By WILL WEISSERT, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House said Thursday night that there will be increased presence of federal law enforcement in the nation’s capital to combat crime for at least the next week, amid President Donald Trump ‘s suggestions that his administration could fully take over running the city.

“Washington, DC is an amazing city, but it has been plagued by violent crime for far too long,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. “President Trump has directed an increased presence of federal law enforcement to protect innocent citizens.”

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She added that the increased federal presence means “there will be no safe harbor for violent criminals in D.C.”

Trump has repeatedly suggested that the rule of Washington could be returned to federal authorities. Doing so would require a repeal of the Home Rule Act of 1973 in Congress, a step Trump said lawyers are examining — but could face steep pushback.

“We have a capital that’s very unsafe,” Trump told reporters at the White House this week. “We have to run D.C.”

The White House said the increased law enforcement would “make D.C. safe again” and would be present on the streets starting at midnight — led by U.S. Park Police following an 11 p.m. Thursday roll call at an established command center.

The push will last the next seven days with the option to extend “as needed,” under the authority of Trump’s previous executive order establishing the Making DC Safe and Beautiful Task Force. The added federal officials will be identified, in marked units and highly visible, the White House said.

Participating law enforcement include personnel from the U.S. Capitol Police, Homeland Security Investigations, the Federal Protective Service, the Drug Enforcement Administration, Enforcement and Removal Operations, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the U.S. Marshals Service and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.

The police forces for Amtrak and the city’s Metro rail service are also involved.

However a two-hour tour of the D.C. streets, starting around 1 a.m. Friday morning, revealed no evidence of the sort of multi-agency flood of uniformed personnel described in Trump’s announcement. There was a robust, but not unusual, Metropolitan Police Department presence in late-night hot spots like 14th Street and along Florida Avenue. But there was no overt or visible law enforcement presence other than the MPD.

Trump has long suggested crime and violence is on the rise in Washington, and has lately begun to criticize things like litter and graffiti. But the catalyst for the order to increase police presence was the assault last weekend on a high-profile member of the Department of Government Efficiency by a group of teenagers in an attempted carjacking.

The victim, Edward Coristine, nicknamed “Big Balls,” was among the most visible figures of DOGE, which was tasked with cutting jobs and slashing the federal bureaucracy. Police arrested two 15-year-olds and say they’re still looking for other members of the group.

“If D.C. doesn’t get its act together, and quickly, we will have no choice but to take Federal control of the City, and run this City how it should be run, and put criminals on notice that they’re not going to get away with it anymore,” Trump posted on Truth Social earlier this week.

The president subsequently said he was considering repealing Washington’s limited Home Rule autonomy or “bringing in the National Guard, maybe very quickly.”

Thursday’s announcement comes as Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser’s government can claim to have reduced the number of homicides and carjackings — both of which spiked citywide in 2023.

Carjackings in Washington overall dropped significantly the following year in 2024, from 957 to just under 500, and the number is on track to decline again this year — with less than 200 recorded so far more than halfway through 2025.

SAN DIEGO — The message for the dozens of volunteers who would soon be supporting immigrants at their court hearings was clear.

“We’re not there to obstruct or prevent any arrest,” said the Rev. Hung Nguyen, associate pastor of Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Logan Heights. “We’re there to accompany people.”

The orientation meeting Monday was a precursor to the launch of The Faithful Accompaniment in Trust and Hope, or FAITH, a pilot program that will have religious leaders and volunteers present at San Diego’s immigration court to offer spiritual support, comfort and prayer to those who need it.

The program began Tuesday and will run through at least the end of the month as a salve to asylum seekers and immigrants navigating the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration. Since late May, in an effort to ramp up deportations, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has been detaining people as they exit immigration courts, often after a judge has dismissed their cases at the request of government attorneys.

Auxiliary Bishop of San Diego Ramon Bejarano blesses the volunteers at the orientation. (Ana Ramirez / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

The tactic has affected individuals who have been in the country for less than two years and now face expedited removal.

The program is being organized by the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego, Our Lady of Guadalupe church and the San Diego Organizing Project, a network of faith and spiritual congregations. Other faith communities are expected to join the effort.

The plan continues the work done by several other human rights advocates who have volunteered to be present in courtroom hallways over the past several weeks. On June 20, as part of World Refugee Day, San Diego Catholic Bishop Michael Pham led a coalition of religious leaders that accompanied immigrants and asylum seekers.

A table displaying FAITH buttons for volunteers to wear to court is displayed while San Diego Catholic Bishop Michael Pham speaks about the pilot program. (Ana Ramirez / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

But on that day, the federal immigration agents who usually wait in the hallway left shortly after the group arrived. There were no arrests, according to the volunteers who regularly join immigrants.

Pham said at the time he would consider returning if needed. He is expected to do so on Tuesday.

When asked if he expected a day without arrests again, he noted that “as we enter the court, anything could happen.”

“But we are being present. And that’s what is important for the people to see that there is support, that the people do care. That’s what is needed,” the newly installed bishop added.

Pham said he hopes refugees and asylum seekers will find some peace in the presence of volunteers as they prepare to face what lies ahead.

More than 50 volunteers have already signed up for the program. On Monday, they gathered at the San Diego Catholic Pastoral Center in Clairemont for a blessing and orientation. Three rows of volunteers had their questions answered while Pham listened from the back of the room.

The Rev. Scott Santarosa of Our Lady of Guadalupe said the bishop was interested in developing a program to continue the momentum seen in June.

Santarosa, who was part of the group that went to the federal building then, said he has been back in courtrooms ever since. He described witnessing people being arrested after their hearings as “terrible.”

For Gloria Morales-Palos, a community volunteer and co-chair of the San Diego Organizing Project, the program hits close to home. She said that she lived as an undocumented immigrant for several years, but she has been a U.S. citizen for 20 years now.

“I know what it’s like to be in a system where you don’t know what will happen or what your future will be, or if you’ll be separated from your family,” she said. “Under this administration, we have seen things get worse. If we cannot stop the deportation process for many families, then at least they should not go through it alone. They should feel supported and know that someone cares about them.”

On Friday, a federal judge paused the Trump administration’s efforts to fast-track the deportation of people who legally entered the country through humanitarian parole programs, including the now-defunct CBP One appointment process.

Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement on Monday that the ruling “is lawless and won’t stand.”

The effect of the ruling could be reflected in courtrooms — some of the immigrants who were being arrested following hearings had arrived in the U.S. through CBP One.

Margie Carroll, a volunteer, becomes emotional while learning about the pilot program. (Ana Ramirez / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Crystal Felix from the American Bar Association’s Immigration Justice Project of San Diego said the ruling doesn’t apply to other people who are still being arrested at their hearings.

“We’re hopefully there to witness and make sure that people in that posture are not getting arrested,” Felix added.

Felix, who presented part of the orientation, said the program shows immigrants and asylum seekers that “they are not alone.”

“It might influence the ICE agents, perhaps the government attorneys, the judges, to act in a little bit more of a respectful manner, to just make sure that dignity is still the No. 1 thing,” Felix said, “because these are our brothers and sisters.”

By VASILISA STEPANENKO, Associated Press

DNIPROPETROVSK, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian soldiers on the battlefield expressed little hope for a diplomatic solution to the war with Russia, as U.S. President Donald Trump’s Friday deadline for the Kremlin to stop the killing arrived and he eyed a possible summit meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss the conflict.

Trump’s efforts to pressure Putin have so far delivered no progress. Russia’s bigger army is slowly advancing deeper into Ukraine at great cost in troops and armor while it relentlessly bombards Ukrainian cities. Russia and Ukraine are far apart on their terms for peace.

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Ukrainian forces are locked in intense battles along the 620-mile front line that snakes from northeast to southeast Ukraine. The Pokrovsk city area of the eastern Donetsk region is taking the brunt of punishment as Russia looks to break out from there into the neighboring Dnipropetrovsk region. Ukraine has significant manpower shortages.

Intense fighting is also taking place in Ukraine’s northern Sumy border region, where Ukrainian forces are engaging Russian soldiers to prevent reinforcements being sent from there to Donetsk.

In the Pokrovsk area, a commander said he believes Moscow isn’t interested in peace.

“It is impossible to negotiate with them. The only option is to defeat them,” Buda, the Spartan Brigade commander, told The Associated Press. He used only his call sign, in keeping with the rules of the Ukrainian military.

“I would like them to agree and for all this to stop, but Russia will not agree to that; it does not want to negotiate. So the only option is to defeat them,” he said.

Ukrainian servicemen of the 148th artillery brigade set up a M777 howitzer before firing towards Russian positions at the frontline in Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, on Thursday, Aug. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

In the southern Zaporizhzhia region, a howitzer commander using the call sign Warsaw, said troops are determined to thwart Russia’s invasion.

“We are on our land, we have no way out,” he said. “So we stand our ground, we have no choice.”

Trump said Thursday that he would meet with Putin even if the Russian leader will not meet with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy. That has stoked fears in Europe that Ukraine could be sidelined in efforts to stop the continent’s biggest conflict since World War II.

The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington think tank, said in an assessment Thursday that “Putin remains uninterested in ending his war and is attempting to extract bilateral concessions from the United States without meaningfully engaging in a peace process.”

“Putin continues to believe that time is on Russia’s side and that Russia can outlast Ukraine and the West,” it said.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said Friday that Europe should take the lead in efforts to end the conflict.

Orbán said the leaders of Germany and France should go to Moscow “to negotiate on behalf of Europe.” Otherwise, “we will be sidelined in managing the security issues of our own continent,” Orbán told Hungary’s state broadcaster.

Orbán, who is a harsh critic of the European Union to which his country belongs, said Europe’s concerns that a Trump-Putin summit might not address the continent’s interests meant it should seize the diplomatic initiative.

“This war cannot be ended on the front line, no solution can be concluded on the battlefield,” he said. “This war must be ended by diplomats, politicians, leaders at the negotiating table.”

Samya Kullab in Kyiv, Ukraine, contributed to this report.

By WAFAA SHURAFA, SAM METZ and SAMY MAGDY, Associated Press

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel said Friday it plans to take over Gaza City — in what would be an escalation of its 22-month war with Hamas that drew a dismissal from the group, renewed international calls to end the conflict, and stirred fears for hostages still held in Gaza.

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Israel’s air and ground war has already killed tens of thousands of people in Gaza, displaced most of the population, destroyed vast areas and pushed the territory toward famine. The timing of another major ground operation remains unclear since it will likely hinge on mobilizing thousands of troops and forcibly evacuating civilians, almost certainly exacerbating the humanitarian catastrophe.

Meanwhile, mediators from Egypt and Qatar are working on a new framework that will include the release of all hostages — dead and alive — in one go in return for an end of the war in Gaza and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the strip, two Arab officials told the Associated Press.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had earlier outlined more sweeping plans in an interview with Fox News, saying Israel planned to take control of all of Gaza. Israel already controls around three-quarters of the territory.

Hamas rejected Israel’s current plans in a statement. “Expanding of aggression against our Palestinian people will not be a walk in the park,” the group said.

Hamas has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, Canada and the European Union.

Netanyahu had signaled plans for even broader war

An expanded offensive could widen discord between Israel and international powers, which have intensified criticism of the war amid reports of famine in Gaza but largely stopped short of concrete action. Australia and the United Kingdom urged Israel to reconsider.

Palestinians struggle to collect humanitarian aid airdropped by parachutes into Gaza City, northern Gaza Strip, Thursday, Aug. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Israel’s “decision to further escalate its offensive in Gaza is wrong,” British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in a statement. “It will only bring more bloodshed. … Both parties must step away from the path of destruction.”

Tensions could rise further if Netanyahu follows through on the more sweeping plans to take control of the entire territory.

Israel’s current plan, announced after the Security Cabinet met through Thursday night, stopped short of that, and may be aimed in part at pressuring Hamas to accept a ceasefire on Israel’s terms.

It may also reflect the reservations of Israel’s military chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, who reportedly warned that expanding operations would endanger the remaining 20 or so living hostages held by Hamas and further strain Israel’s army after nearly two years of regional wars.

The military “will prepare to take control of Gaza City while providing humanitarian aid to the civilian population outside the combat zones,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement after the meeting.

Humanitarian aid is airdropped to Palestinians over Gaza City, northern Gaza Strip, Friday, Aug. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Asked in the interview with Fox News ahead of the Security Cabinet meeting if Israel would “take control of all of Gaza,” Netanyahu replied: “We intend to, in order to assure our security, remove Hamas there.”

“We don’t want to keep it. We want to have a security perimeter,” Netanyahu said.

Hamas triggered the war when they stormed into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 in an act of terrorism, killing around 1,200 people and abducting 251 people. Most of the hostages have been released in ceasefires or other deals but 50 remain inside Gaza. Israel believes around 20 of them to be alive.

Mediators try again to end the war

The new efforts for a ceasefire have the backing of major Arab Gulf monarchies, the officials said, as they are concerned about further regional destabilization if Israel’s government proceeds with a full reoccupation of Gaza, two decades after Israel’s unilateral withdrawal from the strip.

The officials spoke anonymously due to the sensitivity of the discussions. One is involved directly in the deliberations and the second was briefed on the efforts.

The yet-to-be finalized framework aims to address the contentious issue of what to do with Hamas’ weapons, with Israel seeking full disarmament and Hamas refusing. The official directly involved in the efforts said discussions are underway about “freezing arms,” which may involve Hamas retaining but not using its weapons. It also calls for the group to relinquish power in the strip.

A Palestinian-Arab committee would run Gaza and oversee the reconstruction efforts until the establishment of a Palestinian administration with a new police force, trained by two U.S. allies in the Middle East, to take over the strip, he said. It is unclear what role the Western-backed Palestinian Authority would play.

The second official said that a powerful Gulf country is supporting the efforts.

A senior Hamas official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to brief the media, said the group’s leadership has been aware of the Arab mediators’ efforts to revive the ceasefire talks, but has yet to receive details.

AP reached out to the governments in Qatar, Egypt and Israel for comment.

U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff told hostage families during his recent visit that Israel was shifting its approach to pursue a comprehensive “all-or-nothing” deal aimed at ending the war and securing the release of hostages, a person who attended the meeting told the AP, speaking on the condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak about the private meeting.

‘There is nothing left to occupy’

Israel has repeatedly bombarded Gaza City and carried out numerous raids there, only to return to neighborhoods again and again as militants regrouped. Today, it is one of the few areas in Gaza that hasn’t been turned into an Israeli buffer zone or placed under evacuation orders.

A major ground operation there could displace tens of thousands of people and further disrupt efforts to deliver food to the hunger-stricken territory.

It’s unclear how many people reside in the city, which was Gaza’s largest before the war. Hundreds of thousands fled under evacuation orders in the opening weeks of the conflict, but many returned during a ceasefire at the start of this year.

Palestinians were already anticipating even more suffering ahead of the decision, and at least 42 were killed in Israeli airstrikes and shootings on Thursday, according to local hospitals.

“There is nothing left to occupy,” said Maysaa al-Heila, who is living in a displacement camp. “There is no Gaza left.”

Of those killed Thursday, Nasser Hospital said at least 13 were seeking aid in an Israeli military zone in southern Gaza where U.N. aid convoys are regularly overwhelmed by hungry crowds and people stealing food to resell it. Another two were killed on roads leading to nearby sites run by the Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, an American contractor, according to the hospital, which received the bodies.

GHF said there were no violent incidents at or near its sites on Thursday. Israel’s military said its forces did not fire in the morning and that it knew of no encounters in the area. The military zone, known as the Morag Corridor, is off limits to independent media.

Israel’s military offensive has killed over 61,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many were fighters or civilians. The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals.

The United Nations and independent experts view the ministry’s figures as the most reliable estimate of casualties. Israel has disputed them without offering a toll of its own.

Shurafa reported from Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, and Magdy from Cairo. Associated Press writers Danica Kirka in London and Joseph Krauss in Ottawa, Ontario, contributed.