President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin started their heavily scrutinized one-on-one meeting in Helsinki, Finland, on Monday. "[Putin] has been in power for a very long time, almost 20 years now, he is a former KGB officer, and he's not interested in playing nice," says Natalia Antonova, former editor of The Moscow News. The meeting comes just days after the U.S. Justice Department indicted 12 Russian military officers for trying to influence the 2016 presidential election. Before the meeting, Trump described the federal investigation as a "Rigged Witch Hunt!"
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich lost an appeal Tuesday to be released from jail on espionage charges, meaning he will remain behind bars at least through Nov. 30.
Palestinians in the sealed-off Gaza Strip are scrambling to find safety, as Israeli strikes demolish entire neighborhoods, hospitals run low on supplies and a power blackout is expected within hours.
The U.S. has already begun delivering critically needed munitions and military equipment to Israel, and the State Department now says that at least 11 American citizens have been killed in the weekend Hamas attacks on Israel.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom rejected a bill on Sunday that would have made free condoms available to all public high school students, arguing it was too expensive for a state with a budget deficit of more than $30 billion.
