Trump Announces Energy Ceasefire, But Russia and Ukraine Stay Silent

U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Monday that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to stop attacking each other's energy sites, like power plants and oil facilities. He posted the news on Truth Social and warned both countries not to break the deal. However, neither Russia nor Ukraine confirmed the agreement, leaving people unsure what was actually going on.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he would welcome a ceasefire but needed more details from Washington first. Shortly after Trump's post, Russian forces struck a power plant in Ukraine's Kharkiv region. That made many people doubt whether any real ceasefire had been agreed to at all.

Trump had blamed Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries for rising diesel prices in the U.S. Those higher fuel costs have become a political headache for Republicans before the midterm elections. Trump also announced a deal for Russia to release over 300,000 tons of diesel to global markets. He even suggested Ukraine should replace President Zelenskiy, saying he had missed chances for peace.

In the Middle East, Yemen's Houthi rebels attacked Riyadh's international airport in Saudi Arabia for the second day in a row. One person was killed and nearly twelve were wounded in Monday's strike. Just the day before, a Houthi attack on the same airport had killed at least 13 people and wounded hundreds more.

Saudi authorities said their air defenses also stopped a cruise missile near the airport. The airport stayed closed and schools in Riyadh switched to online learning for the week. The Houthis warned of more attacks if Saudi Arabia did not stop its air campaign in Yemen. President Trump said the U.S. is thinking about joining Saudi Arabia's strikes against the Houthis.

Back in the world of online news, Reuters fact-checkers caught a misleading video going viral on social media. After a flydubai co-pilot allegedly tried to crash his plane, a video appeared on X claiming to show scared passengers inside the cabin during the event. It got more than 700,000 views, but reporters discovered the video was not from that flight at all.

The fact-checkers froze each frame of the video and spotted Dubai coastline landmarks, including the Hyatt Regency hotel. That was suspicious because the real flydubai incident happened near the Saudi Arabia-Jordan border, not over Dubai. They also found the audio in the video came from a four-year-old clip. By combining these clues, Reuters proved the video was old, unrelated, and digitally altered — a trick sometimes called 'engagement farming.'

A new Reuters/Ipsos poll found that most Americans oppose betting on elections and government decisions through so-called prediction markets. These are platforms where people can wager money on things like election outcomes or military actions. Companies like Polymarket and Kalshi are growing fast, but a majority of both Democrats and Republicans said they are against using these markets for government-related bets.

Poll participants worried that people with inside information — like government officials — could cheat the system. Many also felt uncomfortable treating real-life events like wars or elections as something to gamble on. The debate continues over whether these platforms count as gambling or as a new type of financial market.

Looking ahead to the November 3rd midterm elections, many analysts predict a big Democratic win, called a 'blue wave.' They point to Trump's low approval ratings, high prices, and voter anger over the Iran war. But reporter Tim Reid listed six reasons the wave might be smaller than expected, including a tight Senate race, fewer competitive House districts, low youth turnout, and Republicans having more money to spend. He also noted that polls have overestimated Democratic strength in five of the last seven election cycles, meaning the final results could surprise everyone.