Putin-Modi Meeting, Anti-Hamas Leader Killed, Shopping Cart Race

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🗞️ FRONT PAGE​​

New Delhi-based daily Hindustan hails the “new momentum” in India’s relations with Russia, as it features a photograph of Vladimir Putin and Narendra Modi all smiles during the Russian president’s first visit to India since the invasion of Ukraine. Talks are expected to focus on oil, trade and defense ties, with both leaders pledging to expand commerce, pursue a free-trade deal and maintain Russian energy supplies despite U.S. pressure. Ukraine is also expected to be on the agenda. For more, read this analysis by France Inter’s Pierre Haski: Putin In India, Macron In China — Snapshot Of A World In Transition.

🌎 7 THINGS TO KNOW RIGHT NOW

• Germany votes to bring back voluntary military service amid Russian threat. Germany’s parliament has voted on a controversial new military service law on Friday, in a move aimed at boosting national defenses after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The legislation introduces a more lucrative voluntary service, but with the possibility for lawmakers to activate a needs-based conscription if enlistment falls short. The move marks a significant shift in Germany’s approach to its post-World War II military and follows a broader European trend, as France, Italy and Belgium expand voluntary service.

• Anti-Hamas Palestinian militia chief killed in setback for Israeli policy. Yasser Abu Shabab, a Bedouin clan chief and leader of an armed Palestinian militia opposed to Hamas, was killed in Gaza while mediating a family dispute, the group said on Thursday, a blow to Israeli efforts to support Gazan clans against the Islamist movement. The Gaza’s Popular Forces dismissed as “misleading” reports that Hamas, who branded their leader as collaborator, was behind his killing.

• Macron meets Xi in rare visit outside Beijing. Chinese President Xi Jinping joined Emmanuel Macron to the southwestern city of Chengdu Friday on the last day of the French President’s state visit to China. Following the signing of 12 cooperation agreements between the two leaders on Thursday, Macron’s visit will end on a lighter note, with the agenda featuring a visit by his wife Brigitte Macron to a research center for pandas, where two 17-year-old pandas, loaned to France in 2012 have just returned. 

• At least four dead in new U.S. military strike on suspected drug boat. The U.S. military carried out another strike on an alleged drug smuggling boat in the Caribbean on Thursday, killing four. This marks the 22nd such strike, as U.S. President Donald Trump’s aggressive anti-drug campaign at sea is facing renewed scrutiny after it was revealed that a targeted boat had been struck twice during a Sept. 2 attack. More than 80 people have been killed in the months-long campaign. For more on Trump’s second term, check this Die Zeit analysis, translated from German by Worldcrunch.

• Israel cleared for 2026 Eurovision, at least four countries pull out. Ireland, Spain, the Netherlands and Slovenia will boycott the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest after organizers decided to allow Israel to compete. This comes after a number of countries had called for Israel to be excluded over the war in Gaza. Martin Green, director of the Eurovision Song Contest, said the event “shouldn’t be used as a political theater.”

• 2026 FIFA World Cup draw to be announced. The draw for the 2026 FIFA men’s World Cup will take place this Friday at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C. The competition co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico will be the largest ever with 48 teams, up from 32, which will be divided into 12 groups of four. So far, 42 teams have secured their place in the tournament, set to run from June 11 to July 19, including defending champion Argentina.

• News Quiz! Detroit has just unveiled an 11-feet-tall bronze statue of which pop culture reference, linked to the city?

A. Axel Foley
B. Aretha Franklin
C. RoboCop 
D. Eminem
[Answer below]

📣 VERBATIM

“I have no excuse.”

— Tetsuya Yamagami, the man who fatally shot former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at a political event in Nara City back in 2022, apologized in court to Abe’s widow and family for the first time, saying he felt “deeply sorry.” He claimed he targeted Abe over alleged ties to the Unification Church, saying the Abrahamic monotheistic movement harmed his family. Read more about Japan’s dark history of political violence here.

📰 IN OTHER NEWS

⚖️ Christophe Gleizes’s sentencing on appeal by an Algerian court has sent shockwaves just as all signs pointed to a thaw in relations between Paris and Algiers. The apparent, perhaps temporary, failure of diplomacy has put Paris in an awkward position and reignited the campaign to support the journalist
— FRANCE INTER

🏝️ Threatened with extinction by rising sea levels, the Maldives archipelago is building the world’s first floating city to house its population — with a little help from Dutch experts.
— LE FIGARO

🚫 The Nepali government bars working abroad in Iraq for safety reasons. But more Nepali women are ending up there in abusive domestic work — including some who were trafficked.
— GLOBAL PRESS JOURNAL