Trump makes claim in Truth Social post after White House meetings with Zelenskyy and European leaders - key US politics stories from 18 August 2025Donald Trump said arrangements were under way for a face to face meeting between Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy, to be followed by a trilateral meeting between the two and the US president.Writing on his Truth Social site after meetings with Ukraine's president and European leaders ended at the White House on Monday, Trump said: I called President Putin, and began the arrangements for a meeting, at a location to be determined, between President Putin and President Zelenskyy." Continue reading...
California tries to add Democratic seats in response to Texas bid to change House composition to favor RepublicansTexas Democrats returned to their state on Monday as California lawmakers kicked off a rapid push for voters to approve a new congressional map that could add as many as five Democratic seats in the US House.The Texas Democrats' return ends a two-week walkout that stalled the Republican effort to redraw the state's congressional districts to satisfy Donald Trump's demands to reshape the US House map in his favor ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. Continue reading...
Homeland security department claims agent shot in self-defense' after driver refused to roll window downA federal agent fired at a moving vehicle in southern California after the driver refused to roll down his window during an immigration stop and sped off, the Department of Homeland Security said.A DHS statement said the driver struck two US Customs and Border Protection agents as he drove away on Saturday, prompting one agent to fire his weapon in self-defense". No one was hit by the bullets. Continue reading...
by Andrew Roth Global affairs correspondent on (#6ZD6P)
Ukrainian president faced a less combative US leader, who was busy exaggerating his exploits as global peacemakerIf there was a sign that Volodymyr Zelenskyy wasn't going to be immediately voted off the island of the Donald Trump diplomacy show, it came early on when a familiar voice commended his choice of attire.President Zelensky, you look fabulous in that suit," said Brian Glenn, a pro-Trump pundit and member of the White House press corps, who had attacked him for wearing military fatigues during the infamous Oval Office meeting in February. I said the same thing," Trump added. Continue reading...
A sheriff's deputy and a police dog were also injured as they arrived to respond to a domestic disturbance callTwo police officers responding to a domestic disturbance call were shot and killed in Utah, and a man was taken into custody after bystanders persuaded him to drop the gun, authorities said on Monday.A sheriff's deputy and a police dog were also shot and wounded in their car as they arrived to help at a neighborhood in Tremonton amid the deadly violence on Sunday night. Continue reading...
A revamped competition with the top singles players and held the week before the main tournament has caught attention at Flushing MeadowsA few hours after Taylor Fritz's thirdround match at the Cincinnati Open, the theme of his post-match press conference shifted from his tough victory against Lorenzo Sonego to the looming US Open mixed doubles tournament. The first question posed to him on this subject was carefully prefaced with the acknowledgment that mixed doubles was probably not his priority in the middle of one of the biggest tournaments in the world. As a grin spread across his face, Fritz interjected: It is a priority."Fritz had been asked whether he had any sympathy for the frustrated doubles specialists who had been brushed aside to make room for the transformation of this event. From his perspective, the right players were in the draw. I've seen a lot of people calling it like an exhibition, or it doesn't count," he said. Continue reading...
Deaths of Americans aged 74 and 79 occurred at Celebration Key, a private destination for Carnival cruise passengersTwo US nationals in their 70s apparently drowned in two separate incidents on Friday at a new resort in the Bahamas, according to officials.The deaths happened at Celebration Key, a $600m private destination created for Carnival Cruise Line passengers that launched in July about 100 miles (160km) off the coast of Florida. Continue reading...
New York city baseball fans have had it rough since the All-Star break, with a period of crucial games coming upThe New York Mets and New York Yankees will have disbursed nearly $640m in player salaries by the end of the 2025 season, but money hasn't bought happiness for either New York City fanbase. After enjoying hot starts to begin the 2025 season, the Yankees are now in third place in the American League East while the Mets are a woeful 11-16 since the All-Star Break and 4-11 in the month of August.Even though both teams would qualify for the postseason if the season ended today, neither of them are meeting their lofty preseason expectations. With under 40 games remaining in the season, what is ailing the teams that enjoyed comfortable first-place leads earlier this season? And is all hope lost as they enter the last quarter of the season? Continue reading...
by Isabeau Doucet in Monterey county, California on (#6ZCW6)
Student homelessness in Monterey county soars as families struggle with high rent and scarce housing amid funding cutsFor the past year, nine-year-old Brigitte has lived with her parents in a converted garage, behind a house, in Salinas, California. Her bedroom is just about big enough to bust out some K-pop dance moves, though not spacious enough for her parents to agree to get her the cat she dreams of.There's no outdoor space, or a living room, but the family no longer has to share a kitchen, bathroom or fridge with two other families, like they did when they first moved here from Oaxaca, Mexico, three years ago. Continue reading...
The Guardian examined two private-equity backed companies that have been accused of failing to protect inmates from risk of harm, and even preventable deathEarly one morning this spring, staff at a Santa Barbara county jail heard screams coming from one of the cells. A 57-year-old inmate was moaning and hyperventilating. She said her guts are all twisted up".Rather than sending her to the ER, medical staff chalked her pain up to opioid withdrawal, since they had taken a prescription opioid away upon her arrival days before, a grand jury investigation later found. They placed the inmate - referred to as CF in the grand jury's report - on mental health observation and gave her Tylenol. Even as the cell floor became covered in vomit, staff ignored her requests to go to the hospital. The documentation that should have been filled out to explain why her request was not honored was never completed. Continue reading...
Most of more than 147,000 customers affected reconnected by Monday as category 4 storm not forecast to make landfallHurricane Erin's outer bands pelted the US territory of Puerto Rico with heavy rains and tropical-storm winds during the day on Sunday, knocking out power to tens of thousands of customers, according to officials.At one point, more than 147,000 utility customers were without power in Puerto Rico, according to Luma Energy, a private company that oversees the transmission and distribution of power on the island. By 5.30am on Monday, 96.3% of customers had electric service, with most who were affected by outages being concentrated in the Caguas, Mayaguez and San Juan regions, Luma said on X.Guardian staff contributed reporting Continue reading...
In a new initiative, the army is partnering with social media creators to show young adults possibilities of military lifeFitness influencer Steven Kelly posted a carousel of photos on Instagram last month that included shots of himself dressed in military fatigues climbing a rope wall and aiming a firearm. Kelly, who has 1.3 million followers on the platform, isn't enlisted in any military branch - instead it was a sponsored post created in partnership with the US army.This experience showed me how the Army builds readiness, resilience, and discipline," the caption said, as Kelly described the experience of taking part in basic training exercises. The post pointed followers to a link in his bio to learn more about the US army's opportunities. Continue reading...
Charity Heal Palestine says children returned to Middle East after treatment, rebutting far-right influencer's claim of secret Islamic immigration' waveAn aid group that coordinates medical care in the United States for badly injured children from Gaza has said it is distressed" by the US state department's decision to stop issuing visitor visas for Palestinians after a far-right influencer complained directly to the secretary of state about their work.Laura Loomer, who has previously described herself as a proud Islamophobe", told the New York Times that she had spoken to Marco Rubio on Friday night to warn the secretary of state of what she called the threat posed by Islamic invaders". Continue reading...
New unwelcoming approach from US administration engenders anxiety and uncertainty among scholarsAs the new academic year is about to begin at most universities across the United States, many international students are navigating a mix of anxiety and uncertainty as the Trump administration's crackdown on higher education and immigration continues.The Guardian asked international students studying in the US to share how they are feeling as they prepare to return to campus. Some described how policy shifts have derailed their academic plans, while others said that they were now reconsidering whether the US is a place where they want to pursue their academic futures. Continue reading...
Former officials say firing of BLS commissioner emblematic of president's battle against established facts and historyDonald Trump is waging a war on truth by firing top officials who present facts he finds unpalatable, while he banks on key loyalists at executive agencies to bolster his policies and powers by rewriting history's narrative" and squelching dissent, say scholars and former officials.Trump's penchant for rejecting facts in an authoritarian style was especially revealed in August by his sudden firing of the Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner, charging without evidence that her latest report was totally rigged", just hours after she released data undercutting his rosy economic boasts, say critics. Continue reading...
US president claims Zelenskyy could end the war almost immediately', as he ruled out Ukraine becoming Nato member or regaining Crimea. Plus, Minnesota angler helps solve 60-year-old cold caseGood morning.Donald Trump has piled pressure on his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, before talks in Washington on Monday, saying the leader could end the war almost immediately" if he wanted to.Will it be one meeting or more? Two - Trump will first meet Zelenskyy at 1.15pm EDT in the Oval Office, before a summit with the European leaders at 3pm, the White House said.What is the latest from Gaza? Fear is spreading among Palestinians after the Israeli military said it was preparing to forcibly displace 1 million people from Gaza City. Continue reading...
The last country in the world without an international soccer team has arrived after two games in ArkansasIt was not the typical reaction to a national team going down 4-0. But, of course, this was not a typical national team match.After the Marshall Islands conceded a fourth goal to the US Virgin Islands, the crowd came to its feet, some waving flags. This is the RMI! Keep your head up!" one fan yelled. Continue reading...
Using a sonar device and 100% luck', Brody Loch spotted submerged car in river linked to missing person caseA fisherman who recently went out on the Mississippi River in Minnesota ended up spotting a submerged car and evidently helped solve a nearly 60-year-old missing person case, according to authorities and local news reporting.The fisherman at the center of the remarkable chain of events, Brody Loch, told Minneapolis news outlet WCCO that he called authorities after discovering the 1960s-era Buick in question with a sonar device on the weekend of 9 August. Continue reading...
Recent killings have dazed the world and provoked condemnation. But little is said about the calibre of Palestinian journalismThe first time I met Al Jazeera's Gaza team lead, Tamer Almisshal, was in July last year. His team had already buried two journalists, Hamza al-Dahdouh and Samer Abu Daqqa. The rest, he told me, were hungry. They were also dealing with trying to get hold of protective gear, threats from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the killing of family members. Ismail al-Ghoul hadn't seen his wife and child in months and was missing them intensely. Hossam Shabat, Mohammed Qraiqea and Anas al-Sharif were asking for time to secure food in the morning before they could start reporting. Today, they are all dead.I spoke with various members of the Gaza team while writing a profile of Gaza's veteran reporter Wael al-Dahdouh, who lost his wife, three of his children and grandson. All spoke of their work as a duty that needed to be carried out despite the risks. Three members of that team have since been killed in a chain of assassinations. Each time I sent condolences, the response was always that the coverage would not cease. We are continuing," the Gaza editor told me last week, after he lost his entire Gaza City team in the targeted strike that claimed the lives of Sharif, Mohammed Nofal, Ibrahim Thaher and Qraiqea. We will not betray their message, or their last wishes." Continue reading...
In today's newsletter: While global leaders debate maps and borders, Ukrainians endure nightly drone strikes, mass displacement and the slow destruction of their communitiesGood morning. On Friday, Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin met in Alaska to discuss the future of Ukraine, but there was no deal reached and no big questions answered. Trump appeared deferential to the Russian leader and now backs plans to hand over Ukrainian territory as part of a peace deal. Today he will meet with Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders.In discussions about what a peace settlement would look like, land swaps" were represented as simple transactions. The fate of people appeared to be a casual afterthought. Trump and Putin are eager to embrace the idea that territory can be bought and sold like real estate, but Guardian reporting exposes the devastating part of this war: human loss.Gaza | Palestinians were gripped by fear and anxiety on Sunday after the Israeli military said it was preparing for the forcible displacement of a million people from Gaza City. Meanwhile tens of thousands of demonstrators gathered in Tel Aviv to call for an end to the war in Gaza.Scotland | The UK's first transgender judge has launched a case against the UK in the European court of human rights challenging the process that led to the supreme court's ruling on biological sex.Business | The bosses of Britain's largest listed companies took home record high pay packets for the third successive year, according to a report. Analysis found that the record set in the last financial year means the average FTSE 100 chief executive is now paid 122 times the salary of the average full-time UK worker.US news | Three people were killed and eight others wounded when multiple gunmen opened fire inside a crowded Brooklyn hookah lounge and restaurant early on Sunday morning, according to authorities.Weather | Hurricane Erin was downgraded to category 3 early on Sunday as its outer bands continued to lash the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico with heavy rains and tropical storm force winds. Continue reading...
The states of West Virginia, South Carolina and Ohio will deploy hundreds of national guard troops to DC in the coming days - key US politics stories from Sunday 17 August at a glanceAfter deploying the national guard to the streets of Washington DC, Donald Trump's federal crackdown is moving into a new phase.Three more states - West Virginia, South Carolina and Ohio - have said they will deploy hundreds of national guard troops to DC in the coming days. But crime prevention workers say the move will do little to prevent crime, and address systemic cycles of violence and property crime. Continue reading...
Ex-congressman's Powered by People fundraised for lawmakers who left state to prevent redistricting voteA Texas judge has expanded a restraining order against former congressman Beto O'Rourke and his political organization over its fundraising for Democratic state lawmakers who left Texas to prevent a legislative session on congressional redistricting.Tarrant county judge Megan Fahey, a member of the conservative Federalist Society and past president of the Fort Worth Republican Women's Club, said in a four-page order published on Saturday that O'Rourke and his political group, Powered by People, are barred from sending money out of Texas. Continue reading...
Victims ranged from ages 27 to 61 after multiple gunmen opened fire after what police suspect was gang violenceThree people were killed and eight others wounded when multiple gunmen opened fire inside a crowded Brooklyn hookah lounge and restaurant early on Sunday morning, according to authorities.Police officers responded to reports of a shooting inside the Taste of the City lounge in Crown Heights just before 3.30am, New York police department (NYPD) commissioner, Jessica Tisch, said at a press briefing later on Sunday. Continue reading...
US secretary of state says talks between Putin and Trump had made progress' but big areas of disagreement' remainIn a combative series of interviews on Sunday, the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, said that both sides are going to have to make concessions" for there to be a peaceful resolution to the war that erupted when Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.You can't have a peace agreement unless both sides make concessions - that's a fact," the Trump administration's top diplomat said Sunday on ABC's This Week. That's true in virtually any negotiation. If not, it's just called surrender. And neither side is going to surrender. So both sides are going to have to make concessions." Continue reading...
Ryan Wardwell, 46, was abseiling down one of the Seven Teacups waterfalls in California when he became trapped behind a cascade. Trapped for two days, Wardell was dramatically rescued by police using a helicopter and treated for dehydration and minor injuries. The Tulare sheriff's office described the ordeal as a 'stunning survival story'
Trump's summit failed to achieve a ceasefire, but the Russian president will be very happy with how events are unfoldingDonald Trump portrays himself as a hard-nosed dealmaker. Yet in the run-up to Friday's summit with Vladimir Putin in Anchorage, Alaska, his claim that the Russian leader held him in high regard and was therefore serious about ending the war in Ukraine sounded naive. Putin doesn't let sentimentality shape his political and military decisions. Nor has he disavowed his longstanding claim to four Ukrainian provinces: Donetsk and Luhansk, which together comprise Ukraine's eastern Donbas region, and Zaporizhzhia and Kherson in the south. Despite Russia's overwhelming numerical advantage in troops and weaponry, Putin occupies only one province, Luhansk, almost entirely. Yet he persists.In the days before his meeting with Putin, Trump said the Russian economy stinks" and that falling oil prices would cause Russia's war to run aground. The war has certainly placed severe strains on Russia's economy, including high inflation and interest rates, labour shortages and a lack of investment by private businesses. Earnings from oil sales, a key source of state income, have also shrunk by 18% this year due to falling prices. There has even been talk of a recession. But these pressures have not prompted Putin to reassess his war plans. He ignored Trump's proposal for a 30-day ceasefire, which Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, accepted right away. Likewise, he was unfazed by Trump's threats to impose additional sanctions - with severe consequences", as he put it just before the summit - if Russia did not relent. Continue reading...
After president's US capital takeover, mayors from Seattle to Baltimore vow to protect their cities legally and otherwiseAs sand-colored Humvees rolled down Washington DC streets against the wishes of local leaders, mayors around the country planned for what they would do if the Trump administration comes for them next.Donald Trump's disdain for Democratic-run cities featured heavily in his 2024 campaign. The president vowed to take over DC - a promise he attempted to fulfill this week. Earlier this year, he sent national guard troops to Los Angeles amid protests despite California opposing the move, which led to a lawsuit from the state. Continue reading...
The din might have died down for now, but the Epstein imbroglio might rear its head again when Congress returnsWhen Donald Trump's Department of Justice requested the release of grand jury transcripts in criminal proceedings against sex-traffickers Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, the move did little to quiet an ever-growing chorus of critics frustrated by the US president's backtracking over disclosing investigative files.Indeed, the justice department's filings in this request revealed that only two law enforcement officers testified during grand jury proceedings in New York, undermining notions that unsealing them would reveal numerous truths. Continue reading...
Trump wants to combat crime with prosecution. Prevention workers share tactics that actually end violenceDonald Trump's hyperbolic portrayal of crime in major American cities, and his deployment of the national guard in Washington DC ostensibly in an effort to combat it, have reignited a decades-old debate about crime, violence and which policies and approaches can address it.The US president has cited cities such as Oakland, Philadelphia and Chicago as examples of places overwhelmed by crime and violence. He has put forward an increased militarization of law enforcement, and more money and legal protections for police, as the most effective ways to address homicides and other violent crime. Continue reading...
The brutal reality is that if you don't come from money, the best way to boost your finances is through a relationshipOn Sunday I took myself, with a slight hangover, to see a preview screening of Materialists, the long-awaited new film by Celine Song. Dakota Johnson plays Lucy, a matchmaker with a talent for pairing her exacting clients with someone who ticks most of their boxes and is also likely to accept them. She is less cupid, more market analyst - capable of seeing through her singletons' self-serving bluster and spin to appraise their actual worth - then matching it with someone of equivalent value.A thirtysomething woman of only average good looks, for instance, can't hope to land a unicorn" - a 6ft-tall high earner with his original hairline. Unicorns want to date twentysomethings - and they can get them, too.Elle Hunt is a freelance journalist
There's a reason these works have influenced great contemporary artists such as Jenny Saville. It just took me a while to truly see itThere is a painting that I think about often. The Madonna del Parto, a masterpiece painted by Piero della Francesca in about 1460, is housed in a dedicated museum in the Tuscan town of Monterchi. It depicts a heavily pregnant Virgin Mary flanked by two angels. To local women, this painting is considered a protector of fertility and the lives of pregnant women during birth. During the second world war, local women surrounded two men whom they had mistaken for Nazis intent on stealing it. In 1954, they led a protest against its proposed movement to Florence for an exhibition. I remember reading as a student that the women had lain down in the street to block its departure.I thought about those women again yesterday, as I walked around the Jenny Saville exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, tracing the influence of the Renaissance on her work. Saville's dialogue with great painters began when she was young and an art historian uncle took her to Venice. It has continued throughout her career, most notably in her motherhood pictures, which show her wrangling a baby, or both her babies, heavily influenced by Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo. The ghosts of their Madonnas seem to linger in the sketch lines that swirl around Saville's mother figure. One of her most famous works, the stunning, sculptural, charcoal and pastel Pieta I, is a result of her study of Michelangelo's The Deposition. Continue reading...
Experts warn of destabilized trading relations after White House strikes deal with Nvidia to take a 15% cut of certain AI chip sales to Chinese companiesApple CEO Tim Cook visited the White House bearing an unusual gift. This box was made in California," Cook reassured his audience in the Oval Office this month, as he took off the lid.Inside was a glass plaque, engraved for its recipient, and a slab for the plaque to sit on. The base was made in Utah, and is 24-karat gold," said Cook. Continue reading...
South Carolina and Ohio join West Virginia in pledging troops, fueling protests that national guard should not be used for a political policing mission'Three states have moved to deploy hundreds of members of their national guard to the nation's capital as part of the Trump administration's effort to overhaul policing in Washington through a federal crackdown.
US president reportedly backs plan for Ukraine to cede unoccupied territory to Russia; West Virginia to deploy up to 400 troops to national capital - key US politics stories from Saturday 16 August at a glanceDonald Trump has told European leaders he believes a peace deal could be negotiated if the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, agrees to give up the Donbas region, which Russian invaders have not been able to seize in over three years of fighting, the New York Times reported on Saturday after his summit with Vladimir Putin.Two sources with direct knowledge of the talks in Alaska told the Guardian that Putin demanded Ukraine withdraw from Donbas, which is made up of the Donestk and Luhansk regions, as a condition for ending the war, but offered Trump a freeze along the remaining frontline. Continue reading...
Program providing key aid halted after complaints from Laura Loomer, the far-right influencer close to TrumpThe US state department announced on Saturday that it would stop issuing visas to children from Gaza in desperate need of medical care after an online pressure campaign from Laura Loomer, a far-right influencer close to Donald Trump who has described herself as a proud Islamophobe".All visitor visas for individuals from Gaza are being stopped while we conduct a full and thorough review of the process and procedures used to issue a small number of temporary medical-humanitarian visas in recent days," the state department said in a message posted on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, from which Loomer was banned before it was purchased by Elon Musk. Continue reading...
Melania Trump's letter, obtained by Fox News, does not reference abducted Ukrainian children despite White House commentDonald Trump hand-delivered a personal letter from first lady Melania Trump to Russian leader Vladimir Putin raising the plight of Ukrainian and Russian children caught in the middle of the ongoing war between the two European countries, it was reported on Saturday.Trump administration officials told Reuters the letter mentioned the abductions of children following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Continue reading...
Multi-part series on ex-NFL player who protested racial injustice will not continue over creative differences'Director Spike Lee's multi-part documentary series for ESPN Films about former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who sparked a national debate when he protested racial injustice nearly a decade ago, will not be released, the filmmaker and ESPN said.ESPN, Colin Kaepernick and Spike Lee have collectively decided to no longer proceed with this project as a result of certain creative differences," ESPN said in a statement to Reuters on Saturday. Despite not reaching finality, we appreciate all the hard work and collaboration that went into this film." Continue reading...
Author of Natchez Burning trilogy had battled blood cancer for decades, according to his literary agentGreg Iles, the Mississippi author of the Natchez Burning trilogy and other works, has died. He was 65.Iles died on Friday after a decades-long battle with the blood cancer multiple myeloma, his literary agent, Dan Conaway, posted on Saturday on Facebook. Continue reading...
Details of post-summit call were leaked in which US president supports plan for Kyiv to give up Donbas regionDonald Trump will back a plan to cede unoccupied Ukrainian territory to Russia to secure an end to the war between the two countries, it was reported on Saturday, after details of his post-summit call with European leaders leaked out.Trump told European leaders that he believed a peace deal could be negotiated if the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, agreed to give up the Donbas region, which Russian invaders have not been able to seize in over three years of fighting, the New York Times reported, citing to two senior European officials. Continue reading...
Brazen daytime robbery involved four masked suspects taking diamonds, luxury watches and gold, police saySmash-and-grab thieves in Seattle made off with an estimated $2m in diamonds, luxury watches, gold and other items in a daring midday jewelry store robbery that took just about 90 seconds, police said on Friday.Video from the west Seattle store's surveillance cameras shows four masked suspects shattering the locked glass front door with hammers and then ransacking six display cases on Thursday. Continue reading...
HHS chief took to social media with deference to president after Trump's Rasputin' said he was plotting moveThe US health and human services (HHS) secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, has fended off an attack by conservative firebrand and Donald Trump influencer Laura Loomer by issuing a statement of fealty to the president which calls it a flat-out lie" that he is running for the White House in 2028.Kennedy, 71, had been under pressure since Loomer, 32, expressed concern in a recent Politico interview that Stefanie Spear, a top aide of the HHS secretary, was trying to utilize her position to try to lay the groundwork for a 2028 RFK presidential run". Continue reading...
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