NATIONAL

Trump Backs Plan to Cede Land for Peace in Ukraine: After meeting Russian President Putin in Alaska, President Trump told European leaders he now favors giving up territory Ukraine controls to Russia to end the fighting, a concession Ukraine has long opposed. NY TIMES (paywall)

Stock Market Rallies on Hope of Rate Cut: Wall Street made solid gains for the week, helped by raised expectations for Federal Reserve interest rate cuts The July consumer and producer inflation reports highlighted the week. The core consumer price index in July came in hotter than anticipated on a Y/Y basis, while the producer price index readings were significantly higher than expected. Higher inflation led to expectations of the rate cut. SEEKING ALPHA

Texas Democrats to Return to State after Days of Resistance Against Gerrymandering: Dozens of Democratic lawmakers took the dramatic step of fleeing Texas to prevent the Legislature from legally convening and draw national attention to a radical Republican plan to try to hang on to the House of Representatives in next year's midterms by gerrymandering the state's already heavily skewed maps even further. Democrats are signaling that they might return to Texas now that the first special session is ending and California lawmakers have introduced their own redistricting plan to try to offset any new safe seats in Texas. MSNBC

California Governor Announces Redistricting in Response to Texas Gerrymandering Effort: California Gov. Gavin Newsom has officially called for a special election on redistricting in retaliation against Texas Republicans, who have moved to redraw their congressional districts and further gerrymander the electoral map at the direction of Donald Trump. The special election is scheduled for Nov. 4. MSNBC

U.S. Consumers Will Take Most of the Hit from Tariff Costs: Goldman Sachs: Through June, about 22% of tariff costs have been passed onto consumers, according to a Goldman Sachs analysis shared with Bloomberg. However, that number will rise to 67% if tariffs follow the same course as years prior, the firm said. QZ

Canadian Boycott of US Alcohol is Hurting the US Industry: The Distilled Spirits Council estimates that American liquor sales in Canada have plummeted 62 percent year-on-year for the first six months of 2025. In California, the wineries belonging to the Golden State’s Wine Institute trade group say their products have lost more than $173 million in export value in the first half of this year, no surprise given that Canada was the destination for 35 percent of its exported cases. THE INDEPENDENT

Most Incompetent Government Ever?: Papers with U.S. State Department markings, found Friday morning in the business center of an Alaskan hotel, revealed previously undisclosed and potentially sensitive details about the Aug. 15 meetings between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir V. Putin in Anchorage. Earlier this week, members of a law enforcement group chat that included members of ICE added a random person to a conversation about an ongoing search for a convicted attempted murderer. In March, U.S. national security leaders accidentally included a journalist in a group chat about impending military strikes in Yemen. NPR

INTERNATIONAL

U.S. Economy Could Suffer a Loss of $7 Billion and 60,000 Jobs: Preliminary projections by NAFSA: Association of International Educators and JB International based on available SEVIS and State Department data show potential shifts in international student enrollment and their contributions to the U.S. economy for Fall 2025. Scenario modeling based on a potential 30-40 percent decline in new international student enrollment in the United States this fall could result in a 15 percent drop in overall enrollment. This drop would result in nearly $7 billion in lost revenue and more than 60,000 fewer jobs. NAFSA

IMMIGRATION & CITIZENSHIP

$50k bonus, student loan repayment options part of DHS' incentive to recruit more ICE agents: The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is offering student loan forgiveness and repayment options, as well as a maximum $50,000 signing bonus, in an effort to recruit more Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. DHS said that the funds to support the campaign come from President Donald Trump’s newly passed One Big Beautiful Bill. NBC

CORRUPTION ALERT

White House Creates Loyalty Rating System For 553 U.S. Companies: In addition to considering companies’ support of Trump’s agenda, the scorecards also take into account companies’ social media posts, press releases, video testimonials, advertisements and attendance at White House events. FORBES 

SCIENCE, HEALTH & SAFETY

Jury Orders Tesla to Pay More than $240 Million in Autopilot Crash Case: A Miami jury decided that Elon Musk’s car company Tesla was partly responsible for a deadly crash in Florida involving its Autopilot driver assist technology and must pay the victims more than $240 million in damages. The federal jury held that Tesla bore significant responsibility because its technology failed. AP

GOOD NEWS FOR PROGRESSIVES

Federal Court Delivers Major Win for Black Voters in Louisiana State Redistricting Battle: The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court ruling Thursday, striking down Louisiana’s state legislative maps for violating the Voting Rights Act. The court agreed that the maps “packed” and “cracked” Black communities — concentrating some Black voters into a small number of districts and splitting others across multiple districts — in ways that unlawfully diluted their power to elect their preferred candidates under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. DEMOCRACY DOCKET

Federal Court Blocks Trump’s Effort to Censor Schools, End Equity Programs: A federal judge in Maryland struck down two nationwide directives issued by the Trump administration, that sought to rewrite civil rights law and censor classrooms in an effort to end diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs in public schools. DEMOCRACY DOCKET

TAKE ACTION

Local and state elections are a great way to combat the forces of fascism and authoritarianism at the federal level. See how you can help at https://www.theyseeblue.org/victory-in-2025