NewsBytes

Dressed in the traditional bull runner's garb of a white shirt and red neck-scarf, Yomara Martínez, 30, sprinted in the death-defying morning run or “encierros” taking place this week in the northern Spanish city of Pamplona. Yet despite being in a crowd of thousands, Martínez was among only a handful of women daredevils running with the stampeding bulls at the San Fermín Festival. “At the end of the day, the bull doesn't know about sexes, age or body shape,” Martinez said. “It doesn't matter if you are woman.” Every year, thousands of people line the medieval streets of Pamplona to witness the centuries-old tradition of running with bulls. Many watch from balconies and wooden barricades along the course. Millions more follow the spectacle on television. Women bull runners are rare, though Martínez and other women taking part in the adrenaline-fuelled tradition as more than mere spectators say it's growing in popularity.

Debate over President Donald Trump's sweeping budget-and-policy package is over on Capitol Hill. Now the argument goes national. From the Central Valley of California to Midwestern battlegrounds and suburban districts of the northeast, the new law already is shaping the 2026 midterm battle for control of the House of Representatives. The outcome will set the tone for Trump's final two years in the Oval Office. Democrats need a net gain of three House seats to break the GOP's chokehold on Washington and reestablish a power centre to counter Trump. There's added pressure to flip the House given that midterm Senate contests are concentrated in Republican-leaning states, making it harder for Democrats to reclaim that chamber. As Republicans see it, they've now delivered broad tax cuts, an unprecedented investment in immigration enforcement and new restraints on social safety net programmes. Democrats see a law that rolls back health insurance access and raises costs for middle-class Americans while cutting taxes mostly for the rich, curtailing green energy initiatives and restricting some workers' organising rights.

A bird flu outbreak has been confirmed in a poultry farm in Odisha's Puri district, prompting the state government to launch emergency containment measures, including mass culling of over 6,700 birds, a senior official said on Sunday. The state government resorted to mass culling of the birds after the National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases (NIHSAD), Bhopal, confirmed that samples collected from Bada Ankula village in Delanga block of the district tested positive for the H5N1 avian influenza virus, he added. Over 6,700 birds were culled on Saturday and Sunday following standard operating procedure (SOP) lay down by the Centre, he said. Sarat Kumar Behera, chief district veterinary officer (CDVO), Puri, informed that five rapid response teams (RRTs) along with health teams have been deployed in the area where bird flu cases were detected.

India's import of crude oil from Russia rose to an 11-month high in June as refiners topped up tanks amid the Israel-Iran war, analysts said. India imported 2.08 million barrels per day (bpd) of Russian crude in June, the highest since July 2024, according to vessel tracking data from global commodity market analytics firm Kpler. "While India's global imports of crude oil dropped by 6 per cent in June, Russian volumes saw an 8 per cent month-on-month rise to their highest levels since July 2024," European think tank Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air said. "More than half of these imports from Russia were made by three refineries in India, which also export refined products to G7+ countries.” India imports more than 85 per cent of its requirement of crude oil, which is turned into fuels like petrol and diesel in refineries. Traditionally, the Middle East was the main source, but Russia has been the mainstay supplier for nearly three years now.