Senate voteSign up for US Breaking News emailThe White House has called an emergency summit of artificial intelligence business leaders on Tuesday to finalize details of a voluntary compliance system for safety breaches, following reports that two major AI tools had breached their digital containment and hacked external computer systems.Anthropic reported last week that models of its Claude tool s

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Hurdles to innovation

Source: The Hindu Business Line – Markets · Published: 2026-08-04T15:14:06+00:00

Governance and absorption capacity pose concerns

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Drone appears to stalk man before exploding

Source: Al Jazeera - World · Published: 2026-08-04T15:11:51+00:00

A drone was seen following a man at a minibus-turned-market in Kherson, southern Ukraine, before exploding on Tuesday.

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В 2025 году объем налоговых льгот на НИОКР вырос на 21%

Source: Vedomosti – All Articles · Published: 2026-08-04T15:11:39+00:00

Объем налоговых льгот, предоставленных российским организациям для поддержки исследований и разработок, в 2025 г. достиг почти 406 млрд руб., следует из анализа Института статистических исследований и экономики знаний НИУ ВШЭ на основе открытых данных Федеральной налоговой службы. По сравнению с 2024 г. показатель увеличился почти на 21% в постоянных ценах.

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Todd Blanche’s attorney general nomination will advance to full US Senate vote

Source: The Guardian - World · Published: 2026-08-04T15:08:32+00:00

Blanche, one of Trump’s most trusted legal aides, had confirmed in writing that $1.8bn slush fund for president’s allies was deadThe US Senate judiciary committee voted along party lines to advance Todd Blanche’s nomination for attorney general after he confirmed in writing that a planned $1.8bn slush fund for Donald Trump’s allies was dead. Experts say, however, that Trump could easily reverse the deal.His nomination will now proceed to the full Senate, where it will likely face intense skepticism from Democrats. Continue reading...

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Manpower issues in space, nuclear power

Source: The Hindu Business Line – Markets · Published: 2026-08-04T15:04:52+00:00

Privatisation flip side. The lack of skilled personnel will impact the operations of both private and public sector

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Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey gives UK poetry sales an epic boost

Source: The Guardian - World · Published: 2026-08-04T15:02:20+00:00

Poetry sales surpassed £8m in the first 30 weeks of 2026 and are expected to reach a record high this year thanks to blockbuster adaptation of Homer’s 2,700-year-old poemUK poetry sales are on course to reach a record high this year, buoyed by the success of Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster film adaptation of Homer’s The Odyssey.Poetry sales surpassed £8m during the first 30 weeks of 2026, an increase of 13.3% on the same period last year, according to data from market researchers NielsenIQ. Continue reading...

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Reading and writing worsens in Australian schools as one in three students fail to meet Naplan benchmarks

Source: The Guardian - World · Published: 2026-08-04T15:00:06+00:00

Education minister Jason Clare says the results showed ‘real challenges’ but numeracy scores were hearteningFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastReading and writing scores are going backwards for almost every age group in Australia’s national standardised school tests, with one in three students still failing to meet Naplan benchmarks.This year’s tests were taken in March by 1.2 million students across years 3, 5, 7 and 9 to measure literacy and numeracy proficiency, with results released on Wednesday by the Australian

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‘Did you send that report?’ The Icac bombshell that came late for Damien Tudehope

Source: The Guardian - World · Published: 2026-08-04T15:00:05+00:00

The former Liberal finance minister was questioned by Icac counsel assisting, Peggy Dwyer, on TuesdayGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe bombshell came in the last five minutes of former finance minister and rightwing powerbroker Damien Tudehope’s examination before the Independent Commission Against Corruption.At 3.30pm on Tuesday, Tudehope was shown an email which he sent in February 2023, attaching a leaked draft parliamentary report into branch stacking in the Hills area by the Reformers, the shadowy group at the centre of Icac’s Operation Rosny. Continue reading

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Melbourne anti-weapons protest being investigated as terrorist act by ‘far-left extremists’

Source: The Guardian - World · Published: 2026-08-04T15:00:04+00:00

Federal police say those who vandalised a defence manufacturer and torched nearby cars could face life imprisonmentGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAnti-weapons protesters who vandalised a defence manufacturer and set nearby vehicles alight could face life imprisonment after police said the incident was being investigated as an act of terrorism by “far-left extremists”.The Australian federal police, their Victorian counterparts and spy agency Asio are examining whether the incident at Melbourne-based Lovitt Technologies on 5 July 2025 was potentially perpetrated by “f

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Mentions of ‘gender’ scrubbed from Queensland Office for Women website amid alleged effort to ‘dewokify’

Source: The Guardian - World · Published: 2026-08-04T15:00:04+00:00

Comparisons of live and archived pages show more than 20 mentions have been removed, including in reference to the gender pay gapGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastReferences to “gender equality” have been removed from the Queensland Office for Women’s website amid claims by former staffers that the Liberal National party government wants to “dewokify” the public service.Guardian Australia has seen an email from a manager, sent in January, tasking staff with scanning the website for the word “gender” so that it could be “reframed”. Continue reading...

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Vandalism of Melbourne defence manufacturer being investigated as terrorist act by ‘far-left extremists’

Source: The Guardian - World · Published: 2026-08-04T15:00:04+00:00

Federal police say those who vandalised a defence manufacturer and torched nearby cars could face life imprisonmentGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAnti-weapons protesters who vandalised a defence manufacturer and set nearby vehicles alight could face life imprisonment after police said the incident was being investigated as an act of terrorism by “far-left extremists”.The Australian federal police, their Victorian counterparts and spy agency Asio are examining whether the incident at Melbourne-based Lovitt Technologies on 5 July 2025 was potentially perpetrated by “f

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Aboriginal community police officers sue NT authorities over alleged racial abuse and discrimination

Source: The Guardian - World · Published: 2026-08-04T15:00:03+00:00

Class action claims Indigenous staff were called slurs, exposed to racist language and paid less for doing the same workWarning: This article contains racist and offensive language directed at First Nations peopleGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAboriginal community police officers are suing the Northern Territory government and the NT police force alleging systemic discrimination and underpayment, the widespread use of racist slurs against Indigenous colleagues and community members, and abuse spanning nearly three decades.The class action, on behalf of Aboriginal co

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Star Wars dubbed into Welsh for first time for S4C broadcast

Source: The Guardian - World · Published: 2026-08-04T14:59:08+00:00

Rhys Ifans, Matthew Rhys, Aimee-Ffion Edwards and Mark Lewis Jones among actors voicing characters from 1977 blockbusterThere are a few links between the Star Wars franchise and Wales, including the secretive building of the Millennium Falcon in an old hangar in the far south-west of the Celtic nation.But until now speakers of Welsh – Cymraeg – have not been able to hear the words of Luke Skywalker, Han Solo and Princess Leia spoken in their own language. Continue reading...

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Oil prices fall on hopes Strait of Hormuz could reopen

Source: BBC News - World · Published: 2026-08-04T14:58:16+00:00

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent both announced talks had progressed to allow shipments to resume.

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Kemi Badenoch defends selection of man jailed for harassing Jewish MP in council election – as it happened

Source: The Guardian - World · Published: 2026-08-04T14:56:34+00:00

Conservative leader tells press she stands by decision to select Joshua Bonehill-Paine as a candidate for local election in SomersetFormer neo-Nazi activist selected as Tory candidate for Somerset council electionSome 86,495 people were in prison in England and Wales as of 3 August, according to the latest data published by the Ministry of Justice.This is 2,026 below the record high of 88,521 reached on 6 September 2024, just before the current early release scheme began. Continue reading...

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