Trump reverses on the need for a ceasefire before a potential peace deal ending the war in Ukraine

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump reversed course in the wake of his meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin to say an overall peace agreement — not the ceasefire that he has long championed — is the next step in ending the 3 1/2-year war in Ukraine.

In talks with European allies after Friday's summit in Alaska, Trump said Putin reiterated that he wants the key Donetsk and Luhansk regions that make up the Donbas. But Putin appeared open to the possibility of halting the stalemate in two other regions, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, with a freeze along the front lines.

That is according to European officials familiar with the calls who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the talks at a U.S. military base between the American and Russian presidents. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has previously rejected giving up the territory in the Donbas.

The aftermath of the summit offered little clarity about the next steps, other than Trump's commitment for more meetings, including with Zelenskyy at the White House on Monday. It was unclear among those briefed on the exchanges whether Trump saw Putin's desire for the Donbas as acceptable, with Trump's blunt but elliptical way of speaking only adding to a sense of confusion.

The White House had yet to provide a public summary of the calls as Trump golfed on Saturday with his special envoy Steve Witkoff and Fox News anchor Bret Baier at his Virginia golf club. The most transparent takeaway was Trump's abrupt reversal on a ceasefire, raising questions of how peace talks can proceed if attacks continue.

___

Summit puts Putin back on the global stage and Trump echoes a Kremlin position

In Alaska, President Vladimir Putin walked on a red carpet, shook hands and exchanged smiles with his American counterpart. Donald Trump ended the summit praising their relationship and calling Russia “a big power ... No. 2 in the world,” albeit admitting they didn't reach a deal on ending the war in Ukraine.

By Saturday morning Moscow time, Trump appeared to have abandoned the idea of a ceasefire as a step toward peace — something he and Ukraine had pushed for months -– in favor of pursuing a full-fledged “Peace Agreement" to end the war, echoing a long-held Kremlin position. The “severe consequences” he threatened against Moscow for continuing hostilities were nowhere in sight. On Ukraine's battlefields, Russian troops slowly grinded on, with time on their side.

The hastily arranged Alaska summit “produced nothing for Mr. Trump and gave Mr. Putin most of what he was looking for,” said Laurie Bristow, a former British ambassador to Russia.

Putin’s visit to Alaska was his first to the United States in 10 years and his first to a Western country since invading Ukraine in 2022 and plunging U.S.-Russia relations to the lowest point since the Cold War. Crippling sanctions followed, along with efforts to shun Russia on the global stage.

The International Criminal Court in 2023 issued an arrest warrant for Putin on accusations of war crimes, casting a shadow on his foreign trips and contacts with other world leaders.

___

Category 4 Hurricane Erin moves past northern Caribbean islands but not forecast to hit land

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Hurricane Erin exploded in strength and became a major storm in Atlantic waters just north of the Caribbean on Saturday, rapidly powering up from a tropical storm in a single day.

The first Atlantic hurricane of 2025, Erin reached Category 5 status before weakening somewhat and becoming a Category 4 storm, with maximum sustained winds of 150 mph (240 kph), according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

The storm’s center was located about 150 miles (235 kilometers) northeast of San Juan, Puerto Rico, and it was heading toward the west at 15 mph (24 kph).

While the hurricane's center was not expected to strike land, it threatened to dump flooding rains on islands in the region.

Mike Brennen, director of the National Hurricane Center in Miami, said Erin grew into a “very powerful hurricane,” with its winds gaining 60 mph (96 kph) in about nine hours.

___

Three Republican-led states to send hundreds of National Guard troops to Washington

WASHINGTON (AP) — Three Republican-led states said Saturday that they were deploying hundreds of National Guard members to the nation’s capital to bolster the Trump administration’s effort to overhaul policing in Washington through a federal crackdown on crime and homelessness.

West Virginia said it was deploying 300 to 400 Guard troops, while South Carolina pledged 200 and Ohio says it will send 150 in the coming days, marking a significant escalation of the federal intervention.

The moves came as protesters pushed back on federal law enforcement and National Guard troops fanning out in the heavily Democratic city following President Donald Trump's executive order federalizing local police forces and activating about 800 District of Columbia National Guard members.

By adding outside troops to the existing D.C. Guard deployment and federal law enforcement presence, Trump is exercising even tighter control over the city. It’s a power play that the president has justified as an emergency response to crime and homelessness, even though city officials have noted that violent crime is lower than it was during Trump’s first term in office.

National Guard members have played a limited role in the federal intervention so far, and it’s unclear why additional troops are needed. They have been patrolling at landmarks like the National Mall and Union Station and assisting law enforcement with tasks including crowd control.

___

Israel prepares to move Palestinians to southern Gaza as Israelis urge mass protest over war

NAHARIYA, Israel (AP) — Israel announced Saturday that it is preparing to move Palestinians from combat zones to southern Gaza as plans move ahead for a military offensive in some of the territory's most populated areas.

The Israeli military body in charge of humanitarian aid to Gaza, COGAT, said the supply of tents to the territory would resume on Sunday. The military said it had no comment on when the mass movement of Palestinians would begin, but Defense Minister Israel Katz said on social media that “we are now in the stage of discussions to finalize the plan to defeat Hamas in Gaza."

Meanwhile, anxious families of Israeli hostages called for a “nationwide day of stoppage” in Israel on Sunday to express growing frustration over 22 months of war.

Families of hostages fear the coming offensive further endangers the 50 hostages remaining in Gaza, just 20 of them thought to still be alive. They and other Israelis were horrified by the recent release of videos showing emaciated hostages speaking under duress and pleading for help and food.

The families and supporters have pressed the government for a deal to stop the war — a call that some former Israeli army and intelligence chiefs have made as well in recent weeks.

___

Pakistan's monsoon flooding death toll rises to 220 as forecasters warn of more rain to come

BUNER, Pakistan (AP) — Flooding in a northwest Pakistani district has killed at least 220 people, officials said Saturday, as rescuers pulled 63 more bodies overnight from homes flattened by flash floods and landslides, with forecasts of more rain in the coming days.

One eyewitness, who escaped the deluges in Buner, described seeing floodwaters carrying hundreds of boulders and “tons of rocks” crashing down.

Hundreds of rescue workers are still searching for survivors in Buner, one of several places in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province where torrential rains and cloudbursts caused massive flooding on Friday, said Mohammad Suhail, a spokesman for the emergency services. Dozens of homes were swept away.

First responders have been trying to recover bodies from the worst-hit villages of Pir Baba and Malik Pura, where most of the fatalities were, said Kashif Qayyum, a deputy commissioner in Buner.

Local police officer Imtiaz Khan, who narrowly escaped the deluges, said floodwaters carrying hundreds of boulders struck and flattened homes within minutes.

___

Things to know about the indictment against the New Orleans mayor

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Months before New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell was set to leave office because of term limits, she has been indicted in what prosecutors allege was a yearslong scheme to conceal a romantic relationship with her bodyguard.

Prosecutors say bodyguard Jeffrey Vappie was being paid as if he was working when he and Cantrell were really alone in apartments and visiting vineyards, hiding their communication by sending encrypted messages through WhatsApp and then deleting them. Although the pair have said their relationship was strictly professional, the indictment described it as “personal and intimate.”

The first female mayor in New Orleans’ 300-year history has been charged with conspiracy, fraud and obstruction. Vappie was already facing charges of wire fraud and making false statements. He has pleaded not guilty. A grand jury returned an 18-count indictment Friday that added Cantrell to the case.

The City of New Orleans said in a statement that it was aware of the indictment and that the mayor’s attorney was reviewing it.

Cantrell hasn’t sent out a message on her official social media feed on X since July 15, when she said the city was experiencing historic declines in crime. She and her remaining allies have said that she has been unfairly targeted as a Black woman and held to a different standard than male officials.

___

Thomas Edison and Henry Ford among the original snowbirds: The rich going to Florida for the winters

FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) — Thomas Edison and Henry Ford are famous for their innovations in electricity generation and automobiles respectively, but they were also at the forefront of a massively popular trend in Florida: Rich people from up north spending the cold winter months in the Sunshine State.

Edison first visited Fort Myers in 1885 after a doctor suggested spending time in Florida's warmer climate for health reasons, and he built a house along the Caloosahatchee River the next year. Ford made many visits to southwest Florida to see Edison and purchased the property next door in 1916.

Southwest Florida became their vacation spot, Edison and Ford Winter Estates marketing director Lisa Wilson said. Edison spent most of the year in New Jersey, while Ford lived in Michigan.

“They came down here to escape the cold like many snowbirds do today. But they worked when they were here, so it wasn’t just vacation time,” Wilson said.

Fort Myers was basically a group of farmers living in an abandoned military fort, using tallow lamps for light, when Edison first visited, Edison and Ford Winter Estates historian Isaac Hunter said.

___

100 days of Pope Leo XIV: A calm papacy that avoids polemics is coming into focus

VATICAN CITY (AP) — When Pope Leo XIV surprised tens of thousands of young people at a recent Holy Year celebration with an impromptu popemobile romp around St. Peter’s Square, it almost seemed as if some of the informal spontaneity that characterized Pope Francis’ 12-year papacy had returned to the Vatican.

But the message Leo delivered that night was all his own: In seamless English, Spanish and Italian, Leo told the young people that they were the “salt of the Earth, the light of the world.” He urged them to spread their hope, faith in Christ and their cries of peace wherever they go.

As Robert Prevost marks his 100th day as Pope Leo this weekend, the contours of his pontificate have begun to come into relief, primarily where he shows continuity with Francis and where he signals change. Perhaps the biggest takeaway is that after 12 sometimes turbulent years under Francis, a certain calm and reserve have returned to the papacy.

Leo seems eager above all to avoid polemics or making the papacy about himself, and wants instead to focus on Christ and peace.

That seems exactly what many Catholic faithful want, and may respond to what today's church needs.

___

Government forces Air Canada and flight attendants back to work and into arbitration

TORONTO (AP) — Canada’s government forced Air Canada and its striking flight attendants back to work and into arbitration Saturday after a work stoppage stranded more than 100,000 travelers around the world during the peak summer travel season.

Federal Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu said now is not the time to take risks with the economy, noting the unprecedented tariffs the U.S. has imposed on Canada. The intervention means the 10,000 flight attendants will return to work soon.

The government’s action came less than 12 hours after workers walked off the job.

"The talks broke down. It is clear that the parties are not any closer to resolving some of the key issues that remain and they will need help with the arbitrator,” Hajdu said.

Hajdu said the full resumption of services could take days, noting it is up to the Canada Industrial Relations Board. Meanwhile, Wesley Lesosky, president of the Air Canada Component of the CUPE union, accused the government of violating the flight attendants' constitutional right to strike — and decried Hajdu for only waiting hours to intervene.

News from © The Associated Press, 2025