Briefly

SWITZERLAND

No deal after plastic pollution treaty talks

Delegates discussing the world's first legally binding treaty to tackle plastic pollution failed to reach consensus, diplomats said on Friday, voicing disappointment and even rage that the 10-day talks produced no deal. Delegates had been seeking a breakthrough in the deadlocked United Nations' talks in Geneva, but states pushing for an ambitious treaty said that the latest text released overnight failed to meet their expectations. The chair of the negotiations, Ecuador's Luis Vayas Valdivieso, adjourned the session with a pledge to resume talks at an undetermined later date, drawing weak applause from exhausted delegates who had worked into the early hours. UN officials and some countries, including Britain, said that negotiations should resume, but others described a broken process.

CANADA

Flights canceled as carrier, union clash

Air Canada and its unionized flight attendants remained at odds on Friday, despite government pleas for both sides to return to bargaining to avert a strike that would upend travel for tens of thousands of passengers. Canada's largest carrier said that it expected to cancel 500 flights by the end of the day, ahead of the planned strike, leaving some 100,000 passengers scrambling for alternatives. The carrier's 10,000 flight attendants are gearing up to strike on Saturday over stalled contract talks on union demands for higher wages and compensation for unpaid work. On Thursday night, Air Canada and the union clashed over an agreement to avoid stranding thousands of passengers abroad when the strike is expected to begin on Saturday.

INDIA

Modi pushes self-reliance amid tariffs

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday that India is seeking self-reliance in energy independence and the development of its own powerful defense systems, vowing to defend his country's interests "like a wall". Modi delivered his annual Independence Day address from the ramparts of New Delhi's Red Fort, at a time when India faces intense pressure and threats of additional tariffs from the United States. The prime minister urged the country to move toward more self-reliance, manufacture everything from fertilizers to jet engines and EV batteries, and vowed to protect farmers in the face of a trade conflict with Washington. He also announced lower goods and services taxes from October.

Agencies Via Xinhua