India to send first astronaut on mission to International Space Station

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Shubhanshu Shukla will be first Indian to reach orbit in more than 40 years as country works to join global space race

The first Indian astronaut to visit the International Space Station is due to blast off as part of an effort by the world’s most populous nation to catch up with the US, Russia and China in human space flight missions.

Shubhanshu Shukla, a 39-year-old air force fighter pilot, is one of a four-person mission launching on Tuesday from the US with the private company Axiom Space, which is using a SpaceX capsule.

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Lex Greensill says SoftBank managers ‘felt threatened’ by his links to founder

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Financier tells court he travelled to Tokyo ‘often weekly’ for mentoring sessions with Masayoshi Son

The financier Lex Greensill has told a court that senior managers at SoftBank “felt threatened” by his relationship with Masayoshi Son, the founder of the Japanese tech investor that pumped hundreds of millions of dollars in his specialist lender before its collapse.

Greensill said he travelled to Tokyo “often weekly” for in-person mentoring sessions with the billionaire founder, who he dined with and referred to by the Japanese honorific “Son-san”. Greensill made the comments in his first public courtroom appearance since the devastating demise in 2021 of his company, which counted former prime minister David Cameron as an adviser.

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Nigel Farage’s pitch for Welsh elections: bring back coalmining

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Reform leader says steel and coal industries can be revived but does not say how beyond ‘scrapping net zero’

Nigel Farage has demanded the reopening of domestic coalmines to provide fuel for new blast furnaces, arguing that Welsh people would happily return to mining if the pay was sufficiently high.

Speaking at an event in Port Talbot, the south Wales town traditionally associated with the steel industry, the Reform UK leader said it was in the “national interest” to have a guaranteed supply of steel, as well as UK-produced fuel for the furnaces, a close echo of Donald Trump’s repeated pledges to return heavy industry to the US.

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Labour hope to put winter fuel misstep behind them – BBC

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  1. Labour hope to put winter fuel misstep behind them  BBC
  2. Better-off pensioners able to 'opt-out' of Scottish fuel payment  BBC
  3. Means testing Winter Fuel Payment at £35,000 taxable income per annum – impact on poverty levels  GOV.UK
  4. The Guardian view on Labour’s tough choices: they are costing the government dearly | Editorial  The Guardian
  5. 500,000 more pensioners at risk of losing winter fuel payments under Labour  The Telegraph
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Glendale ends ‘divisive’ Ice detention contract amid California protests

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Decision comes as federal action to enforce US immigration laws inspired three days of protests in the LA area

The California city of Glendale has terminated a contract to house federal immigration detainees, with local officials saying the arrangement had become increasingly “divisive” within the community.

The decision by the Los Angeles county municipality to sever ties with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) comes after three days of protests in other parts of the LA area. That included Sunday near the Metropolitan Detention Center, about nine miles from Glendale, where cars were set alight as anti-Ice protesters clashed with law enforcement officers, including the national guard.

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NIH scientists go public to denounce Trump’s deep cuts in health research

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Scores of National Institutes of Health researchers and staffers sign letter criticizing agency policies: ‘We dissent’

In his confirmation hearings to lead the National Institutes of Health, Jay Bhattacharya pledged his openness to views that might conflict with his own. “Dissent,” he said, “is the very essence of science.”

That commitment is being put to the test.

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Latinas for Trump co-founder criticizes president’s immigration arrests: ‘Unacceptable and inhumane’

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Florida state senator joins US House member in expressing alarm over ‘arbitrary measures to hunt down people’

A co-founder of a group for Latinas who support Donald Trump has excoriated the president on some of the immigration-related arrests being carried out by his administration, which she called “unacceptable and inhumane”.

In a statement posted on X over the weekend, Ileana Garcia wrote, “This is not what we voted for.”

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Why Bamboozled Putin Is Struggling to Avenge Ukraine’s Sneak Attack – The Daily Beast

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  1. Why Bamboozled Putin Is Struggling to Avenge Ukraine’s Sneak Attack  The Daily Beast
  2. Putin promised to make Ukraine pay for its airbase attacks. What does he have left?  CNN
  3. Fake war clips from video games mislead millions on social media  Euronews.com
  4. What the US can learn from Ukraine’s remarkable Operation Spider Web  The Hill
  5. Ukraine's drone attacks temporarily halt flights in Moscow, across Russia  Reuters
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Trump’s expansive new travel ban takes effect for 19 countries – The Washington Post

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  1. Trump’s expansive new travel ban takes effect for 19 countries  The Washington Post
  2. Trump’s new travel ban takes effect as tensions escalate over immigration enforcement  AP News
  3. US travel ban takes effect amid LA protests against immigration crackdown  Al Jazeera
  4. Live updates: Trump’s travel ban on 12 countries takes effect today  NBC News
  5. Haitians Reel as Trump’s Travel Ban Tears Families and Businesses Apart  The New York Times
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Questions grow over unprecedented illegal firearms seizure in Jamaica

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Ministers tight-lipped over discovery of 233 guns and 40,000 rounds of ammunition that could ‘arm a small army’

Jamaicans are seeking answers after officials revealed a massive illegal firearms seizure described by experts as the largest in the country’s history, with enough guns and ammunition to “arm a small army”.

More than a week after the police and customs said they had intercepted 233 illegal rifles and handguns and more than 40,000 rounds of ammunition, the government has remained tight-lipped about the details of the find, arguing that revealing more information would hamper a sensitive cross-border investigation into their origin and the identity of those involved.

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Weather tracker: Storms make way for summer heat in Europe

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Florence in Italy could hit 39C as hot weather sweeps continent, while parts of South Africa brace for snow

The severe thunderstorms that have been lashing parts of Europe over recent days are expected to give way to high temperatures this week. Several regions could climb to 10C (50F) above seasonal norms, with Italy braced for the full force of the heat. Florence in Tuscany is forecast to soar to a sweltering 39C on Thursday and across the weekend.

Germany, France and Belgium will also face hot weather from Wednesday, with widespread highs at least 9C above the June average. Many other parts of Europe are forecast to experience temperatures 5-7C above normal. This is the result of a high-pressure system creating a heat dome over the region, whereby sinking air compresses and warms as it descends, trapping heat near the surface.

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Iran says it will release Israeli nuclear secrets as pressure grows to reimpose sanctions

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Tehran threat comes as European powers press for vote that could lead to reimposition of UN sanctions

Iran has said it will soon start releasing information from a hoard of Israeli nuclear secrets it claims to have obtained, as European countries push for a vote this week on reimposing UN sanctions on Tehran over its nuclear programme.

The unverified claims by Iranian intelligence of a massive leak of Israeli secrets may be designed to turn the focus away from what Iran argues is its own excessively monitored civil nuclear programme.

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Russia Slams NATO ‘Aggression’ Over Air Defense Spending Call – Kyiv Post

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  1. Russia Slams NATO ‘Aggression’ Over Air Defense Spending Call  Kyiv Post
  2. NATO Chief Urges Members to Spend Far More on Military  The New York Times
  3. NATO needs 400% increase in air and missile defence, Rutte will say in London  Reuters
  4. Russia could be ready to attack Nato within five years, says secretary general  The Guardian
  5. NATO chief to urge four-fold boost to European defense spending  NBC News
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Israeli forces halt Gaza-bound aid boat and detain Greta Thunberg and other activists – ABC News

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  1. Israeli forces halt Gaza-bound aid boat and detain Greta Thunberg and other activists  ABC News
  2. Israel Intercepts Gaza-Bound Aid Ship With Greta Thunberg Aboard  The New York Times
  3. The Freedom Flotilla achieved its mission  Al Jazeera
  4. IDF detains Gaza-bound vessel carrying Greta Thunberg: ‘The show is over’  Fox News
  5. Humanitarian vessel on aid mission to Gaza rescues 4 migrants at sea; dozens returned to Libya  AP News
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Russia fires record 479 drones at Ukraine overnight, Kyiv says – France 24

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  1. Russia fires record 479 drones at Ukraine overnight, Kyiv says  France 24
  2. Ukraine Says Russia Launched Biggest Air Assault of the War  The New York Times
  3. Russia launches biggest drone barrage of the Ukraine war, Kyiv says  Fox News
  4. Russia bombards Ukraine with 479 drones overnight, Ukrainian air force says  ABC News
  5. Ukraine says Russia launched the biggest overnight drone bombardment of the war  The Independent
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SpaceX delays launch of private Ax-4 astronauts to ISS to June 11. Here’s how to watch it live. – Space

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  1. SpaceX delays launch of private Ax-4 astronauts to ISS to June 11. Here's how to watch it live.  Space
  2. Live coverage: SpaceX to launch fourth commercial Axiom mission to the space station  Spaceflight Now
  3. Weather, Rocket Issues May Further Delay India's Cosmic Leap  NDTV
  4. Private astronaut mission marks next step toward a new space station  ABC News
  5. An Indian astronaut is about to visit the ISS for the 1st time ever  Space
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