Independent News & People Network Desk of News

US trade pact — a one-way street?

Source: The Hindu Business Line – Markets · Published: 2026-07-29T15:08:04+00:00

The US was clear that it would prioritise the interests of its own stakeholders, without guaranteeing reciprocal advantages to partners

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What CJP protests show

Source: The Hindu Business Line – Markets · Published: 2026-07-29T15:07:52+00:00

India’s youth aren’t apathetic — they’re unheard

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FTSE 100 hits record high despite AI selloff

Source: The Guardian - World · Published: 2026-07-29T15:02:28+00:00

Strong corporate results buoy market as investors move money away from tech and semiconductor stocksLondon’s FTSE 100 stock index has touched a fresh high, driven by strong corporate results as investors moved money away from tech and semiconductor stocks amid the global tech stock sell-off.The UK’s blue chip index rose as high as 10,951 points on Wednesday morning, before falling back slightly, its best since the level hit on 27 February, the day before the US and Israel began attacks on Iran and sparked stock market volatility. Continue reading...

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FTSE 100 hits record high despite AI sell-off

Source: The Guardian - World · Published: 2026-07-29T15:02:28+00:00

Strong corporate results buoy market as investors move money away from tech and semiconductor stocksLondon’s FTSE 100 stock index has touched a fresh high, driven by strong corporate results as investors moved money away from tech and semiconductor stocks amid the global tech stock sell-off.The UK’s blue chip index rose as high as 10,951 points on Wednesday morning, before falling back slightly, its best since the level hit on 27 February, the day before the US and Israel began attacks on Iran and sparked stock market volatility. Continue reading...

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The population of an endangered Australian bat suddenly dropped by up to 16%. No one knows why

Source: The Guardian - World · Published: 2026-07-29T15:00:37+00:00

Exclusive: Scientists say about 5,000 fewer southern bent-wing bats have been recorded at a key maternity site for the speciesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastA sudden decline in critically endangered bats is troubling experts, who recorded about 5,000 fewer southern bent-wing bats than usual at Naracoorte’s “bat cave” this summer.These tiny russet-toned microbats roost in caves and forage for insects over long distances across south-west Victoria and south-east South Australia. Continue reading...

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Australians value batteries and EVs, but renewables industry must earn trust of regions, summit told

Source: The Guardian - World · Published: 2026-07-29T15:00:36+00:00

Clean Energy Council calls for a national, legislated scheme to funnel benefits of hosting renewables projects back to local councilsSign up for climate and environment editor Adam Morton’s free Clear Air newsletter hereOrganised campaigns against wind and solar energy have proved “extremely effective” in undermining community support for renewable energy but enthusiasm for electric vehicles has jumped following Donald Trump’s attack on Iran, according to a detailed snapshot of Australian attitudes to the clean energy transition.The survey found levels of “deep support” for clean technologies

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Atlassian tightens tracking of staff AI use as other technology firms encourage ‘tokenmaxxing’

Source: The Guardian - World · Published: 2026-07-29T15:00:36+00:00

Some companies reportedly using leaderboards for employees who used the most AI in their workGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastSoftware firm Atlassian has sought to tighten tracking of its staff’s AI spending by introducing “wallets” with monthly caps of up $2,000 for each employee, amid an explosion in costs at other tech companies.The move by Atlassian, which recently cited AI as part of the reason behind cutting 1,600 staff, bucks the trend of others in the tech sector who encouraged employees to use as much of the technology as possible, dubbed “tokenmaxxing”. Som

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‘Extremely effective’ organised campaigns against wind and solar undermining support for renewable energy

Source: The Guardian - World · Published: 2026-07-29T15:00:36+00:00

Clean Energy Council calls for a national, legislated scheme to funnel benefits of hosting renewables projects back to local councilsSign up for climate and environment editor Adam Morton’s free Clear Air newsletter hereFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesOrganised campaigns against wind and solar energy have proved “extremely effective” in undermining community support for renewable energy but enthusiasm for electric vehicles has jumped after Donald Trump’s attack on Iran, according to a detailed snapshot of Australian attitudes to the clean energy transition.The survey foun

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Bird flu is spreading locally and Australia faces more wildlife deaths. How bad could it get?

Source: The Guardian - World · Published: 2026-07-29T15:00:35+00:00

Authorities say local transmission of H5 bird flu virus among South Australian birds signals ‘shift in the situation’Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAustralia has entered a new phase in dealing with the incursion of deadly H5N1 bird flu, with authorities confirming on Wednesday that local transmission of the highly virulent strain had taken place.“We have had what is suggestive of local transmission for the first time,” Julie Collins, the federal minister for agriculture, fisheries and forestry, said on Wednesday afternoon, after 11 new suspected detections were repo

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Icac hits paydirt as Reformers’ ‘shit sheets’ are given a very public airing

Source: The Guardian - World · Published: 2026-07-29T15:00:35+00:00

Dirt files are always damaging – not least those originating in the secretive rightwing Reformers sub-faction of the partyGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastFrom time to time, dirt files – crudely known as shit sheets – flutter around the corridors of power in state and federal parliaments.They can be enormously damaging even if never published. While there might be speculation as to their origin, rarely is there confirmation – especially if the dirt file emanates from your own side. Continue reading...

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Anthony Fauci invokes fifth amendment in Covid origins hearing, repeatedly declining to answer questions – live

Source: The Guardian - World · Published: 2026-07-29T14:48:55+00:00

Medical adviser says he invokes right not to answer questions and accuses Senate committee chair Rand Paul of having ‘obvious obsession’ with himFauci invokes fifth amendment and declines to testifySign up for US Breaking News emailGary Peters, the Democratic ranking member on the homeland security committee, said that the committee has a long history of bipartisan inquiry and oversight, and the subject matter of risky research and the origins of covid-19 are a legitimate area to study.But today’s hearing with Anthony Fauci was not an example of that, Peters said. Continue reading...

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Cuba ouvre de nombreux secteurs de son économie aux acteurs privés

Source: Le Monde - International · Published: 2026-07-29T14:47:47+00:00

Le 18 juin, le Parlement avait approuvé une longue liste de 176 mesures prévoyant d’ouvrir quasiment tous les secteurs d’activité aux acteurs privés, notamment l’agriculture et les banques.

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Volker Türk, haut-commissaire des Nations unies aux droits de l’homme : « Au Liban, les victimes ont besoin de s’exprimer et que leurs paroles soient validées »

Source: Le Monde - International · Published: 2026-07-29T14:47:23+00:00

En visite au Liban les 26 et 27 juillet, le haut-commissaire des Nations unies aux droits de l’homme est revenu, dans un entretien au « Monde », sur les violations commises pendant la guerre qui a opposé Israël au Hezbollah entre mars et juin, sur les perspectives de justice pour les victimes et sur ses inquiétudes concernant le retrait de la Finul fin 2026.

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‘It’s just not cricket’: seaside town reacts to ‘Clickgate’ cheating row

Source: The Guardian - World · Published: 2026-07-29T14:41:46+00:00

Laughter, disbelief and outrage over video appearing to show Saltburn player tricking umpire into giving batters outAt the Saltburn over-60s ukulele club there was an obvious reaction to news that the town’s cricket club was being compared to the Argentina football team: laughter. Then a spirited rendition of I Love to Boogie.On the seafront, a litter-picking volunteer was looking forward to the Wednesday night quiz just to get the gossip. But she had her own view. “All I would say is it’s just not cricket, is it?” Continue reading...

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Why Saudi Arabia holds the key to Palestinian statehood

Source: Al Jazeera - World · Published: 2026-07-29T14:39:57+00:00

Riyadh’s position in the Arab and Islamic worlds bears significant weight in the prospect of normalisation with Israel.

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Hezbollah Attacks Strategic Area in Southern Lebanon, Israel Says

Source: New York Times - World · Published: 2026-07-29T14:39:51+00:00

The Israeli military said the Iran-backed militant group had used an explosive drone to target one of its vehicles on a strategic ridge, raising fears of a renewed escalation.

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A ​decade on the Iberian ​frontline​ has shown me that Europe’s ​climate ​emergency​ is ​impossible to ​deny

Source: The Guardian - World · Published: 2026-07-29T14:35:35+00:00

What once felt exceptional now arrives with grim regularity​ all over the continent, and it will only get worse• Don’t get This Is Europe delivered to your inbox? Sign up hereSpain has changed immeasurably since I arrived here 10 years ago to begin work as the Guardian’s Madrid correspondent.Over that time, the push for Catalan independence has exploded, sputtered and faded out; the Covid pandemic has hit with unimaginable ferocity, before seeming to linger for a face-masked eternity; and Podemos and Ciudadanos – the two upstart parties that once seemed likely to alter the Spanish political la

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Rescue teams face ‘race against time’ in search for trapped survivors as death toll in Japan rises to at least 13 – as it happened

Source: The Guardian - World · Published: 2026-07-29T14:27:33+00:00

Emergency workers are continuing their search for survivors in southern Japan after yesterday’s powerful earthquake ‘Race against time’: Japan earthquake death toll rises as rescue teams search for missingAn aerial view of a collapsed section of a bridge in the city of Yatsushiro after an earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.1 struck Japan’s southern Kumamoto prefecture:Japan’s Mainichi Shimbun newspaper has been speaking to people at the Nippon Paper Industries factory in Yatsushiro, where a chimney collapsed on to the site. “I never imagined something like this would happen,” said

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