First Thing: Poland shoots down drones over its territory amid Russian attack on Ukraine

Prime minister Donald Tusk said operation took place after ‘repeated violations of Polish airspace’. Plus, New Mexico to become the first state to offer free universal childcare

Good morning.

Polish and Nato air defenses shot down several drones that entered its airspace on Wednesday morning, as Russia’s attack on Ukraine spread to Nato territory in the most significant way since the war began.

Donald Tusk, Poland’s prime minister, convened an emergency meeting of the council of ministers at 8am local time, and said he was in “constant contact” with Nato’s secretary general, Mark Rutte.

“We are dealing with a large-scale provocation … We are ready to repel such provocations. The situation is serious, and no one doubts that we must prepare for various scenarios,” said Tusk on Wednesday morning. He also said Poland had successfully repelled the attack and insisted that “there is no reason to panic”.

• Is this a first? A stray Ukrainian missile struck a southern Polish village in 2022, killing two people. But there have previously been no reports of Polish or other Nato defence forces destroying drones.

• Could it be an accident? The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, doesn’t think so, owing to the number of drones that entered Polish airspace. In his view: “Moscow is always testing the limits of the possible, and if it does not meet a strong reaction, moves to a new level of escalation.”

• Stay up to date with our live blog.

Leaked Ice document shows worker detained in Hyundai raid had valid visa

At least one of the South Korean workers detained in a huge immigration raid on a Hyundai factory in Georgia last week had a valid working visa, according to a document obtained by the Guardian.

Despite not being in breach of his visa, officials “mandated” that the worker agree to be removed from the US. The internal federal government document seen by the Guardian shows that immigration officials are aware that a person with the right to live and work in the US was among those arrested during the raid and detained for removal.

The document contradicts claims by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) that all 475 people arrested during the raid were working illegally or breaching their visas.

• How significant is this? A Georgia-based immigration attorney based said it was “outrageous” and stressed that it was illegal to detain a valid visa-holder in this way.

• Are there others? Attorneys working on the case had already claimed that immigrants with a valid working status were swept up alongside the people allegedly working unlawfully, and placed in removal proceedings. That view was backed up by an agency official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive government matters.

Trump reportedly asks EU to impose 100% tariffs on India and China

Donald Trump has reportedly asked the EU to impose tariffs of up to 100% on India and China in an attempt to force the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, into a ceasefire.

The US president demanded the policy during a meeting between US and EU officials discussing options to increase economic pressure on Russia on Tuesday, according to the Financial Times, BBC and Bloomberg, who cited sources familiar with the talks.

• Why target these countries? Putin recently strengthened his ties with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, and India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, at a summit in China.

In other news …

• Fugitive Tom Phillips had “outside help” during his years on the run in the wilderness with his children, New Zealand police have said.

• Israel on Tuesday launched a strike on Hamas officials meeting in Doha, in an attack that Hamas said killed six. The US said the strike “does not advance Israel or America’s goals”.

• White House officials on Tuesday continued to insist that Donald Trump did not write or sign a lewd letter in a birthday book for convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, despite it matching the way he signed his name around the time.

• New Mexico will become the first state to offer free universal childcare, expanding a program that has helped tens of thousands of people out of poverty.

Stat of the day: 47% of Gen Z wish TikTok had never been invented

Young people broadly like the internet – but feel much more skeptical about social media platforms. Just 17% of members of Generation Z regret the existence of the internet, compared with 50% for X, 47% for TikTok and 34% for Instagram. Former Meta vice-president Nick Clegg’s new book conflates the two, writes Jonathan Haidt in this review.

Don’t miss this: How Russia is grooming Ukraine’s children to fight for it

Thousands of Ukrainian children are still in Russia after being forcibly transferred or deported, with a further 1.6 million growing up under occupation. Concerns are growing that many are being groomed to fight for Russia, with some already thought to be on the frontline. Liz Cookman reports from Kyiv on the Russian training camps where the children are being sent.

Climate check: Jump in US greenhouse gas pollution pushed global emissions higher – report

A rise in US greenhouse gas pollution has helped worsen global emissions in the first half of this year, with a new forecast expecting the trend to continue due to Donald Trump’s pro-fossil fuel agenda. The policy shift means the US will not come close to meeting the emissions reductions required under the 2015 Paris agreement.

Last Thing: Would you pay $1,000 to attend a wedding?

Weddings are notoriously expensive – so a couple in Boise, Idaho, told their family and friends they’d have to cough up $1,000 if they wanted to attend. That’s not even the weirdest part: they ended up with more than 300 guests after they opened up the guest list to strangers to help balance the books. Who says romance is dead?

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