First Thing: Trump pushes for Zelenskyy-Putin meeting
Vladimir Putin has agreed to face-to-face talks with Volodymyr Zelenskyy to discuss a peace deal in Ukraine, according to Donald Trump and European leaders, although Moscow has not confirmed the meeting.
The potential breakthrough came after a day of tense diplomacy at the White House in which Trump ruled out a ceasefire while Zelenskyy and his allies pushed for US-backed security guarantees as part of any long-term agreement. The Ukrainian president said that security guarantees for Kyiv would be 'formalized' within 10 days.
What was the mood of the talks? Trump's initial conversation with Zelenskyy went more smoothly than their first encounter in the Oval Office six months ago, when the Ukrainian leader was berated by Trump and vice-president JD Vance. This time, doubtless to the relief of European leaders, Zelenskyy gave Trump effusive thanks for the invitation and the pair shared good-humored banter.
What was discussed? After meeting the leaders of Germany, Britain, France, Italy, Finland, the European Union and Nato, Trump wrote on Truth Social that there had been discussion of security guarantees and 'which guarantees would be provided by the European countries'. French president Emmanuel Macron said the talks did not include Kyiv surrendering territory to Russia.
Hamas officials say they have accepted a proposal for a Gaza ceasefire deal that would include the release of half of the approximately 20 remaining living Israeli hostages as part of a phased resolution to the war, as Gaza health officials said 62,000 Palestinians had now been killed in the 22 months of war.
The proposed deal follows negotiations between Hamas and Egyptian and Qatari officials that have been taking place in Cairo in recent days, and comes after the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, was confronted on Sunday by Israel's biggest protests of the war, which called for a deal to secure the release of the hostages.
What are the details of the potential ceasefire? The latest Gaza ceasefire proposal agreed by Hamas includes a suspension of military operations for 60 days and could be seen as a path to reaching a comprehensive deal to end the nearly two-year-long war, according to Egyptian sources. During the period of suspension, Palestinian prisoners would be exchanged in return for half of the Israeli hostages held in Gaza.
What is the situation with evacuating sick Gazan children? An 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 far-right influencer Laura Loomer complained directly to the secretary of state about their work.
Texas 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 House of Representatives.
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 House map in his favor ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. The California plan was drafted in response to Texas's push to redraw the congressional map there.
What's the context? The protest began on 3 August, when dozens of Texas Democrats left the state for Illinois and other blue states in a high-stakes bid to deny their Republican colleagues the quorum needed to approve the redrawn maps. Although the Democrats' return allows Republicans to advance their redistricting plan, the quorum-breakers have declared their two-week walkout a strategic success that set off a 'redistricting arms race'.
Jasveen Sangha became the fifth and final defendant charged in the overdose death of Matthew Perry to strike a plea deal on Monday, as she agreed to plead guilty to selling the Friends star the drug that killed him.
Donald Trump announced yesterday that lawyers are drafting an executive order to eliminate mail-in voting, days after Vladimir Putin told him US elections were rigged because of postal ballots.
Bolivia's presidential election will go to a runoff for the first time with two rightwing candidates competing, marking the end of nearly 20 years of leftist dominance.
The conservative outlet Newsmax has agreed to pay $67m to Dominion Voting Systems to settle a defamation lawsuit over lies about voting in the 2020 election. Lies about the security of Dominion voting machines became central to Donald Trump's false claim that the election was stolen from him.
The actor's directing debut has been acclaimed for reimagining the 'trauma plot'. Eva Victor talks to the Guardian about standup, bootcamp with Barry Jenkins – and what you can learn from working in a bridal shop.
In recent weeks, tens of thousands of people in Canada have been evacuated from their homes due to the wildfires. But this time the worst fires have been concentrated in the prairie provinces and the Atlantic region. Saskatchewan and Manitoba have been the worst hit, covering more than 60% of the area burned in Canada.
When Merrilee Kick invented BuzzBallz in 2009, she was a 47-year-old teacher from Texas who needed money. Since then, BuzzBallz has grown to become the US's biggest-selling single-serve premixed cocktail. Emma Russell explores how it became the essential alcopop at this summer's picnics, parties and festivals.
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Vladimir Putin now has little choice but to agree to talks
Given Vladimir Putin's track record, it is still difficult to be optimistic about the Ukraine peace process, much as anyone with a grain of humanity would wish to be. After the recent dazzling flurry of diplomatic activity, the initiative has returned to Moscow. Putin has the future of this process in his hands but seems to be in no hurry to take it forward. More worryingly, he has hardly changed his demands in many months, and he has form, which is not encouraging. During his time running the Russian Federation in various capacities, he has flagrantly broken every previous guarantee of Ukrainian sovereignty including the Budapest Memorandum (1994), the Treaty of Friendship (1997), and a 2003 border treaty. For a decade after that, Putin gradually escalated secessionist activity in the eastern Donbas and Crimea, before annexing them. Even days before the February 2022 invasion, he was denying any such intention. Since then, Putin has taken every opportunity to declaim that Ukraine isn't a real country and merely a province of Russia, which is at least his honest view. It is also one that he will not abandon simply because he has signed some piece of paper. Putin's word counts for nothing, a fact that Donald Trump seems unable to accept. Mr Trump deals in personalities but against Putin it is, as we've seen, an unequal match. Still, there are at least some hopeful signs that have emerged from the summits in Alaska and in Washington. The most significant is the suggestion, albeit tentative and seemingly limited, that the United States would be prepared to offer Ukraine some form of 'security guarantee' for its future borders. Mr Trump seems strangely susceptible to persuasion, particularly when it is slathered in flattery, and his more isolationist colleagues in the administration would seem to have made him temper his willingness to commit US forces to the region. There will be no US forces on the ground, says President Trump, which doesn't come as much of a surprise, and the most that might be expected from Washington seems to be 'air cover', which is more than has ever been offered before. Mr Trump ruled out Nato forces, but volunteered that he'd be prepared to support the British, French and, most sensitively for historical reasons, German troops. The vague promise of a Nato Article 5-style guarantee remains, with no form of words, and not necessarily as comprehensive as the Atlantic alliance's 'all for one and one for all'. But, again, it is a shift from the doctrine of pure isolationism adumbrated in the US president's inauguration address last January. Nato membership for Ukraine is ruled out, but Volodymyr Zelensky gave that ambition up some time ago. Diplomatically, Mr Zelensky is also shrewd to accept the offer of bilateral talks with Putin, or trilateral talks involving Mr Trump, or both options. The Ukrainian leader has repaired his relations with Mr Trump, and assembled an impressive posse of European leaders to advise and to back him. The 'coalition of the willing', led jointly by Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron, is a potentially powerful force with which Ukraine can build an even more formidable military capability. So we know where the Ukrainian president stands – a respectful interlocutor to Mr Trump and a willing negotiator, albeit reserving his position on territorial adjustments. With some skill, he has managed to land Putin with the task of taking up the offer of talks and negotiations. The Kremlin has long been reluctant to grant Mr Zelensky his proper status and claims that he is illegitimate because there have been no fresh presidential elections, something rendered impossible by Russian occupation and bombardment. But, if Putin wants to keep Mr Trump on side, or string him along some more, he must agree to the talks – and quickly. That leaves the most difficult issue of all for both sides – territory. Mr Zelensky and his brave nation should feel proud that the total subjugation of their country has been avoided, and seems out of the question in the short to medium term. The 2022 'special military operation', complete with a tank column heading down the road to Kyiv, was designed quickly to absorb Ukraine, and send Mr Zelensky into exile. At worst, Ukraine will have to give up some land, and, tragically, millions of its citizens, that it has little chance of regaining – or at least not until the Russian economy and its war machine collapse. But it should not have to cede any more than that – and certainly not without some meaty security guarantees, tantamount to those that would flow from Nato membership. This is the trap Mr Zelensky and his allies have set for the Kremlin – for Putin cannot accept external troops and security guarantees that would make some subsequent attack impossible. If they deter Russia, they are unacceptable to Russia, and Putin would have to reject the offer of the whole of Donbas and Crimea. Mr Trump has already accepted that possibility. That would displease the Americans and encourage them and the coalition of the willing to back Ukraine until such time that the Russian economy finally breaks. That, however, is quite an optimistic scenario.
