Monday morning news: September 1, 2025

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Putin, world leaders join Xi in China for summit » China is hosting world leaders from several countries this week, including Russian leader Vladimir Putin, working to show strength to its U.S. and Western European adversaries.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping is convening a summit of a group of six Eurasian nations called the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, or SCO.

Before the summit’s official start, Xi met with India Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The two leaders agreed their countries are development partners, not rivals.

BBC China correspondent Stephen McDonnell explains the importance of that agreement.

McDONNELL: The Indian leader has come here just as the Trump Administration has whacked India with these 50 percent tariffs. So India’s looking around for other potential economic partners. And here’s China saying, ‘Well, come on. It’s about time for us to patch up our differences.’

The two leaders went on to discuss ways to strengthen trade ties.

On Wednesday, China will hold a military parade commemorating the end of World War II. Putin and North Korea’s Kim Jong-Un will be among the world leaders joining Xi to watch that parade.

Russian attacks wipe out power, Zelenskyy says Ukraine will respond » Russia launched another barrage of attacks on Ukraine over the weekend, killing at least one person and wounding dozens more.

Over the past few days, it's launched more than a thousand drones across the country, primarily striking power facilities and leaving about 60,000 households without power.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says his country will respond, adding new deep strikes are being planned.

Tennessee Senator Bill Hagerty says Russian leader Vladimir Putin is ordering the new attacks as a response to U.S. pressure.

HAGERTY: I think what he’s doing is responding to the pressure that President Trump is putting on him, meaning economic pressure, security pressure. And I think the options for Putin continue to narrow. Things are not going well in Russia. His economy is not doing well.

Publicly, the Kremlin says it remains interested in peace talks, though none are scheduled.

Zelenskyy says he’d like to meet again with President Trump soon, and European leaders will meet in Paris this week to discuss peace in Ukraine.

Hamas spokesperson killed by Israel » Israel has killed a longtime Hamas spokesman.

On Sunday, Israel’s defense minister announced Israeli forces killed Abu Obeida over the weekend. No comment from Hamas.

The announcement came as Israel’s security cabinet met to discuss the country’s expanding offensive in parts of Gaza to wipe out Hamas.

With ceasefire talks to end the nearly two-year-old war in Gaza at a standstill, Massachusetts Congressman Jake Auchincloss says it’s time for President Trump to have what he calls a hard conversation with Israel:

AUCHINCLOSS: Where he says ‘stop it’ in Gaza… and say ‘Solve it in Gaza’, with Arab-financed, Palestinian-led governance. The president can do that. He has that leverage.

Auchincloss talking to Fox News Sunday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he won’t end the war until Hamas is destroyed and all Hamas-held hostages are returned. Hamas says it won’t release the hostages unless its survival is guaranteed.

Flotilla leaves Barcelona to break Israeli blockade » Meantime, a flotilla of close to two dozen boats set sail Sunday from Barcelona, with the goal of reaching the shore of the Gaza Strip.

It’s the largest attempt yet to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza by sea.

The ships are carrying food, baby formula, and medical supplies. Climate activist Greta Thunberg is among those aboard the expedition.

THUNBERG: The story here is how people are being deliberately deprived of the very basic needs to survive.

Since stepping up its offensive in Gaza, Israel has limited deliveries of food and basic supplies there, and it warns humanitarian aid will soon be halted or slowed more.

But Israel rejects critics’ accusations that it’s starving people in Gaza, blaming Hamas for interruptions of aid distribution.

An earlier attempt to break the blockade in June failed, when Israel intercepted a vessel carrying Thunberg and other activists and deported them.

Minnesota church holds first Mass since school shooting » In Minneapolis, Annunciation Catholic Church held its first Sunday mass since that horrific shooting at the church’s school last week. It claimed the lives of two young students and left 18 others -15 of them students- wounded.

Reverend Dennis Zehren says he’s grateful for the outpouring of love for the Annunciation community in the days since the tragedy.

ZEHREN: When the darkness is most intense, that’s when the light of God shines all the more brightly. And we’ve been seeing that in so many ways. I have never seen such an outpouring of love. I have never been so proud of the faithful followers of Jesus.

Reverend Zehren also thanked the police, medical professionals, emergency response teams, and counselors who’ve been helping families since the shooting.

Chicago pushes back on White House crime, immigration crackdowns » After enlisting the National Guard’s help to crack down on crime in Washington, D.C., the Trump Administration says Chicago could be next.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem tells CBS’s Face the Nation:

NOEM: We will continue to go after the worst of the worst across the country, like President Trump has told us to do.

But Chicago is pushing back hard. This weekend, that city’s mayor, Brandon Johnson, signed an executive order saying Chicago police will not work with the National Guard or federal agents on patrols, arrests, or immigration enforcement.

JOHNSON: We will not have our police officers, who are working hard every single day to drive down crime, deputized to do traffic stops and checkpoints for the president. We do not want to see tanks in our streets.

Johnson says he’s trying to protect the Constitutional rights of people in his city to be free from militarized immigration enforcement or National Guard deployment.

I’m Mark Mellinger.

Straight ahead on Legal Docket: when schools try to keep parents in the dark. Plus, David Bahnsen reflects on God’s intent for work.

This is The World and Everything in It.

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