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The Cure will release their first new song in 16 years on Thursday.

The goth rock band shared a short burst of the song titled Alone on social media, along with close-up black and white images of a stone statue’s face.

Robert Smith of The Cure performing on the Pyramid Stage on the fifth day of the Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm in Somerset. 2019
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The Cure performs on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury in 2019. Pic: PA

In the snippet of the track, which features drums and an electric guitar, frontman Robert Smith sings the lyrics: “This is the end of every song that we sing. The fire burned out to ash, the stars grow dim with tears.”

It will have its full premiere on Mary Anne Hobbs’ BBC Radio 6 Music show at midday on Thursday.

The band, which formed in Crawley, West Sussex, in the 1970s, has been teasing a return for many years.

Their last album 4:13 Dream was released in 2008 and it wasn’t a commercial success.

A second record was teased for the following year but never happened.

The Cure's Jason Cooper, Simon Gallup, Robert Smith, Roger O'Donnell and Perry Bamonte at Hollywood's Rockwalk in Los Angeles in 2004. Pic: AP
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The Cure’s Jason Cooper, Simon Gallup, Robert Smith, Roger O’Donnell and Perry Bamonte in 2004. Pic: AP

However, in 2022 Smith announced their 14th album would be titled Songs Of A Lost World.

Its presumed release date is Friday 1 November, after posters, postcards and projected images promoting the album in places such as Crawley and Blackpool included the date in Roman numerals.

The band, known for tracks including Boys Don’t Cry, Friday I’m In Love and The Lovecats, has both older fans and a large younger following, with about 17 million monthly listens on Spotify.

They also tour regularly.

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Earlier this month, the band’s keyboardist Roger O’Donnell announced he had been diagnosed with “a very rare and aggressive” form of blood cancer.

O’Donnell, who left the group in 1990 and then played with them from 1995 until 2005 before rejoining again in 2011, said he was undergoing treatment and was “fine,” adding “the prognosis is amazing”.

In 2019, a previous drummer for the band Andy Anderson died at the age of 68 after being diagnosed with cancer.

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Protesters throw powder on Tower Bridge during London Marathon

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Protesters throw powder on Tower Bridge during London Marathon

Two pro-Palestinian demonstrators have thrown red powder on Tower Bridge – just moments before leading runners in the London Marathon went past.

The protesters were arrested on suspicion of causing a public nuisance and remain in custody, said the Metropolitan Police.

A video shared by Youth Demand, which is calling for a trade embargo on Israel, shows two people jumping over a barrier that separates spectators from the race course.

The pair, wearing t-shirts that say “Youth Demand: Stop Arming Israel”, are then seen standing in the middle of the road on the bridge.

Pic: LNP
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Pic: LNP

They throw red powder in the air as an official marathon car goes past displaying the race time.

A motorbike with a cameraman on board continues along the route, while a second motorbike stops and one of the riders gets off and pushes the pair out of the way, just before the men’s elite runners pass.

Several police officers then jump over the barrier and detain the pair, the footage shows.

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There appeared to be no impact on the marathon.

More than 56,000 participants were expected to take part in the 26.2-mile race through the capital.

Sabastian Sawe of Kenya won the men’s elite race in a time of two hours, two minutes and 27 seconds, while Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa shattered the women’s-only world record in two hours, 15 minutes and 50 seconds.

Assefa beat the previous best of two hours, 16 minutes and 16 seconds set last year in London by Kenyan Peres Jepchirchir.

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Badenoch does not rule out local coalitions with Reform

Pic: LNP
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Pic: LNP

The Metropolitan Police said in a statement: “At around 10.38am, two protesters from Youth Demand jumped over barriers at Tower Bridge and threw red paint on to the road.

“Marathon event staff intervened to remove the protesters from the path of the men’s elite race which was able to pass unobstructed.”

The force added that they were “quickly supported by police officers who arrested the protesters on suspicion of causing a public nuisance”.

The Met said the paint “appeared to be chalk-based” and was not expected to “present a hazard to runners yet to pass this point”.

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Kemi Badenoch does not rule out local coalitions with Reform after next week’s council elections

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Kemi Badenoch does not rule out local coalitions with Reform after next week's council elections

Kemi Badenoch has not ruled out forming coalitions at a local level with Reform after the council elections next week.

Speaking to Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, the Conservative leader did however categorically rule out a pact with Nigel Farage’s party on a national level.

“I am not going into any coalition with Nigel Farage… read my lips,” she said.

However, she did not deny that deals could be struck with Reform at a local level, arguing that some councils might be under no overall control and in that case, “you have to do what is right for your local area”.

“You look at the moment, we are in coalition with Liberal Democrats, with independents,” she said. “We’ve been in coalition with Labour before at local government level.

“They [councillors] have to look at who the people are that they’re going into coalition with and see how they can deliver for local people.”

She added: “What I don’t want to hear is talks of stitch-ups or people planning things before the results are out. They have to do what is right for their communities.”

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A total of 23 councils are up for grabs when voters go to the polls on Thursday 1 May – mostly in places that were once deemed Tory shires, until last year’s general election.

It includes 14 county councils, all but two of which have been Conservative-controlled, as well as eight unitary authorities, all but one of which are Tory.

Ms Badenoch has set expectations low for the Tories, suggesting they could lose all the councils they are contesting.

The last time this set of councils were up for election was in 2021, when the Conservative Party was led by Boris Johnson who was riding high from the COVID vaccine bounce.

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Counter-terrorism police investigating after two women injured in Leeds

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Counter-terrorism police investigating after two women injured in Leeds

Counter-terrorism police are investigating after an incident involving a crossbow and a firearm left two women injured in Leeds.

Police were called to Otley Road at 2.47pm on Saturday to reports of a “serious incident involving a man seen with weapons”, West Yorkshire Police said.

Officers arrived at the scene to find two women injured – and a 38-year-old man with a self-inflicted injury. All three were taken to hospital, with the man held under arrest, but their injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.

“Two weapons have been recovered from the scene, which were a crossbow and a firearm,” Counter Terrorism Policing North East said in a statement.

The incident happened on the ‘Otley Run’ pub crawl, with one venue saying it was closed for the evening due to “unforeseen circumstances”.

Officers guard one of the crime scenes in Leeds
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Officers guard one of the crime scenes

Officers inside the cordon in Leeds
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Officers inside the cordon in Leeds

Counter Terrorism Policing’s statement added: “Due to the circumstances surrounding the incident, Counter Terrorism Policing North East have taken responsibility for leading the investigation with the support of West Yorkshire Police.

“Extensive enquiries continue to establish the full circumstances and explore any potential motivation.”

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper described it as a “serious violent incident” and said she was being kept updated by police.

“Thank you to the police and emergency services for their swift response,” she said. “My thoughts are with the victims and all those affected by this attack.”

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