Welcome to the middle of August, which just refuses to be quiet and let us go on holiday. Once you digest the news of the Putin-Trump meeting, I recommend this story on the U.S. tart-cherry business and how Donald Trump’s policies are embittering farmers. Our On Assignment podcast gets into the insane story of Meta’s flirty chatbot and the man who never made it home from his attempt to meet “her.” And our latest edition of City Memo takes us to Chile’s capital Santiago.
‘Very productive’: Trump said Ukraine should agree to a deal to end the war with Russia because "Russia is a very big power, and they're not." Trump made a major shift after his meeting with Vladimir Putin, saying it was preferable to move directly to a peace deal without a ceasefire first. Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he would meet Trump in Washington on Monday and was ready to cooperate.
‘It’s essentially a first step’: For Putin, meeting face to face with a sitting president represented a diplomatic victory. "Putin got his red carpet treatment with Trump, while Trump got nothing," Wolfgang Ischinger, an ex-German ambassador to the U.S., posted on X. Read reactions from world leaders here.
Latest: The plan would envisage people moving from an enclave shattered by war to a new nation riven by political and ethnically-driven violence. Palestinian leaders dismissed the idea.
The far right: The U.N. human-rights office called an Israeli plan to build settler housing near East Jerusalem a war crime. Israeli minister Bezalel Smotrich said the plan would “bury” the idea of a Palestinian state. His colleague Itamar Ben-Gvir visited Marwan Barghouti to tell the jailed Palestinian leader, “You will not win.”
Home Rule: The Justice Department agreed to scale back Trump's unprecedented attempted takeover of the Washington, D.C. police force, in a deal negotiated with city officials at the urging of a federal judge.
Posse comitatus: A trial in California challenging the legality of Trump’s use of U.S. troops in Los Angeles highlights the vulnerabilities in American laws and traditions against deploying the military to carry out domestic police work.
What’s your read on this? Trump’s tariffs, surprise export bans and world conflicts have made it hard on U.S. manufacturers to deal with inventory management. Some are using artificial intelligence to keep their operations running efficiently.
When numbers get serious: A Goldman Sachs economist said he wouldn’t change how his team does its research after Trump lashed out at the firm for its report that consumers would bear the brunt of the administration’s tariffs. The attack started a discussion about whether financial analysts will water down their research to avoid angering the president.
Climate: The sixth round of U.N. talks to curb plastic output fell apart, diminishing the likelihood of tackling a big source of pollution. Many states and campaigners blamed the U.S., which trails only China in plastics production. Spain is battling major wildfires, as are other parts of southern Europe.
Health: Members of the “Make America Healthy Again” movement urged Trump to block the House of Representatives from limiting regulations on pesticides and forever chemicals. This conflicts with farm interests that don’t want a crackdown on agrochemicals.
The Cincinnati Kid: Emma Raducanu asked a chair umpire during the Cincinnati Open to shush a crying child in the stands. Aryna Sabalenka later defeated Raducanu.
Sorry: Sha’Carri Richardson said she plans to seek help after the Olympic gold-medal sprinter was arrested in July for shoving her boyfriend toward a wall at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
Before I forget…
At least 26 people died and 60 were rescued after a boat carrying migrants from Libya capsized off the Italian island of Lampedusa.
Deutsche Bahn’s CEO quit after a difficult tenure. Insufficient investment, train delays and public frustration have dogged the railway operator for years.
That’s a lot of dogs: India’s top court ordered Delhi and other cities in the National Capital Region to move all stray dogs to shelters within eight weeks. Local media reported a rise in rabies cases, especially among children.
Jellyfish swarmed the cooling systems at the Gravelines nuclear power plant in France, leading to the shutdown of four reactors. A day later, I was stung by several jellyfish while out for a swim in Massachusetts. Early reports suggest no connection between the incidents.
