Albanese arrives in US for Trump meeting as Republican congressman says Aukus ‘keeps Xi up at night’

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The prime minister says it is ‘wonderful to be here’ ahead of long-awaited meeting with the president in the Oval Office at the White House

Anthony Albanese has arrived in the US for a long-awaited meeting with President Donald Trump, where they are expected to discuss the Aukus pact – an agreement a respected Republican has called a “crucial deterrent” in the Indo-Pacific that “keeps [the Chinese president, Xi Jinping] up at night”.

Albanese arrived in Washington DC late on Sunday night local time (Monday afternoon AEDT) ahead of his meeting with Trump at the White House on Monday morning local time (Tuesday morning AEDT). The two men will meet in the Oval Office, followed by a scheduled lunch afterward, according to the White House.

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Centrist Rodrigo Paz wins Bolivia’s presidential runoff, topping right-wing rival – NPR

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  1. Centrist Rodrigo Paz wins Bolivia's presidential runoff, topping right-wing rival  NPR
  2. Centrist Rodrigo Paz wins Bolivian presidency, ending nearly 20 years of leftist rule  CNN
  3. Rodrigo Paz wins presidential runoff, becoming Bolivia's first conservative leader in decades  ABC News - Breaking News, Latest News and Videos
  4. Congratulations to Bolivia’s President-Elect Paz  U.S. Department of State (.gov)
  5. Bolivia votes in run-off to end nearly 20 years of socialist government  Al Jazeera
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Two die as cargo plane skids off Hong Kong runway into sea – DW

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  1. Two die as cargo plane skids off Hong Kong runway into sea  DW
  2. Two dead after cargo plane skids off Hong Kong runway into sea  BBC
  3. Cargo Plane Accident Kills Two in Hong Kong  The Wall Street Journal
  4. Two ground staff killed at Hong Kong airport after cargo plane and vehicle go into the sea  NBC News
  5. AirACT 747 veers off runway in Hong Kong, strikes ground vehicle  Flightradar24
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Sanae Takaichi on course to become Japan’s first female PM after new coalition deal

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Officials confirm reports that Takaichi’s Liberal Democratic party will join forces with rightwing Nippon Ishin

Sanae Takaichi is on course to become Japan’s first female prime minister this week after her party agreed to form a new coalition with a minor party.

Officials confirmed on Monday that Takaichi’s Liberal Democratic party (LDP) had joined forces with the rightwing Nippon Ishin (Japan Innovation party), which shares her hawkish stance on China and support for restrictions on immigration.

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“Absolutely not”: Witkoff, Kushner reject Gaza genocide claims in “60 Minutes” interview – Axios

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  1. "Absolutely not": Witkoff, Kushner reject Gaza genocide claims in "60 Minutes" interview  Axios
  2. Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner on how they brokered Israel-Hamas deal and what's next for Gaza  CBS News
  3. Jared Kushner details working around '50 years of stupid word games' in Middle East for ceasefire deal  Fox News
  4. Kushner: Israel must improve Palestinians’ lives if it wants ‘integration’ into region  The Times of Israel
  5. Kushner and Witkoff reveal how the Trump admin plans to disarm Hamas amid faltering peace deal  New York Post
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Will affordable housing be the casualty as London tackles its building emergency?

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Collapse in construction activity causing alarm but mayor and Whitehall face pushback over ‘extreme solutions’

Sadiq Khan has known for a while that he has a problem with housebuilding in London. But last week a consultancy published figures about the scale of the problem, which prompted full-scale alarm in City Hall and Whitehall.

The analysis from Molior showed that new housebuilding in the capital had collapsed. Only 40,000 homes are under construction – two-thirds the normal rate – and in the first three months of the year builders started work on just 3,248 private sector units.

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Trump suggests carving up Ukraine’s Donbas region to end war after meeting with Zelenskyy

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Trump made the comments after a tense meeting with Zelenskyy in which the Ukraine leader failed to secure supplies of Tomahawk missiles

Donald Trump has suggested the best way to end the war in Ukraine would be to “cut up” the country’s Donbas region in a way that would leave most of it under Russian control, after reportedly pushing Volodymyr Zelenskyy at a White House meeting to give up swaths of territory.

“Let it be cut the way it is,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday. “It’s cut up right now,” he said, adding that you can “leave it the way it is right now”.

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Ultraconservative Sanae Takaichi on track to become Japan’s first female prime minister – AP News

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  1. Ultraconservative Sanae Takaichi on track to become Japan’s first female prime minister  AP News
  2. Sanae Takaichi Is Set to Be Japan’s First Female Prime Minister. But Will She Advance Women’s Rights?  The New York Times
  3. Japan coalition deal puts Takaichi on brink of becoming first female PM​​  Reuters
  4. Japan to vote for new PM amid political uncertainty: All you need to know  Al Jazeera
  5. Japan LDP, Ishin Ink Coalition Deal to Set Up Takaichi for PM  Bloomberg.com
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Ukraine war briefing: Energy war continues with strikes on Russian oil and gas plants – The Guardian

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  1. Ukraine war briefing: Energy war continues with strikes on Russian oil and gas plants  The Guardian
  2. Ukrainian drones strike major Russian gas plant as Trump says Kyiv may have to trade land for peace  ABC News - Breaking News, Latest News and Videos
  3. Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,334  Al Jazeera
  4. Giant Russian gas plant suspends intake from Kazakhstan after Ukrainian drone strike  Reuters
  5. Ukraine updates: Russian gas plant hit in long-range strike  DW
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Rodrigo Paz Pereira wins Bolivia’s presidential runoff marking a new shift to the right

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Sunday’s election marked the first time since 2005 that no candidate from Evo Morales’ Mas party was on the ballot

Centre-right senator Rodrigo Paz Pereira, 58, won Bolivia’s presidential runoff on Sunday and will be the country’s next president, marking a shift to the right after nearly 20 years of dominance by the leftist Movimiento al Socialismo (Mas) party.

With just over 97% of ballots counted in the electoral court’s “preliminary” tally, Paz Pereira secured 54.6% of the vote, while rightwing former president Jorge “Tuto” Quiroga received 45.4%.

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Artillery shell exploded prematurely over California freeway during marines celebration

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Shrapnel fragments rained on vehicles parked on Interstate 5 including highway patrol and JD Vance’s detail

A live artillery shell exploded prematurely during a marines live-fire demonstration that launched over a southern California freeway in celebration of the military branch’s 250th anniversary, raining shrapnel down on a California Highway Patrol vehicle and a motorcycle that was part of JD Vance’s detail, according to a police report.

The New York Times reported that fragments that fell from the 155mm shell landed on vehicles parked on a ramp on Interstate 5 – a major artery through southern California – which governor Gavin Newsom had ordered closed after learning that military officials had no plans to close the freeway.

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Thieves steal treasured jewelry from Louvre in 7-minute daylight heist – The Washington Post

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  1. Thieves steal treasured jewelry from Louvre in 7-minute daylight heist  The Washington Post
  2. Louvre Robbers Take ‘Priceless’ French Jewels  The New York Times
  3. Jewelry heist at the Louvre is latest problem to beset France’s most famous museum  CNN
  4. Thieves steal crown jewels in 4 minutes from Louvre Museum  AP News
  5. Masked thieves steal ‘priceless’ jewels from the Louvre Museum  NPR
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