US President Donald Trump said White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt will leave her post at the end of August to spend more time with her young children and family. Trump said she would become one of his top outside advisers and an influential Republican voice as they seek to win the midterm elections.

US politicsWhite Housepersonnel change

US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt will step down at the end of the month. Her departure will bring to a close the tenure of one of the administration’s most prominent and trusted advisers. The change comes as the Trump administration moves toward November’s midterm elections.

US politicsWhite Housepersonnel change

Donald Trump said Karoline Leavitt will leave her post as White House press secretary before September. He said she will now become one of his top outside advisers. Trump also described her as an influential voice within the Republican Party. The change marks a shift in Leavitt’s role from the White House communications position to a broader political advisory role.

US politicsWhite HouseKaroline Leavitt

Donald Trump said Karoline Leavitt is leaving her position as White House press secretary. According to Trump, she plans to spend more time with her family after giving birth to her second child. Her departure from the role was presented as a family-related decision.

US politicsWhite Housepress secretary

President Donald Trump says White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt will leave her position. He says Leavitt plans to spend time with her young children and family. The announcement signals a change among senior White House personnel. No departure date or successor is identified in the report.

US politicsWhite Housepersonnel change

President Donald Trump announced that White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt will leave her position at the end of August. Her departure will mark a major shakeup in the president’s press operation. The change comes with less than three months remaining before the midterm elections.

Donald TrumpKaroline LeavittWhite Housemidterm elections

Russian state media reported that President Vladimir Putin visited the Kuril Islands, marking his first trip there. Japan’s Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said the islands are inherently Japanese territory under history and international law, and declared the government’s strong protest. The dispute has prevented Moscow and Tokyo from signing a postwar peace treaty.

JapanRussiaVladimir PutinKuril Islands

Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Iturup in the Kuril Islands during a trip to the Sakhalin Region, touring the Yasny fish-packing factory. Before the visit, he attended the final stage of Pacific Fleet drills in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk.

Vladimir PutinIturupSakhalin Region

As Zambia votes, President Hakainde Hichilema is seeking a second term while his feud with the family and supporters of late former president Edgar Lungu continues. Opposition leader Brian Mundubile and running mate Makebi Zulu have pledged to return Lungu’s body for a dignified burial. The Tonse Alliance also accuses Hichilema’s government of authoritarian campaign tactics, allegations his team firmly denies.

Zambia electionHakainde HichilemaEdgar Lungupolitical feud

Zambians are voting Thursday in a general election that is widely expected to return President Hakainde Hichilema for a second term. The ballot will test public opinion of his economic record. Voters frustrated by the rising cost of living are expressing discontent, while opposition parties are seeking to turn that frustration into support. Their efforts are complicated by deep divisions among the opposition. The election therefore combines an expected presidential outcome with a broader test of economic satisfaction and political discontent.

Zambiageneral electionHakainde Hichilemacost of living

Israeli settlers and soldiers have reportedly surrounded two Palestinian families in their homes in Qusra, a West Bank village, since the weekend. The water and electricity supplies to the houses have been cut, while access to medical care has also been blocked. The campaign is described as an effort to seize the families’ properties through terror. On Sunday afternoon, settlers and soldiers placed a tent outside Yousef Hassan’s home, leaving him inside with his wife and two young daughters.

West BankQusrasettlerssiege

Israeli settlers continued to blockade Palestinian homes in the occupied West Bank despite intervention by the Israeli military. An eyewitness and an AFP photographer said the army failed on Wednesday in an attempt to remove the settlers, who had kept the homes under siege for several days. The standoff therefore continued even after the military became involved.

West BankIsraeli settlersPalestinian homes

Israeli troops clashed on Wednesday with Jewish settlers as they tried to disperse them from a West Bank outpost. The settlers had established the outpost directly in front of Palestinian homes. Witnesses said the troops later withdrew after failing to remove the settlers from the area.

West BankIsraeli troopsJewish settlers

Israeli security forces have reportedly pulled out from a site in a West Bank village. Two Palestinian families have been besieged there since Sunday. Around a dozen Israeli settlers are said to remain at the location after the security forces’ withdrawal.

Israeli settlersWest BankPalestinian familiessiege

A rare total solar eclipse crossed Europe on Wednesday, drawing millions of viewers. The path of totality passed over Greenland, Iceland, Spain and northeastern Portugal, with darkness lasting more than two minutes in some places, while parts of France, the UK, Germany and Croatia saw a partial eclipse. Scientists used the event to study the solar corona and its effects on Earth’s atmosphere.

total solar eclipseEuropeastronomyscientific research

Taiwan’s armed forces conducted an anti-blockade exercise during their annual war games. The defense ministry said the navy and coast guard simulated escorting a merchant vessel. The drill came as China increases pressure at sea. It focused on practicing an escort operation under a possible blockade scenario. No further details about the exercise were provided.

TaiwanChinamaritime pressureanti-blockade drill

Former army lawyer David McBride has been released on parole in Canberra after serving 27 months for taking secret defence documents about the Afghanistan war and giving them to journalists at the ABC. Attorney general Michelle Rowland approved the release. McBride also disclosed that he has early-stage, treatable lung cancer and is expected to undergo surgery soon.

David McBrideparoleAfghanistan war documentswhistleblower

The World Health Organization warns that the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo could become the deadliest ever recorded. WHO chief says the outbreak would surpass West Africa’s 2014–2016 Ebola epidemic if it continues expanding at its current pace. The warning points to a potentially historic worsening of the outbreak.

Democratic Republic of the CongoEbolaoutbreakWorld Health Organization

The World Health Organization warns that the Ebola outbreak in Congo is following a path that could make it deadlier than any previous outbreak. WHO says the current epidemic may overtake the one that has recorded the highest death toll in history. The warning portrays the situation as worsening toward an unprecedented level of severity. It identifies Congo as the location of the outbreak and Ebola as the disease involved.

CongoEbolaWorld Health Organizationoutbreak

The US Department of Homeland Security is expected to purchase as much as $20m worth of electric-shock gloves for ICE officers. The reported plan comes as President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown faces criticism. The proposed equipment would bring an electric-shock device into immigration enforcement operations, drawing attention to the methods being considered.

Trump administrationimmigration enforcementelectric-shock gloves

Federal immigration agents are seeking to purchase gloves capable of delivering electric shocks to detainees. The planned acquisition comes as President Donald Trump intensifies a campaign of mass arrests and deportations. The equipment is intended for agents and would be used in encounters involving people held in immigration detention.

immigration enforcementelectric-shock glovesdetaineesDonald Trump

A US immigration agency is spending $20m to buy gloves capable of delivering electric shocks for its enforcement officers and agents. The manufacturer says the equipment is safe when it is used properly. The purchase is intended for personnel carrying out the agency’s enforcement work.

US immigration enforcementelectric-shock gloveslaw-enforcement equipment