Trump plans ride-along with troops in Washington, D.C., crackdown

President Donald Trump said he’s planning to ride along Thursday night with troops patrolling Washington, D.C., as part of his federal crackdown.

“I’m going to be going out tonight, I think, with the police and with the military,” Trump told conservative commentator Todd Starnes. “So we’re going to do a job. The National Guard is great. They’ve done a fantastic job.”

Trump gave no additional details of which law enforcement or military units he might join or when and where. His move to personally join the controversial crackdown, which has lasted for two weeks, would amount to a new escalation in the show of force from the White House.

Hundreds of federal agents and National Guard soldiers have surged into the streets of the nation’s capital this month, leaving some residents on edge and creating tense confrontations in the streets.

—New York Daily News

Immigrant population shrinks in 2025 after decades of growth, study found

For the first time in six decades, the number of immigrants living in the United States has dropped.

A new analysis from the Pew Research Center shows that a record high of 53.3 million immigrants were living in the country in January, the highest figure ever recorded. But by June, that number had slipped to 51.8 million, the study found.

“The last time there was such a drop was in the 1960s, and before that, during the Great Depression,” said Mark Hugo Lopez, director of race and ethnicity research at the Pew Research Center. “Our estimates suggest that more than a million immigrants have left the U.S. since January of this year.”

The decline is tied to tougher immigration policies over the past year, the Pew study said. These include new asylum restrictions at the southern border under President Joe Biden’s administration in mid-2024, as well as the zero-tolerance policies pursued by President Donald Trump.

—Tampa Bay Times

Private land used for logging is more prone to severe fire than public lands. A new study shows why

LOS ANGELES — In the Sierra Nevada, private lands used for logging are more likely to experience high-severity fire that devastates forest ecosystems compared to public lands like National Forests.

It’s a fact that’s been known for years— but what exactly causes this discrepancy has remained elusive.

Consequently, the factoid has served as fuel for the longstanding California debate of “who is to blame for our wildfire problem?” while providing little insight for forest managers hoping to address it.

A new study published Wednesday finally offered some answers. By studying detailed data around Plumas National Forest north of Tahoe both before and after a series of devastating wildfires burned 70% of the land in just three years, researchers identified the common practices responsible for increased severity.

—Los Angeles Times

Zelenskyy says Kyiv must pressure Russia amid Pokrovsk counterattacks

KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine must move beyond defending against Russian attacks and go on the offensive to put "pressure on Russia," President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Thursday.

"This war must end, we must put pressure on Russia," he said in his evening video address. Russian President Vladimir Putin understands "nothing but power and pressure," he said.

The comments came after U.S. President Donald Trump, who has been seeking to end the conflict, posted on his Truth Social platform that "It is very hard, if not impossible, to win a war without attacking an invaders (sic) country."

Kyiv launched a major surprise counteroffensive into the Russian region of Kursk last year, but the assault eventually collapsed due to deeply entrenched Russian defenses. Ukrainian forces have launched counterattacks in recent days, including in the northeastern Sumy region and near the eastern city of Pokrovsk.

—dpa