First Thing: Former Trump adviser John Bolton indicted on charges of mishandling classified information

Eighteen-count indictment handed down by federal grand jury in Maryland as US president calls former ally a ‘bad guy’. Plus, director Kathryn Bigelow on AI, Andy Warhol and nuclear Armageddon

Good morning.

The justice department has filed federal charges against John Bolton, the former national security adviser to Donald Trump who turned into one of his biggest critics, accusing him of transmitting and retaining highly classified information under the Espionage Act.

The 18-count indictment was handed down by a grand jury in federal district court in Maryland on Thursday. Bolton has been charged with sending diary entries to two unnamed individuals about his day-to-day activities when he was national security adviser, many of which contained highly classified information.

The indictment marked the third time in recent weeks the justice department has secured criminal charges against one of Trump’s critics. In a statement, Bolton said, “I look forward to the fight to defend my lawful conduct and to expose his abuse of power.”

• What did Trump say about the charges? In response to a question about the charges, Trump told reporters on Thursday that he was not aware of them but that Bolton was a “bad guy”.

US non-profits ‘lock arms’ amid Trump’s menacing of George Soros: ‘We will not be intimidated’

When Donald Trump named the leftwing billionaire George Soros as the next on his growing list of targets for retribution, he was also targeting the long list of progressive causes that Soros funds.

Soros’s Open Society Foundations (OSF) network, now run by his son Alex, is a major funder of non-profits large and small, across sectors including democracy, voting rights, climate justice, racial justice, Palestinian rights and higher education. Public documentation of the group’s grant-making shows thousands of worldwide recipients receiving anywhere from small amounts to multimillion-dollar grants; they include major non-profit organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union.

• What has Trump said? In a presidential memo, Trump said the government needed to “investigate and disrupt networks, entities, and organizations that foment political violence”, adding a comment that Soros was at “the top of everything”.

• What has OSF said? “We have always and will continue to adhere to our rigorous compliance practices and operate within the bounds of the law while also refusing to surrender our legal and constitutional rights to free speech, association, due process, and the rule of law without challenge,” an OSF spokesperson said.

Mamdani, Cuomo and Sliwa spar in New York mayoral debate

New York City’s three mayoral candidates faced off on Thursday night in the first of two televised debates, less than three weeks before voters head to the polls.

On stage were the Democratic nominee, Zohran Mamdani, the former governor Andrew Cuomo – now running as an independent after losing the Democratic primary to Mamdani in June – and the Republican nominee, Curtis Sliwa. Mayor Eric Adams, who dropped out of the race several weeks ago, did not participate.

• What did they clash about? During the two-hour-long debate, the candidates clashed over a variety of local and national issues, including crime, policing, affordability, housing and transportation, as well as how they would handle the Trump administration and the recent Gaza ceasefire deal.

In other news …

• Volodymyr Zelenskyy will head to the White House today for a crucial meeting with Donald Trump, hours after the US president said he had agreed to another summit with Vladimir Putin in Budapest after a “very productive” call.

• Donald Trump has filed an amended $15bn defamation complaint against New York Times. The refiled complaint, after judge tossed initial suit last month, also targets individual reporters and book publisher Penguin Random House.

• The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that infectious diseases are “spiralling out of control” in Gaza, with only 13 of the territory’s 36 hospitals even partially functioning.

Stat of the day: Global markets fall and gold hits record high of $4,378 an ounce amid jitters over US banks

Global stock markets fell sharply and gold hit a record high after two US regional banks said they had been left exposed to millions of dollars of bad loans and alleged fraud. Signs of credit stress rattled markets across Europe and Asia. Jittery investors turned to safe haven assets, with gold hitting a new record of $4,378 (£3,262) an ounce, a weekly gain of almost 8.5%, its biggest since the 2008 financial crisis.

Don’t miss this: ‘Our world is combustible’ – Kathryn Bigelow on AI, Andy Warhol and nuclear Armageddon

Kathryn Bigelow has been thinking about death: hers, and mine, and yours as well. History will always remember her as the first woman to win a best director Oscar, which she did in 2010 for The Hurt Locker. But in her new film, A House of Dynamite, history may not have long to run. It is the story of a nuclear missile launched at an American city, and what happens next. Bigelow would like you to consider Armageddon.

Climate check: Nearly two dozen states sue to stop Trump ending $7bn solar grant program

Nearly two dozen states are suing the Trump administration over its cancellation of a $7bn grant program aimed at expanding solar energy in low-income communities, according to court papers. Arizona’s attorney general, Kris Mayes, said the cancellation of the program would affect 900,000 low-income households nationwide.

Last Thing: Waving his flag all over the place, Trump adds ‘Arc de Trump’ to presidential renovations

More than two centuries have passed since France celebrated the emperor Napoleon’s birthday by laying the foundation stone of the Arc de Triomphe. Now Donald Trump has imperial ambitions of his own. On Wednesday, the US president unveiled plans for a grand arch in Washington that has already been dubbed the “Arc de Trump”.

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