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Hello, I'm Donna Edwards, filling in for Sarah Naffa. In the news today: U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi says DEA head Terry Cole will be Washington, D.C.'s "emergency police commissioner"; U.S. President Donald Trump later today will meet face-to-face with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska; and Japan pays tribute to more than 3 million war dead 80 years after its WWII surrender. Also, a new whale species is identified from a 25-million-year-old fossil in Australia. |
Drug Enforcement Agency Administrator Terry Cole outside the White House on Tuesday. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein) |
Bondi names DEA head as DC's 'emergency police commissioner,' but capital leaders push back |
The Trump administration, stepping up its crackdown on policing in the nation's capital, on Thursday named the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration to be Washington's "emergency police commissioner" with all the powers of the police chief — a significant move that increases national control over the city as part of the federal government's law-enforcement takeover. Read more. |
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- Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a directive issued Thursday evening that DEA boss Terry Cole will assume "powers and duties vested in the District of Columbia Chief of Police." The Metropolitan Police Department "must receive approval from Commissioner Cole" before issuing any orders, Bondi said. It was not immediately clear where the move left Pamela Smith, the city's current police chief, who works for the mayor.
D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb responded late Thursday that Bondi's directive was "unlawful," arguing that it could not be followed by the city's police force. "Therefore, members of MPD must continue to follow your orders and not the orders of any official not appointed by the Mayor," Schwalb wrote in a memo to Smith, setting up a potential legal clash between the heavily Democratic district and the Republican administration.
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Trump and Putin to meet in Alaska for high-stakes summit on Russia-Ukraine war |
U.S. President Donald Trump will meet face-to-face with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday for a high-stakes summit that could determine not only the trajectory of the war in Ukraine but also the fate of European security. Read more. |
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There are significant risks for Trump. By bringing Putin onto U.S. soil, the president is giving Russia's leader the validation he desires after his ostracization following his invasion of Ukraine 3 1/2 years ago. The exclusion of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy from the summit also deals a heavy blow to the West's policy of "nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine" and invites the possibility that Trump could agree to a deal that Ukraine does not want.
Any success is far from assured, especially as Russia and Ukraine remain far apart in their demands for peace. Putin has long resisted any temporary ceasefire, linking it to a halt in Western arms supplies and a freeze on Ukraine's mobilization efforts, which were conditions rejected by Kyiv and its Western allies.
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Japan pays tribute to more than 3 million war dead 80 years after its WWII surrender |
In a national ceremony Friday in Tokyo, about 4,500 officials and bereaved families and their descendants observed a moment of silence at noon, the time when the then-emperor's surrender speech began on Aug. 15, 1945. Read more. |
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Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba expressed remorse over the war, which he called a mistake, but did not mention Japan's aggression across Asia or apologize.
Just a block away, dozens of Japanese right-wing politicians prayed at a shrine that honors convicted war criminals, among about 2.5 million war dead. Victims of Japanese aggression, especially China and the Koreas, see visits to the shrine as a lack of remorse.
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In this illustration provided by Ruairidh Duncan a Janjucetus dullardi is depicted chasing a fish. (Ruairidh Duncan via AP) |
Scientists discover an ancient whale with a Pokémon face and a predator bite
Paleontologists have identified a new whale species from a 25-million-year-old fossil found on an Australian beach. Named Janjucetus dullardi, the creature had bulging eyes and fiendish teeth. Amateur fossil hunter Ross Dullard, who found the partial skull, says he will celebrate with a whale-themed party. |
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