India claims to have thwarted Pakistan missile and drone strikes

Pakistan tried to hit Indian-administered Kashmir, Punjab and Rajasthan, according to India, which reported ‘no losses’

India claimed to have thwarted retaliatory missile and drone strikes launched by Pakistan on Thursday evening, which attempted to hit sites in Indian-administered Kashmir, Punjab and Rajasthan.

Residents in Jammu, in Indian-controlled Kashmir, reported missiles and drones over the city and the noise of explosions, amid a city-wide blackout.

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Starmer and Trump to announce UK-US trade deal

Leaders to hold separate press conferences revealing first trade agreement by White House since global tariffs move

The UK and US are poised to announce a trade agreement, the first by the White House since Donald Trump announced his sweeping global tariffs.

Trump said it was “a very big and exciting day” for both countries before a press conference in the Oval Office on Thursday. Keir Starmer is planning to deliver his own press conference at around the same time.

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Putin and Xi Rebuke U.S. and Vow to Strengthen Ties – The New York Times

  1. Putin and Xi Rebuke U.S. and Vow to Strengthen Ties  The New York Times
  2. Behind the smiles: Three things to watch as Xi meets Putin  BBC
  3. China’s Xi stands with Putin against international ‘bullying’  The Washington Post
  4. Xi and Putin agree to ‘deepen’ China-Russia ties during Moscow talks  CNN
  5. Xi hails ‘confident’ China-Russia ties as Putin welcomes ‘dear friend’ to Kremlin  The Guardian
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Dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters arrested after Columbia calls in NYPD | First Thing

University’s acting president says move was necessary for safety and calls protesters’ actions ‘outrageous’. Plus, Pakistan’s PM vows to avenge India’s airstrikes

Good morning.

The NYPD arrested dozens of pro-Palestinian activists who had occupied part of the main library building on Columbia University’s campus yesterday, ending an hours-long standoff, roughly a year after student anti-war protests swept the Ivy League school.

How did Columbia justify its decision to call in the NYPD? “Requesting the presence of the NYPD is not the outcome we wanted, but it was absolutely necessary to secure the safety of our community,” said Shipman, who called the protesters’ actions “outrageous”.

How did the Trump administration weigh in on the arrests? Marco Rubio, the secretary of state, said on X: “We are reviewing the visa status of the trespassers and vandals who took over Columbia University’s library.”

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Adam Bandt concedes defeat in seat of Melbourne as Greens leadership talks loom

Greens leader uses concession speech to urge media to treat climate crisis ‘as if our country is being invaded’

The Greens leader, Adam Bandt, has conceded defeat in his electorate of Melbourne, saying he “fell just short” of holding the seat.

“A short time ago I called the Labor candidate for Melbourne, Sarah Witty, to concede, to congratulate her and to wish her all the best as the next member for Melbourne,” Bandt said in a statement.

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Smokey Robinson denies four housekeepers’ allegations of sexual assault

The women have accused Motown star of sexual assault and employment violations. His attorney has called the lawsuit ‘an ugly method of trying to extract money’

Smokey Robinson has denied allegations of sexual assault, after four former housekeepers of the Motown star filed a lawsuit with claims including sexual battery, false imprisonment, negligence and gender violence.

The suit was filed in a Los Angeles court on 6 May. It also alleges a series of labour violations, including that Robinson and his wife, Frances, failed to pay the women minimum wage and overtime, submitted inaccurate wage statements and created a hostile work environment. The women are seeking financial damages.

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Xi hails ‘confident’ China-Russia ties as Putin welcomes ‘dear friend’ to Kremlin

Chinese leader calls Russian counterpart his ‘old friend’ on visit for Victory Day commemorations

Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin exchanged warm words in the Kremlin on Thursday during a grand ceremony welcoming the Chinese leader for his 11th visit to Russia.

Xi said the Sino-Russian relationship was “confident, stable and resilient” in the new era and that China was willing to work with Russia to promote a multipolar world.

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Brad Arnold, frontman with rock band 3 Doors Down, diagnosed with stage four cancer

Grammy-nominated and chart-topping singer says he has ‘no fear’ of illness in kidney and lung

Brad Arnold, the frontman with chart-topping US rock band 3 Doors Down, has been diagnosed with stage four cancer.

The singer said he has kidney cancer that has spread to his lungs. He discovered the illness after feeling unwell in recent weeks, “then I went to the hospital and got checked out and actually got the diagnosis that I had a renal carcinoma that had metastasised into my lung”.

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‘Astonishing journeys’: online tool tracking migratory animals highlights challenge of protecting them

The University of Queensland system is intended to give policymakers idea of how species traverse the oceans and what it will take to save them

Off the east coast of Florida, female loggerhead turtles swim more than 1,000km north, hugging the edge of the continental shelf to get to feeding grounds.

Humpback whales move through Moreton Bay off the Brisbane coast in Australia, on their way to feed around the Balleny Islands more than 4,000km away off the Antarctic coastline, where wandering albatross circle above, travelling 1,000km a day.

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Trump tariffs to hit small farms in Maga heartlands hardest, analysis predicts

Major corporations are best placed to benefit from Trump polices at the expense of independent farmers

The winners and losers of Trump’s first tariff war strongly suggest that bankruptcies and farm consolidation could surge during his second term, with major corporations best placed to benefit from his polices at the expense of independent farmers.

New analysis by the non-profit research advocacy group Food and Water Watch (FWW), shared exclusively with the Guardian, shows that Trump’s first-term tariffs were particularly devastating for farmers in the Maga rural heartlands.

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Security guard in charge of mall’s CCTV was ‘not getting better’ at her job in lead-up to attack, Bondi stabbing inquest hears

At the moment Joel Cauchi started his killing spree, the CCTV control room monitoring 700 cameras was unstaffed, coroner was told

Concerns had been raised about the competency of the security guard whose job it was to monitor CCTV footage the day Joel Cauchi murdered six people inside a Bondi shopping centre, an inquest has heard.

The court heard that after the woman had received additional training in the weeks leading up to the attack, there was a note about her performance stating she was “not getting better”.

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