First Thing: Zelenskyy blindsided after Trump announces ‘energy ceasefire’ in Ukraine war | The Guardian

Support independent journalism

First Thing - The Guardian
Residents and rescuers take a shelter in a basement of an apartment building in Kharkiv during a threat of another Russian drone strike.

First Thing: Zelenskyy blindsided after Trump announces ‘energy ceasefire’ in Ukraine war

 
Martin Belam Martin Belam
 

Good morning. The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has said it was “news to me” after Donald Trump announced a partial ceasefire deal in the Ukraine war. The US president had posted to social media to say: “Effective immediately, there is an ENERGY CEASEFIRE in the War between Russia and Ukraine. Both parties have agreed.”

There was no sign that the Kremlin was observing Trump’s ceasefire. According to Zelenskyy, Russian drones took to the sky “throughout the day” on Sunday and there were several airstrikes, including on energy infrastructure. He said Russia hit a power station in Kharkiv – the latest of more than 200 strikes during the past week against electricity generation and transmission facilities in Ukraine.

  • How has the prospect of a deal been welcomed? Despite the unconventional nature of the announcement, the ceasefire appeared to garner support from Ukraine’s key western allies. The French president, Emmanuel Macron, said Paris supported a “real energy ceasefire” and the UK prime minister, Andy Burnham, said a sustained energy ceasefire was “the best route to get energy and fuel back into world markets”.

  • Will Trump’s deal with Putin bring down gas prices? The agreement to temporarily lift sanctions on US imports of Russian diesel will have little “meaningful” effect on motorists and businesses in the US and overseas, energy and foreign policy analysts have predicted.

 

Abdul El-Sayed says Democrats must ‘win by massive numbers’ to fend off Trump election denial

Abdul El-Sayed.
camera Abdul El-Sayed said Donald Trump and the president’s Republicans allies were ‘bound to try to sow doubt about the integrity of the results’. Photograph: Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP

Democrats must “win by massive numbers” during November’s federal midterm elections because Donald Trump and his Republican allies are bound to try to sow doubt about the integrity of the results, the Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed of Michigan said on Sunday.

“Donald Trump has already threatened to do what he did in 2020, which is deny the outcomes of an election,” El-Sayed said. “So, yes, we have to win by massive numbers.”

 

Riyadh airport hit again after deadly Houthi missile attack, Saudi authorities say

Debris inside the King Khalid Airport.
camera An unidentified projectile hit terminal 4 of King Khalid airport, killing one person and injuring 11 others on Sunday. Photograph: Social Media/Reuters

A projectile hit a passenger terminal at the airport in Riyadh on Sunday, the day after a deadly missile attack on the facility carried out by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebel group killed 13 people. An unidentified projectile hit terminal 4 at King Khalid international airport, starting a fire, killing one person and injuring 11, according to Saudi civil aviation authorities.

The escalating attacks threatened to draw more countries into the Yemen conflict and further widen the regional fallout of the US-Iran war, which has already spread to Lebanon and Iraq.

 

AI less regulated than milk, Microsoft president says in warning over safety

Brad Smith.
camera Brad Smith said AI could be a ‘tool and a weapon’ that should be regulated urgently. Photograph: Yves Herman/Reuters

Artificial intelligence is less regulated than milk and washing machines, the president of Microsoft has said, as the tech industry warns over the safety of AI. Brad Smith said there should be more safety rules to govern the technology including a legal obligation to a “victim” if their system was breached by rogue AI agents.

There are growing calls from experts, politicians and regulators for tougher rules to control AI, as well as warnings from Anthropic, Google DeepMind and OpenAI that the pace of the technology’s development should slow. Smith said AI could be a “tool and a weapon” that should be regulated urgently.

 

US maternity wards face wave of closures as Medicaid cuts kick in

A Medicare protest.
camera According to analysis by Protect Our Care, 52 maternity wards have closed since the HR1 bill was announced in July 2025. Photograph: Shannon Stapleton/Reuters

Maternity wards across the US are facing a wave of closures as cuts to federal Medicaid funding take effect, experts have said. According to analysis by the non-profit Protect Our Care, 52 maternity wards have closed since the HR1 bill was announced in July 2025, with a further eight having announced their upcoming closure.

The legislation, which comes into full effect in the new year, will result in many adults covered through Medicaid having to meet new work requirements and being subject to more frequent eligibility checks, while there will be less federal funding for states for Medicaid.

 

In other news …

John Fetterman.
camera John Fetterman was a Democratic star when he was elected to the Senate in 2022, but has split with Democrats on a range of issues. Photograph: Kylie Cooper/Reuters

  • Donald Trump has openly encouraged Democratic US senator John Fetterman to switch parties and become a Republican just weeks before the federal midterm elections.

  • An ICE agent struck a man with a vehicle during a pursuit in Texas. Miguel Parra-Hernandez suffered a broken leg and was taken to a hospital after being hit by car during an ICE operation.

  • Republican Christopher Paul, accused of child rape, is on course to become police chief in small Louisiana town. He is running unopposed for the seat despite allegations he raped two girls 20 years ago.

  • The Beach Boys’ Mike Love has returned to the stage, aged 85, despite being described as “facing serious health challenges”.

  • A wildlife park in Yorkshire, England, has confirmed the tiger that mauled to death a man who entered its enclosure will not be euthanised. The man, who has not yet been named, was seen entering the enclosure before police were called on Saturday.

 

Stat of the day: At least 139 dead including children after migrant boat capsizes off Djibouti

A view of a village on the coast of Yemen.
camera The UN described the incident as one of the deadliest boat disasters recorded on a migration corridor between the Horn of Africa and the Arab peninsula. Photograph: Reuters

Eighty-four other people are still missing from a vessel that was heading towards Yemen with 305 people onboard, the UN migration agency has said.

 

Building Power: Trump 2.0 is targeting US protesters with ‘antifa’ charges, so activists started a union to fight back

Ike Sant, one of 15 anti-ICE protesters charged with federal felonies.
camera Ike Sant, one of 15 anti-ICE protesters charged with federal felonies. Photograph: The Washington Post/Getty Images

The NSPM-7 Defendants Union plans to offer legal clinics, media training and more to people facing prosecution for protest

 

Don’t miss this: Why the mystery over Havana syndrome refuses to die

Illustration for Havana syndrome article.
camera The incidents acquired the name Havana syndrome after the Cuban city where mass reports of the phenomenon first emerged. Composite: Alex Mellon for the Guardian : Getty Images

A fascinating read from Shaun Walker about the dozens of CIA officers who have been afflicted by debilitating symptoms over the past decade. Are they the result of “mass hysteria”? Or are they from attacks with an energy weapon and, if so, who is responsible? And has there been a cover-up?

 

… or this: ‘I didn’t want to write about this’ – the man who first saw chimps waging civil war

Common chimpanzees in Uganda.
camera The Ngogo Chimpanzee Project in Uganda has helped transformed what we know about one of our closest relatives. Photograph: Juergen Ritterbach/Alamy

John Mitani spent years studying a huge community of chimpanzees in Uganda. But then things took a dark turn – and his findings stunned the scientific world.

 

Climate check: ‘A living hell’ – how Los Angeles got taken over by mosquitoes

A Culex quinquefasciatus mosquito.
camera LA now has the distinction of the most mosquito-infested city in the US. Photograph: Reuters

Roque Planas reports that heat and humidity have led to one of the worst mosquito years in recent history, with West Nile virus at a decade high.

 

Last Thing: Mystery of 1950s wedding photo album found dumped is solved

A photo from the wedding album.
camera A photo from the wedding album. Photograph: Andrew Bedford

A detective story with a happy ending, as an old photo album full of wedding pictures found lying about in the street has been reunited with the family it belongs to after some internet sleuthing.

 

Sign up

First Thing is delivered to thousands of inboxes every weekday. If you’re not already signed up, subscribe now.

 
 
 

… there is a very good reason why not to support the Guardian

Not everyone can afford to pay for news. That is why our website is open to everyone.

But – if you can afford to do so – here are three good reasons why you might consider becoming a Guardian supporter today:

1

Your funding means we can be completely independent

2

High-quality, trustworthy journalism is a public good

3

You can support us however you like

Help power the Guardian’s journalism at a time when misinformation is rife online and good news can be hard to find. It could be a one-off payment or a regular monthly amount of your choice. Thank you.