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In the news today: Pressure on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is ratcheting up as the U.S. pushes a plan with Russia to bring an end to the war; a judge has ordered the Trump administration to end the National Guard’s deployment in DC; and the U.S. Coast Guard has released a new, firmer policy addressing the display of hate symbols. Also, a self-portrait of Frida Kahlo breaks an auction record.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy attends a news conference in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Oct. 31, 2025. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

WORLD NEWS

Ukraine’s president is under growing pressure

For more than a week, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has struggled to contain the fallout from a $100 million corruption scheme implicating top officials and other associates. The pressure on him has ratcheted up as the U.S. pushes a proposal it drew up with Russia that would require major concessions from Ukraine — and seemingly few from Russia — to bring an end to the war. Read more.

What to know:

• Reports about the U.S. and Russia’s plan aimed at ending the war came out just as Zelenskyy was facing a rebellion from lawmakers in his own party over the corruption scandal. “Zelenskyy is vulnerable. Both the U.S. and Russia (saw) the domestic scandal and decided to put more pressure on him to concede to a Russian plan,” said Orysia Lutsevych, a Ukraine expert at London-based think tank Chatham House. But the effort may not work out as envisioned, she said, noting that European allies are coming to Ukraine’s defense and speaking out against the plan.
  
  

• Zelenskyy’s hold on power isn’t imminently at risk. But the growing political headwinds he faces could challenge his ability to push through parliament any potential peace plan being negotiated with Russia. 

RELATED COVERAGE ➤

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POLITICS

Judge orders Trump administration to end National Guard deployment in DC

A federal judge on Thursday ordered the Trump administration to end its monthslong deployment of National Guard troops to help police the nation’s capital. Read more.

What to know:

• U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb concluded that President Donald Trump’s military takeover in Washington illegally intrudes on local officials’ authority to direct law enforcement in the district. She put her order on hold for 21 days to allow for an appeal, however. 
  
  

• The White House stood by the deployment. 
  
  

• The administration has also deployed Guard troops to Los Angeles and tried to send troops into Chicago and Portland, Oregon, prompting other court challenges. A lower court has indefinitely prevented the deployment in Chicago, while the Supreme Court is weighing the administration's emergency appeal to deploy them there in support of an immigration crackdown.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤

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• Trump steps up attacks on ABC and Jimmy Kimmel, says network should ‘get the bum off the air’
  
  
• Federal judges uphold several North Carolina US House districts drawn by Republicans
  
  
• Justice Department insists Comey indictment was properly approved as it tries to keep case afloat
  
  

• FAA gives $10K bonuses only to controllers and technicians with perfect attendance during shutdown
  
  

• Trump administration threatens to withhold $75M from Pennsylvania over immigrant truck drivers
  
  

• Treasury plans to change tax credit eligibility in a move critics say will hurt immigrant taxpayers
  
  

• Schools fear disruptions as the White House begins dismantling the Education Department
  
  

• Democrats allege spy agency work is being undermined and politicized under Trump
  
  

• Trump administration announces plan for new oil drilling off the coasts of California and Florida
  
  

• White House hits out at South African leader for ‘running his mouth’ over US boycott of G20
  
  

• Vance says Americans need patience on prices but says ‘We hear you’ on affordability concerns
  
  

• Justice Department is examining handling of mortgage fraud investigation into Sen. Adam Schiff
  
  

• Fugees rapper Pras Michel sentenced to 14 years in prison over illegal donations to Obama campaign
  
  

• Tribal leaders say Trump administration failed to consult with them on Education Department changes
  
  

• Ex-top prosecutor who resigned rather than drop Adams case defends her integrity in court testimony
  
  

• Wisconsin clerks refer 46 cases of suspected fraud, irregularities in 2024 presidential election
  
  

• Dick Cheney’s funeral, in photos

POLITICS

Coast Guard reverses course on policy to call swastikas and nooses ‘potentially divisive’

The U.S. Coast Guard has released a new, firmer policy addressing the display of hate symbols like swastikas and nooses just hours after media outlets, led by The Washington Post, discovered that it made plans to describe them as “potentially divisive” — a term that prompted outcry from lawmakers and advocates. Read more.

What to know:

• The term “potentially divisive” was a shift from a yearslong policy, first rolled out in 2019, that said symbols like swastikas and nooses were “widely identified with oppression or hatred” and called their display “a potential hate incident.”  
  
  

• Adm. Kevin Lunday, acting commandant of the Coast Guard, said the policy didn’t roll back any prohibitions, calling it “categorically false” to claim otherwise in a statement released earlier Thursday. The Coast Guard is under the Department of Homeland Security, but it is still considered a part of U.S. armed forces and the new policy was updated in part to be consistent with similar Pentagon directives, according to a Coast Guard message announcing the changes. 
  
  

• The policy change comes less than two months after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered a review of all the hazing, bullying and harassment definitions across the military, arguing that the policies were “overly broad” and they were “jeopardizing combat readiness, mission accomplishment, and trust in the organization.”

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