Trump Prepares to Meet Putin, and Al Jazeera Says Israel Killed Its Journalists in Gaza

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From the New York Times, it's the headlines.

I'm Tracy Mumford.

Today's Monday, August 11th.

Here's what we're covering.

Well, you're looking at territory that's been fought over for three and a half years with, you know, a lot of Russians have died, a lot of Ukrainians have died.

So we're looking at that.

This week, President Trump will host Russian President Vladimir Putin for Putin's first visit to the U.S.

in almost a decade.

The two will meet in Alaska on Friday for a one-on-one.

Trump has repeatedly presented himself as the best person to negotiate with Putin to end the war in Ukraine.

We're going to get some

switched.

There'll be some swapping of territories to the betterment of both.

Ahead of the meeting, Trump suggested that Ukraine might need to give up some of its land as part of a peace deal, an idea that's been a red line for Ukraine.

Almost immediately, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky flatly rejected that proposal, saying, quote, Ukrainians will not gift their land to the occupier.

The talks this week have also alarmed Ukraine and many of its European allies because Ukraine hasn't been invited.

On Sunday, leaders from seven countries, including France and Germany, released a statement saying that any peace process must start with Ukraine at the table.

In response to the uproar, Vice President J.D.

Vance said the administration is looking to arrange a Trump-Putin-Zelensky meeting, but it's not clear if or when that might happen.

The Times has learned that the Trump administration has struck a highly unusual deal with two tech giants that make the chips that power artificial intelligence.

The administration previously banned the companies, NVIDIA and AMD, from selling those chips to China, citing national security concerns.

The U.S.

has a lead in the AI race, and the government said it wanted to keep it that way.

But now the companies have gotten the green light in exchange for a 15% cut of their Chinese sales.

That essentially makes the federal government their business partner.

There's almost no precedent for this kind of arrangement, but it shows how President Trump has increasingly inserted himself into American companies' international business dealings, just like how he said he'd personally find a buyer to take over TikTok's U.S.

operations.

The chips deal could funnel more than $2 billion to the U.S.

government, though it's caused an outcry among national security experts.

They're concerned that giving China access to more powerful chips, which perform better than the ones Chinese companies currently make, could give China the edge in a technology that's already reshaping military and economic power.

In Atlanta, researchers and staff at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are on edge after a gunman opened fire on CDC headquarters on Friday.

According to police, a man they described as, quote, very disturbed, who'd apparently become obsessed with anti-vaccine conspiracy theories, killed a police officer on the scene and left the glass facade of the buildings covered in bullet holes.

He was later found dead nearby.

I've spoken or texted with about 25 scientists, including about a dozen who were there when the shooting happened.

Really, all of them are terrified, and they all feel a sense of betrayal.

My colleague Aporva Mondavili covers science and public health for the times.

Many of the people I talk to feel like this is the culmination of years of hate sent their way.

They feel like here they are dedicating their lives to making people's health better, but they've been demonized.

They've been called greedy and corrupt and blamed for everything that went wrong during COVID.

Some of them had experienced abuse even before Friday's shooting, and it's not always in places where they were prepared for it.

Someone threatened to kill one CDC scientist I know when she was at Open Mic Night, where she occasionally sings.

Aporva says that many of the scientists she talked to were particularly upset because they feel like some of the hostile rhetoric directed at them has has come from the person now overseeing the CDC, Health Secretary Robert F.

Kennedy Jr.

Before taking on the role, Kennedy framed the agency's work as corrupt and fascist and railed against COVID vaccines.

Kennedy didn't respond to the shooting until late Saturday morning after posting photos of himself phishing.

He wrote in a department-wide email, quote, this is a reminder of the very human challenges public servants sometimes face, even in places dedicated to healing healing and progress.

In Gaza last night.

This is Al Jazeera.

Breaking news just coming out.

Sad breaking news heard of Gaza, where Al Jazeera journalist Anas al-Sharif has just been killed.

The Israeli military killed four journalists working for Al Jazeera, according to the news organization.

The journalists were staying in a tent near a hospital, and the director of that hospital told the Times they'd been hit by a drone strike that also killed a number of other people.

Among the dead is Anas al-Sharif, a well-known Al Jazeera correspondent.

The Israeli military confirmed it had targeted al-Sharif, claiming he was a terrorist posing as a journalist.

Last year, the Israeli military shared what it said were documents it had seized showing he was a member of Hamas.

Both al-Sharif and Al Jazeera denied the accusation, saying it was fabricated.

Just a few weeks ago, the Committee to Protect Journalists said it was deeply worried about al-Sharif's safety, claiming the Israeli military had stepped up a, quote, smear campaign against him after he broadcast an emotional report about starvation in Gaza.

Al Jazeera said the attack was an attempt to silence journalists ahead of ramped-up military operations in the territory that the Israeli government recently announced.

Since the war began, Israel has almost completely prevented foreign journalists, including from the Times, from entering Gaza.

So most of the reporting has come from Palestinians working on the ground.

And finally,

last week there was a heist near Los Angeles.

Security footage shows thieves ransacking a gift shop, grabbing boxes and packages.

They managed to carry off thousands and thousands of dollars worth of labubus.

If you know what a labuboo is, you're thinking, yeah, of course this happened.

The world of laboo boos is cutthroat.

If you don't know what a labooboo is or why you would steal one, welcome.

This better be the gold laboo boo.

Otherwise I'm crashing out.

Like you guys don't understand.

Depending on how old you are, you can think of a laboo boo as the new cabbage patch doll or troll doll, beanie baby, Furby.

Oh my god!

Oh my god!

Basically, they're this kind of cute, kind of evil-looking little fuzzy collectible that has become the must-have accessory after a K-pop star was seen seen with one last year.

Get out.

Even cuter than it looks online.

People clip them to their backpacks or belt loops.

I'm actually way late talking about this because Rihanna clipped one to her Louis Vuitton bag back in February.

Each labuboo costs roughly 20 to 30 bucks, but the limited edition ones can be worth $500 or more.

And since a lot of them come in a blind box, you have no idea what you're getting.

So that has driven people to snatch up as many as they can, legally or otherwise.

The Chinese company behind Labubus, PopMart, had $400 million in Labuboo revenue last year.

This year is poised to be even bigger.

A few months ago, some stores in the UK had to briefly stop selling them because the crowds were getting out of control and fights were breaking out.

For anyone out there, unable to get their hands on a labuboo, just remember there is an entire market for knockoffs, those are called lafoofus.

Those are the headlines.

Before you go, I do want to make sure that you've seen that the New York Times app now has a whole new way for you to listen to all of your favorite Times shows, including the headlines.

If you don't have it already, download the New York Times app from the App Store, open it up, and ta-da, it's got all of our coverage.

Plus, now you can tap the listen tab at the bottom.

There, you will see highlight clips from all the Times shows, lots of options, must-listen interviews, all kinds of things.

One place, a ton ton to listen to, in the New York Times app.

You can listen to the daily right there, right now.

Today's episode, Andrew Ross Sorkin explains what CEOs are saying privately about President Trump's tariffs.

I'm Tracy Mumford.

We'll be back tomorrow.