Sonam Wangchuk, an activist supporting youth-led protests in India, ended a 26-day hunger strike on Friday after talks with government ministers. He said he acted to avert possible violence. Student-led demonstrations over a leaked medical entrance exam scandal continued, with protesters demanding the education minister's resignation, wider education reforms and accountability for police brutality.
The European Commission fined Google 890 million euros, roughly $1 billion, after finding the company breached the Digital Markets Act by favouring its own services in search rankings and imposing Play Store restrictions. It marked the first major DMA enforcement against Google, which becomes the third tech giant penalised. Google was given 60 days to comply.
Intel reported its fastest revenue growth in 15 years, with sales jumping 25% in the second quarter, according to the Financial Times. Business Insider framed the results as a turnaround for a chipmaker once seen as a fallen giant, attributing the acceleration to surging demand from AI data centres fuelling its business.
Manchester Super Giants opened their 2026 women's Hundred campaign by bowling London Spirit out for just 80 at Lord's, with Ryana MacDonald-Gay claiming four wickets. The Super Giants knocked off the modest target with plenty of balls to spare, easing to a seven-wicket victory. Sources also referenced a separate men's fixture decided by seven runs.
US President Donald Trump imposed new double-digit tariffs of up to 12.5% on imports from around 60 countries, the White House said, citing failures to curb forced labour. The duties replace temporary 10% levies set to expire on Friday, introduced after the Supreme Court struck down Trump's earlier trade measures. Affected partners were not fully listed.
OpenAI made ChatGPT Health available to all US users aged 18 and older, letting them connect medical records and health-tracking data from services like Apple Health, Function, and MyFitnessPal. The feature, previously in beta after being announced in January, relaunched with expanded access as OpenAI executives claimed improved results for medical queries.
Oil reached $100 a barrel as Houthi attacks in the Bab al-Mandab strait threatened Saudi Arabia's crude exports, with tankers abandoning the route and Asian refiners facing month-long delays. Fortune reported the Iran war spreading from sea to sea, while the FT noted US stocks and bonds sold off as Trump weighed a 'massive attack'.
The 2026 Commonwealth Games opened in Glasgow on Thursday evening with a ceremony featuring King Charles III and Queen Camilla emerging from a Tardis alongside a mechanical Loch Ness Monster. Glasgow stepped in to host the scaled-back Games after they had appeared doomed, and organisers leaned on feelgood spectacle to launch an event still facing questions over its future.
British Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced a 20% cut to business rates for pubs, clubs and live music venues in England as part of a £100m aid package. It was described as his third cost-of-living measure in three days. Hospitality groups called it a small move, urging him to cut VAT and extend help to hotels and restaurants.
Anthropic upgraded Claude's voice mode, making its more capable Opus and Sonnet models available for the first time; voice had previously run only on the faster, less powerful Haiku. The update extends voice into connected apps like Gmail, Slack, and Canva, letting users draft emails or reschedule meetings by speaking to Claude.