Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,271
Here are the key events on day 1,271 of Russia’s war on Ukraine. Here is how things stand on Monday, August 18: Politics and diplomacy The leaders of several European countries announced that they will accompany Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to meet with United States President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday to discuss ending Russia’s war on Ukraine. The leaders accompanying Zelenskyy will be: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron, United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte. White House envoy Steve Witkoff said on Sunday that Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to “robust security guarantees” for Ukraine that were “game-changing” at a summit with Trump in Alaska on Friday. Zelenskyy welcomed Witkoff’s announcement, saying it was “a historic decision that the United States is ready to take part in security guarantees for Ukraine”. However, he added that the guarantees “must be developed with Europe’s participation”. Macron said that European leaders would ask “to what extent” Washington would participate in the security guarantees on Monday. Macron also said that “there is only one state proposing a peace that would be a capitulation: Russia”. Von der Leyen welcomed the proposal as an offer of NATO-style security guarantees from the US, adding that the “coalition of the willing, including the European Union, is ready to do its share”. Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Maria Zakharova, in a statement shared on Telegram on Sunday, said that Macron’s claims of capitulation were an “abject lie”. In an interview with CNN, Witkoff also said that Russia had “made some concessions” in relation to “all five of those regions”, in an apparent reference to the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, Zaporizhia and Crimea. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on NBC that a ceasefire “is not off the table” but “what we ultimately are aiming for is an end to this war”, a day after Trump said he was aiming for a peace agreement without a prior ceasefire. Trump posted on his Truth Social platform on Sunday morning, simply saying: “BIG PROGRESS ON RUSSIA. STAY TUNED!”, without elaborating. Fighting Advertisement Russian forces killed five people and injured four in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, Governor Vadym Filashkin said in a post on Telegram on Sunday. The attacks killed two people in Raiske, two more people in Sviatohorivka, and one person in Kostiantynivka, Filashkin said. Four people were injured in a Ukrainian drone attack on a commercial facility in the village of Rakitnoye in Russia’s Belgorod region, Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said in a post on Telegram on Sunday. Russia’s state-run TASS news agency reported on Sunday that in total, Ukrainian forces struck 13 locations across Belgorod in one day, using 111 drones and 52 munitions. TASS also reported on Sunday that Russian forces shot down four aerial bombs and 300 drones in the past day. The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces claimed that Ukrainian forces cleared the city of Pokrovsk of Russian forces and occupiers. Ukrainian forces advanced up to 1km (0.6 miles), in the Yablunivka area of the Sumy region, the General Staff added in a post on Telegram on Sunday. Adblock test (Why?)
More than 40 missing after boat capsizes in Nigeria’s Sokoto
Officials say about 10 people rescued after accident in African country’s northwestern region. Rescuers are searching for more than 40 people who are missing after a boat capsized in Nigeria’s northwestern state of Sokoto, according to authorities. Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said on Sunday that its Sokoto operations office had deployed a response team to support rescue efforts following the “tragic boat mishap”. NEMA’s director general, Zubaida Umar, said the agency responded after “receiving reports that a boat conveying over 50 passengers to Goronyo Market had capsized”. NEMA said in a statement shared on social media that about 10 people had been rescued, and more than 40 other passengers were missing. Nigeria’s The Punch newspaper, citing a local official, said the accident may have been caused by overloading, a recurring issue for boats in the state’s riverine communities. Boat accidents are common in Nigeria, particularly during the annual rainy season, from March to October, when rivers and lakes overflow. At least 16 farmers died in a similar accident in Sokoto State in August 2024, when a wooden canoe carrying them across a river to their rice fields capsized. Last month, at least 13 people died and dozens more went missing after a boat ferrying about 100 passengers capsized in Niger State, in north-central Nigeria. Two days later, six girls drowned after a boat taking them home from farm work capsized midstream in the northwestern Jigawa State. Adblock test (Why?)
AI helps police catch hit-and-run case accused within week from 700 kms away, here’s how
Police had registered a case on August 11 on charges of rash driving and causing death by negligence under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) along with Motor Vehicles Act (MVA) Sections 184 and 134(b). Read on for more details on this.
Months after Meerut murder case, man’s decomposing body found in blue drum, wife missing, case is from…
The incident has triggered memories of a brutal murder that took place in Uttar Pradesh’ Meerut in March. Saurabh Rajput was murdered by his wife and her lover, who chopped up his body into pieces and buried them under wet cement in a blue drum. Read on to know more on this.
DPS Dwarka receives bomb threat; students and staff evacuated, search operations on
DPS Dwarka receives bomb threat; students and staff evacuated, search operations on
Texas Senate panel again advances redrawn congressional map
A second special session that has made approving the map a priority started Friday, shortly after the first one ended.
Trump says Zelenskyy can end Russia war ‘almost immediately’ before hosting seven European leaders
President Donald Trump said Sunday that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy could end the war with Russia “almost immediately” if he wanted. Trump’s comments come ahead of his scheduled meeting with Zelenskyy and several European leaders in Washington, D.C. on Monday. “President Zelenskyy of Ukraine can end the war with Russia almost immediately, if he wants to, or he can continue to fight,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social. “Remember how it started. No getting back Obama given Crimea (12 years ago, without a shot being fired!), and NO GOING INTO NATO BY UKRAINE. Some things never change!!!” NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and Finnish President Alexander Stubb confirmed Sunday they would attend the meeting in Washington. EUROPEAN LEADERS WILL JOIN TRUMP-ZELENSKYY MEETING, SIGNALING SOLIDARITY WITH UKRAINE Their joint presence underscores Europe’s push to present a united front as Russia’s war drags on. Zelenskyy met von der Leyen in Brussels ahead of the Trump talks to set priorities for the White House meeting, focusing on long-term military aid, Ukraine’s EU ambitions, and bolstering transatlantic solidarity against Russian aggression. Von der Leyen said at a joint press conference she was glad to join Zelenskyy and other leaders in Washington on Monday. Trump called it a “great honor.” ZELENSKYY OUTLINES PEACE DEMANDS BEFORE HIGH-STAKES WHITE HOUSE MEETING WITH TRUMP “Big day at the White House tomorrow. Never had so many European Leaders at one time. My great honor to host them!!!” he said in another post on Truth Social. “The Fake News has been saying for 3 days that I suffered a ‘major defeat’ by allowing President Vladimir Putin of Russia to have a major Summit in the United States,” Trump said in another post. “Actually, he would have loved doing the meeting anywhere else but the U.S., and the Fake News knows this. It was a major point of contention! If we had the Summit elsewhere, the Democrat run and controlled media would have said what a terrible thing THAT was. “These people are sick! They even want CRIME IN D.C., and other BLUE Cities throughout our Country, but don’t worry, I won’t let that happen,” the president continued. “Just like our now secure Southern Border (ZERO illegals in last 3 months!), our cities will be Secure and Safe, and D.C. will lead the way!” SUMMIT WITH PUTIN SET TO TOP TRUMP’S AGENDA THIS WEEK AS UKRAINE WAR TAKES CENTER STAGE Zelenskyy’s White House meeting follows Trump’s summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Anchorage on Friday, where Trump dropped his ceasefire demand and urged a final peace deal. After meeting with Putin, Trump said the Russian leader was willing to end the war in exchange for key Ukrainian territorial concessions. He added that Kyiv should take the deal because “Russia is a very big power, and they’re not.” Zelenskyy and European leaders consistently reject proposals to surrender Ukrainian land to Russia. Fox News Digital’s Amanda Macias contributed to this report.
Former FBI Director James Comey confesses he’s a ‘Swiftie’ in new anti-Trump video message
Former FBI Director James Comey confessed in a strange video Sunday that Taylor Swift has been his family’s soundtrack — and a source of life advice on handling bullies. He also took swipes at President Donald Trump while bragging about a family “Swiftie” group chat and talking about how he blasts “Tay Tay” while mowing the lawn. Comey opened by accusing Trump of humiliating America alongside Vladimir Putin, calling it “a bad dream you can’t wake up from.” Comey said he’s been to two Swift concerts and even helped relatives afford tickets. MAURENE COMEY, PROSECUTOR IN ‘DIDDY,’ EPSTEIN, MAXWELL CASES, DAUGHTER OF EX FBI HEAD, FIRED FROM DOJ “I’m in a family’s Switie group chat. I know all her music and I listen to it in my headphones when I cut the grass,” Comey said. His favorites? The 10-minute “All Too Well” and “Exile” with Bon Iver. “Taylor Swift has grown up with my family and provided us a soundtrack, really, as we’ve grown ourselves and learned and adapted and dealt with adversity and celebration,” he said, adding that millions of families likely feel the same. Comey explained that at every stage of Swift’s career, she has shown a way that resonated with kids, which also felt right to him as a parent, and she has continued to do that even as an adult artist. FBI DIRECTOR PATEL SAYS HE’S HAD TO DIVERT RESOURCES TO INVESTIGATE ‘COPYCATS’ OF COMEY ’86 47′ POST Comey said Swift’s example helps him resist “bullies” without becoming like them. He contrasted that with satirical posts mocking Trump, which he called funny but also troubling. “But I gotta be honest, it also leaves me with a strange feeling at times, because I don’t want us to become like Trump and his followers,” he continued. “There are far more decent, honest, kind people in America than there are mean jerks. And don’t get me wrong, we have our jerks, millions of them.” He accused the GOP of “stunning coarseness,” while saying it’s a minority view in America. JAMES COMEY TELLS COLBERT WHAT LED TO HIM POSTING CONTROVERSIAL ’86 47′ INSTAGRAM POST “I am not an advocate for weakness. Of course, we need to stand up to jerks and defend what matters, but I think we have to try to do that without becoming like them, which is what makes me think about Taylor Swift,” he said. “She’s made clear that she sees Donald Trump for what he is. Last year, she urged Americans not to make the serious mistake of electing him. “Of course, we’re now living with the consequences of that mistake. But while our elderly makeup-covered president is posting about whether Taylor Swift is still hot and declaring that he can’t stand her, what’s she doing? Living her best life, producing great music and, as she urged all of us to do during the podcast, not giving the jerks power over her mind,” Comey continued. He cited Swift’s advice to treat personal energy “like a luxury item” and linked it to research showing rudeness makes people less happy. COMEY CLAIMS HE HAD NO ‘DARK INTENTION’ WITH ’86 47′ SEASHELL POST, ISN’T SCARED OF TRUMP “We can’t stop people from being jerks. What we can do is stop it from hurting us, from changing us,” he added. He then talked about the second time he saw Swift in concert, 14 years ago in Hartford, Connecticut. During the concert, he said, Swift sang a song, asking nasty people, “why you gotta be so mean.” “I bet you got pushed around. Somebody made you cold. But the cycle ends right now, because you can’t leave me down that road,” Comey said, reciting Swift’s lyrics for ‘Mean.’ “You’ll be glad I didn’t sing that. That’s right, because down that road of unhappiness, nobody should have that power over us.” The video went viral, with one user calling it “the creepiest video in the history of social media” and another writing, “It’s truly mind-blowing this man served as FBI director.” Comey has a history of provocative posts, including an “86 47” seashell photo that drew backlash and a “Vote Harris” shell he shared last year.
Fatal Brooklyn lounge shooting reignites NYC mayoral candidate clash over gun violence response
BROOKLYN, NY — Zohran Mamdani told reporters on Sunday that the fatal shooting in New York City hours earlier was the latest example of the “scourge of gun violence” in the country’s most populous city. New York Police Department Commissioner Jessica Tisch confirmed that there were 12 victims, including three fatalities, in a suspected gang-related shooting at the Taste of the City Lounge in the borough’s Crown Heights section. During a canvass launch event in the Prospect Park neighborhood, Mamdani told reporters that the incident is “yet another example of the scourge of gun violence that has taken hold across so much of our city.” The New York City Democratic mayoral nominee noted that just three weeks ago, the city experienced its deadliest mass shooting in 25 years when a gunman killed four people in Midtown Manhattan before taking his own life. DEADLIEST NYC SHOOTING IN DECADES TAKES CENTER STAGE IN MAYORAL RACE AS CANDIDATES SPAR ON PUBLIC SAFETY Mamdani called for investing “in the very kind of programs and services that have been proven effective at combating this epidemic” of gun violence, specifically scaling up what he referred to as New York’s crisis management system. MAMDANI DODGES RESPONSIBILITY FOR THREATS TO NYPD IN FIRST PRESSER SINCE DEADLY MANHATTAN SHOOTING The mayoral hopeful said on Sunday that he is proposing 275% increased investment in the Department of Community Safety. Last month’s Manhattan shooting propelled Mamdani’s past comments, including those calling to defund the NYPD, to center stage in the race for Gracie Mansion. “My statements in 2020 were ones made amidst a frustration that many New Yorkers held at the murder of George Floyd,” Mamdani responded last month when a reporter asked if he regretted any of his prior comments. Mamdani has since walked back his stance on defunding police, but his competitors, including former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, seized on such comments, telling CNN that Mamdani doesn’t understand the “importance of NYPD.” As details emerged on Sunday about the fatal shooting in Brooklyn, incumbent mayor Eric Adams, who is running as an independent, claimed his administration has driven down crime by removing illegal guns from the streets. “What I can tell you, we will continue our aggressive pursuit to remove these illegal guns off our streets. Every single victim of violence, particularly gun violence, is one too many,” he said. In a statement on X, Cuomo called the incident “another horrific mass shooting.” “My heart goes out to the victims and to their loved ones. Public safety is, and always has been, Job 1. This isn’t the time to defund or dismantle the police. We need more officers, not less, to keep our communities safe,” Cuomo said, in an apparent political jab at Mamdani and his past comments. Meanwhile, the Republican mayoral nominee, Curtis Sliwa, CEO of the Guardian Angels, said his “thoughts are with the victims and their families after this latest shooting.” “Cuomo’s pro-criminal laws created this mess, and Mamdani’s radical agenda would only make it worse. The status quo has failed. I’m the only candidate with the courage to restore law and order in NYC,” Sliwa said in a statement on X. Fox News’ CB Cotton contributed to this report.
‘Huge confidence in him’: DEA administrator to play key role overseeing DC police
Drug Enforcement Administration Administrator Terry Cole, the federal government’s new designee to help run the Washington D.C. Metropolitan Police Department, vowed to let local cops “do their job again” to get rising crime under control. Cole was tapped by Attorney General Pam Bondi after the Trump administration announced on Monday a major intervention to crack down on crime in the nation’s capital. The move came after several high-profile violent crimes, including the murder of a Congressional intern. “We cannot afford to turn a blind eye,” Cole told Fox News Channel’s “The Story” on Tuesday. “We have tremendous cooperation, tremendous intel sharing, and what’s most encouraging, the police are looking forward to doing their job again.” According to an order released by Bondi on Friday, Cole’s role is defined as the “designee for the duration of the emergency declared by the President for the purpose of directing the Mayor of the District of Columbia to provide such services of the [MPD] as the Attorney General deems necessary and appropriate.” “Attorney General Bondi’s new order is STRONGER because instead of rescinding just one bad MPD order this superseding order REQUIRES MPD’s full cooperation with federal immigration authorities,” a DOJ spokesperson told Fox News Digital in an email on Saturday. DC REACHES LEGAL SETTLEMENT WITH TRUMP ADMINISTRATION OVER FEDERAL POLICE TAKEOVER “We are not backing down, as President Trump remains in control under the law to determine what is necessary and appropriate,” the spokesperson added. Washington, D.C., Police Chief Pamela Smith will technically stay in her position, but Cole will play a key role in making sure city leaders such as Smith and Mayor Muriel Bowser comply with the federal government’s requests, especially in cooperation with immigration authorities. Dozens of the arrests already made since the takeover have been of illegal immigrants, as ICE and other federal agencies are patrolling the streets of the capital. “Attorney General Bondi just issued a new directive to Mayor Bowser requiring MPD to provide the services found necessary by her designee, DEA Administrator Terry Cole, to comply fully and completely with federal immigration law and authorities, regardless of any policies MPD might otherwise have. President Trump will continue pursuing all efforts to Make DC Safe Again and end violent crime despite liberal opposition,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said in a statement. AG SHOWDOWN: DC ATTORNEY GENERAL REJECTS US ATTORNEY GENERAL PAM BONDI ORDER AS ‘UNLAWFUL’ Cole has an extensive background in law enforcement, including working at the DEA for over 20 years before retiring from the federal government in 2020, according to his profile on the DEA website. Afterward, he was the Virginia Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security from 2023 to 2025. “I’m glad to see it happen under the leadership of Terry Cole,” Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin said on “Mornings with Maria” on Fox Business Network earlier this week, addressing how a similar law enforcement model will be employed in Northern Virginia in partnership with commonwealth and federal leaders. DEA HEAD SAYS PHONE CALLS ARE COMING FROM ‘ALL OVER THE COUNTRY’ FROM FED AGENTS WANTING TO HELP IN DC “Terry Cole, who is now director and administrator of DEA, and is leading this effort on behalf of the administration, is the best man in the country to do this. I have huge confidence in him, and I want to thank President Trump for taking this big step,” the Republican governor added. Youngkin noted in February that Cole played a major role in tackling illegal drugs in the commonwealth. “His leadership of our Operation FREE initiative in Virginia resulted in the seizure of tens of thousands of pounds of illicit drugs—including more than 70 million lethal doses of fentanyl—and has become a standard for collaboration between federal, state and local law enforcement,” Youngkin stated. “He will put the safety and security of Americans first as head of the DEA. It’s a great day to be an American and a bad day to be a drug dealer.”