Where Were You on 1/6? -- President Trump placed Washington, D.C. under federal control Monday, saying he would take charge of the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Police Department and deploy "several hundred" National Guard, citing high crime rates, The New York Times reports. Though Trump has long wanted control of the District, the recent, failed carjacking of a former DOGE employee apparently triggered this response. Officials say crime in Washington is at a 30-year low. (Above: A lingering remnant of the decades-long effort to make the District a US state.)
MONDAY 8/11/25
UPDATE: President Trump has agreed to join a virtual emergency summit Wednesday ahead of his Alaska meeting with Russian dictator/President Vladimir Putin over a potential ceasefire agreement for Ukraine, Politico reports. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz called for the emergency summit to discuss pressure options on the Kremlin, questions about Ukrainian territories seized by Russia, security guarantees for Kyiv and for potential peace talks after the meeting in Alaska, German government spokespersons told Politico.
This follows a demand Monday by Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk that Ukraine must be included in any peace talks ahead of Friday’s US-Russia meeting, according to Polskie Radio.
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Seward’s Folly Revisited? – It’s confirmed. President Trump will meet with Russian dictator/President Vladimir Putin Friday in Alaska this Friday to discuss a ceasefire in Ukraine. Trump said Friday that the parties are “very close” to an agreement to stop the war in Ukraine – without apparent input from Ukraine – that would entail “swapping” of territories “some back, some switched … to the betterment of both,” according to NPR’s Morning Edition.
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has not been invited to Friday’s Alaska summit. At least, not yet.
Vice President Vance told Fox News Sunday Morning Futures; “One of the most important logjams is that Vladimir Putin said that he would never sit down with Zelenskyy. We’re at a point now where we’re trying to figure out, frankly, scheduling and things like that around when these three leaders could sit down and discuss an end to this conflict.”
Meanwhile… The Kyiv Independent reports that White House special envoy Steve Witkoff’s three-hour meeting with Putin last week discussed the possibility of reaching an air truce without ending the war. The Independent’s Sunday news show called this a concession “in the right direction, if Putin is willing to uphold.”
According to that report, Putin has been discussing a “land swap,” a vague term that’s not the same as territorial concessions.
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IDF Kills Al Jazeera Journalists in Gaza – Funerals are being held for five Al Jazeera journalists of seven killed in what Al Jazeera calls a deliberate attack by the Israeli Defense Force. The Israeli government says that the Pulitzer Prize-winning Al Jazeera journalist Anas al-Sharif, killed in the attack, was a member of Hamas.
“We have no information whatsoever about him being part of even governmental bodies in Gaza,” Al Jazeera Managing Editor Mohammed Moawad told BBC Radio 4’s World at One. “He was a journalist, he continued to be a journalist – he was just trying to convey the message of the people on the ground.”
Beside al-Sharif, the IDF strike killed another Al Jazeera correspondent, three camera operators and a freelance reporter.
Al Jazeera called the attack a “targeted assassination” and “yet another blatant and premeditated attack on press freedom,” the BBC reports.
Meanwhile … Australia will recognize a Palestinian state when the United Nations meets in September, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced (per the BBC). –Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa