On India's Independence Day, Modi vows to punish Pakistan for future attacks

NEW DELHI (AP) — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned Pakistan that India will punish its neighbor if there are future attacks on India as he marked 78 years of independence from British colonial rule.

Modi’s remarks Friday come three months after nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan engaged in four days of intense fighting, their worst clash in decades.

Modi addressed the country from New Delhi’s 17th-century, Mughal-era Red Fort, saying India has established a “new normal” that does not differentiate between “terrorists” and those who support terrorism. He said he would not tolerate what he called Islamabad’s “nuclear blackmail."

“India has decided that it will not tolerate nuclear threats. For a long time, nuclear blackmail had been going on but this blackmail will not be tolerated now,” Modi said.

There was no immediate response from Pakistan to Modi’s remarks. Pakistan previously has rejected India’s statements about nuclear blackmail as provocative and inflammatory.

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Ukrainian defenses face a challenge as Russian troops make gains ahead of the Putin-Trump summit

DONETSK REGION, Ukraine (AP) — Days before the leaders of Russia and the U.S. hold a summit meeting in Alaska, Moscow's forces breached Ukrainian lines in a series of infiltrations in the country's industrial heartland of Donetsk.

This week's advances amount to only a limited success for Russia, analysts say, since it still needs to consolidate its gains before achieving a true breakthrough. Still, it's a potentially dangerous moment for Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin will likely try to persuade U.S. President Donald Trump to pressure Ukraine by arguing the 3 1/2-year-old war is going badly for Kyiv, said Mykola Bieleskov, a senior analyst at CBA Initiatives Center.

“The key risk for Ukraine is that the Kremlin will try to turn certain local gains on the battlefield into strategic victories at the negotiating table,” he said.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday that Putin wants Ukraine to withdraw from the remaining 30% of the Donetsk region that Kyiv still controls as part of a ceasefire deal, a proposal the Ukrainian leader categorically rejected.

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Trump and Putin to meet in Alaska for high-stakes summit on Russia-Ukraine war

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump is meeting 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.

The sit-down offers Trump a chance to prove to the world that he is both a master dealmaker and a global peacemaker. He and his allies have cast him as a heavyweight negotiator who can find a way to bring the slaughter to a close, something he used to boast he could do quickly.

For Putin, a summit with Trump offers a long-sought opportunity to try to negotiate a deal that would cement Russia’s gains, block Kyiv’s bid to join the NATO military alliance and eventually pull Ukraine back into Moscow’s orbit.

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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Bondi names DEA head as DC's 'emergency police commissioner,' but capital leaders push back

WASHINGTON (AP) — 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.

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.

Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser wrote on social media that “there is no statute that conveys the District’s personnel authority to a federal official.”

Bondi’s directive came hours after Smith directed MPD officers to share information with immigration agencies regarding people not in custody — such as someone involved in a traffic stop or checkpoint. The Justice Department said Bondi disagreed with the police chief’s directive because it allowed for continued enforcement of “sanctuary policies.”

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California pushes left, Texas to the right, with US House control and Trump agenda in play

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A political standoff in Texas over proposed House maps that could hand Republicans five new seats is poised to enter a new phase Friday, while heavily Democratic California plans to release its own new maps intended to erase all but a sprinkle of the state's GOP House districts in the fight over control of Congress.

The hectic maneuvering in the nation's two most populous states underscored the stakes for both parties in the narrowly divided House that could determine the fate of President Donald Trump's agenda in the second half of his term.

On Thursday, Texas Democrats moved closer to ending a nearly two-week walkout that has blocked the GOP’s redrawing of U.S. House maps before the 2026 election. The Democrats announced they will return to the state provided that Texas Republicans end a special session and California releases its own redrawn map proposal, both of which were expected to happen Friday.

However, Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott is expected to call another special session to push through new maps. Democratic lawmakers vowed to take the fight to the courts.

In California, Gov. Gavin Newsom said his state will hold a Nov. 4 special election to seek approval of redrawn districts intended to give Democrats five more U.S. House seats, in a counterpunch to undercut any gains in Texas.

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Rescuers search for missing flash flood victims in remote Kashmir village

CHOSITI, India (AP) — Rescuers searched for missing people in a remote village in India-controlled Kashmir on Friday after flash floods caused by torrential rains a day earlier left at least 60 people dead, officials said.

Teams of disaster management officials, police and soldiers helped by local villagers scoured the devastated Himalayan village of Chositi on Friday.

Officials halted rescue operations overnight but rescued at least 300 people Thursday after a powerful cloudburst triggered floods and landslides. Officials said many missing people were believed to have been washed away. More rescue teams were headed to the area to strengthen relief operations.

At least 50 seriously injured people were treated in local hospitals, many of them rescued from a stream filled with mud and debris. Disaster management official Mohammed Irshad said the number of missing people could increase.

Weather officials forecast more heavy rains and floods in the area.

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Malnourished kids arrive daily at a Gaza hospital as Netanyahu denies hunger

KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — The dead body of 2 1/2-year-old Ro’a Mashi lay on the table in Gaza’s Nasser Hospital, her arms and rib cage skeletal, her eyes sunken in her skull. Doctors say she had no preexisting conditions and wasted away over months as her family struggled to find food and treatment.

Her family showed The Associated Press a photo of Ro’a's body at the hospital, and it was confirmed by the doctor who received her remains. Several days after she died, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday told local media, “There is no hunger. There was no hunger. There was a shortage, and there was certainly no policy of starvation.”

In the face of international outcry, Netanyahu has pushed back, saying reports of starvation are “lies” promoted by Hamas.

However, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric this week warned that starvation and malnutrition in Gaza are at the highest levels since the war began.

The U.N. says nearly 12,000 children under 5 were found to have acute malnutrition in July — including more than 2,500 with severe malnutrition, the most dangerous level. The World Health Organization says the numbers are likely an undercount.

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Judge strikes down Trump administration guidance against diversity programs at schools and colleges

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge on Thursday struck down two Trump administration actions aimed at eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion programs at the nation’s schools and universities.

In her ruling, U.S. District Judge Stephanie Gallagher in Maryland found that the Education Department violated the law when it threatened to cut federal funding from educational institutions that continued with DEI initiatives.

The guidance has been on hold since April when three federal judges blocked various portions of the Education Department’s anti-DEI measures.

The ruling Thursday followed a motion for summary judgment from the American Federation of Teachers and the American Sociological Association, which challenged the government’s actions in a February lawsuit.

The case centers on two Education Department memos ordering schools and universities to end all “race-based decision-making” or face penalties up to a total loss of federal funding. It’s part of a campaign to end practices the Trump administration frames as discrimination against white and Asian American students.

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Japan marks 80th anniversary of WWII surrender as concern grows about fading memory

TOKYO (AP) — Japan is paying tribute to more than 3 million war dead as the country marks its surrender 80 years ago, ending World War II, as concern grows about the rapidly fading memories of the tragedy of war and the bitter lessons from the era of Japanese militarism.

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba expressed “remorse” over the war, which he called a mistake, restoring the word in a Japanese leader’s Aug. 15 address for the first time since 2013, when former premier Shinzo Abe shunned it.

Ishiba, however, did not mention Japan’s aggression across Asia or apologize.

“We will never repeat the tragedy of the war. We will never go the wrong way,” Ishiba said. “Once again, we must deeply keep to our hearts the remorse and lesson from that war.”

He vowed to keep passing down the tragedy of war and peace pledge to next generations.

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Trump's 'safe and beautiful' move against DC homeless camps looks like ugliness to those targeted

WASHINGTON (AP) — Ms. Jay didn't wait for the authorities to come before packing her tent and carrying what belongings she could across Pennsylvania Avenue on her way to whatever comes next.

She’d been living her “Girl Scout life,” she said, saving money and looking for work while homeless. When she got word that the law was on its way, she found herself living the scouting motto: Be prepared.

“Last night was so scary,” she said, recalling when federal law officers, in concert with local police, began fanning out across Washington to uproot homeless encampments. “I don’t want to be the one to wait until the last moment and then have to rush out.”

President Donald Trump's housecleaning started with official Washington and the denizens of its marbled buildings, back in the bureaucracy-scouring days of the Department of Government Efficiency. Now he is taking on the other side of Washington, having sent some 800 National Guard troops to help local police go after crime, grime and makeshift homeless encampments.

Back in early spring, Trump's efforts upended the U.S. Institute of Peace, among other institutions and departments. On Thursday, authorities brought in an earth mover to clear out an encampment within sight of that hollowed-out institute's handsome Constitution Avenue headquarters.