Televisora de Noticias y Radioperiodismo: Trump-Putin relationship in the spotlight

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By Jayakumar Madala

August 14, 2025

Good morning, I'm Jayakumar Madala, filling in for Sarah Naffa.

In the news today: US President Donald Trump's relationship with Russian leader Vladimir Putin takes the spotlight ahead of their Alaska summit; Washington, D.C. residents protest the increased police presence; and how a shrunken piece of bread explains Bolivia's economic catastrophe. Also, some of North Korea's metro stations have had a makeover, with a more modern and less Soviet look.

US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin shake hands at the Presidential Palace in Finland in 2018. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR

Trump's friendly-to-frustrated relationship with Putin takes the spotlight at the Alaska summit

Donald Trump's summit with Vladimir Putin in Alaska could be a decisive moment for both the war in Ukraine and the U.S. leader's anomalous relationship with his Russian counterpart. Read more.

Why this matters:

Trump has long boasted that he's gotten along well with Putin and spoken admiringly of him, even praising him as "pretty smart" for invading Ukraine. But in recent months, he's expressed frustrations with Putin and threatened more sanctions on his country.
Trump has offered conflicting messages about his expectations for the summit. He has called it "really a feel-out meeting" to gauge Putin's openness to a ceasefire but also warned of "very severe consequences" if Putin doesn't agree to end the war.
The White House has dismissed any suggestion that Trump's agreeing to sit down with Putin is a win for the Russian leader. But critics have suggested that the meeting gives Putin an opportunity to get in Trump's ear to the detriment of Ukraine, whose leader was excluded from the summit.

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POLITICS

DC residents protest as White House says federal agents will be on patrol 24/7

Residents in one Washington, D.C., neighborhood lined up Wednesday to protest the increased police presence after the White House said the number of National Guard troops in the nation's capital would ramp up and federal officers would be on the streets around the clock. Read more.

Recent developments:

After law enforcement set up a vehicle checkpoint along the busy 14th Street Northwest corridor, hecklers shouted, "Go home, fascists" and "Get off our streets." Some protesters stood at the intersection before the checkpoint and urged drivers to turn away from it.
The city's Democratic mayor walked a political tightrope, referring to the takeover as an "authoritarian push" at one point and later framing the infusion of officers as a boost to public safety, though one with few specific barometers for success. President Trump has said crime in the city was at emergency levels that only such federal intervention could fix — even as District of Columbia leaders pointed to statistics showing violent crime at a 30-year low after a sharp rise two years ago.

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WORLD NEWS

Ahead of Bolivia's Sunday election, how a shrunken piece of bread explains the country's economic catastrophe

For years, you could walk into a government-subsidized bakery anywhere in Bolivia and get a 100-gram roll for 50 centavos (7 U.S. cents), but as a cash crunch cripples flour imports and inflation squeezes budgets, bakers have almost halved the size of their staple bread. Early last year, rolls shrank to 80 grams, then 70, now 60. Read more.

Why this matters:

The hallowed staple speaks to a state stuck in the past after 20 years under the state-directed economic model of ex-leader Evo Morales, and now struggling to pull itself out of its worst economic crisis in four decades.
The right-wing frontrunners, businessman Samuel Doria Medina and former President Jorge "Tuto" Quiroga, have proposed eliminating the politically combustible subsidies that underwrite Bolivia's social safety net.

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IN OTHER NEWS

READ

Middle East: Israel announces West Bank settlement that rights groups say could imperil Palestinian state

Mendenhall Glacier: New river barriers prevented severe flood damage from a glacial outburst in Alaska, officials say

Remy Rowhani: Qatar sentences the country's Baha'i leader to 5 years for social media posts

Utah: Man accused of faking his death to avoid rape charges is found guilty of sexual assault

No charges filed: FBI returns stolen Hernán Cortés manuscript to Mexico

Colorado: Rabbits with 'horns' are being called 'Frankenstein bunnies.' Here's why

Today in History: In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act into law

WATCH

North Korea: A look at Pyongyang's metro station makeover

A CHANGE OF PACE

Kyrgyz hunters ride horses with their golden eagles in Kyrgyzstan.(AP Photo/Vladimir Voronin)

Photos from Kyrgyzstan show traditional hunters with eagles at the Salbuurun festival
Hundreds gathered earlier this month on the southern shore of Kyrgyzstan's Lake Issyk-Kul for the annual Salbuurun Festival. Held in the village of Bokonbaevo, the festival showcased nomadic traditions including archery, horseback acrobatics and traditional wrestling. The festival takes its name from a traditional kind of hunting, involving eagles, archery and taigan dogs.

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